The Choir of Saint James

 

The Choir of Saint James

The Choir of Saint James is made up of amateur and professional adult musicians from the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Under the direction of Organist and Choirmaster James Buonemani since 1995, it is the first American choir to have sung in performance with the Choir of Westminster Abbey. The Choir of Saint James has been honored to serve three times as Westminster Abbey’s choir-in-residence during the months of August, 1999, 2006 and 2010. Inviting the Choir to return in the future, the Abbey Precentor, Deiniol Morgan, wrote “the quality of singing was exceptionally high and our worship was much enriched by your contribution.”

As the core musical organization of Saint James Church, the Choir has played host to many of the world’s finest choirs during their international tours, including The Sixteen, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, the American Boychoir, the Gloriae Dei Cantores, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, the Choir of the Royal Holloway and the Choir of Westminster Abbey. The Choir of Saint James performed the music for the official Los Angeles Memorial to Princess Diana in 1997. In July, 2004 the Choir was featured at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists.

The Choir has completed four tours of the United Kingdom with performances in England at Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, Wells Cathedral, St. George’s Chapel Windsor, and in Ireland at Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork, The Collegiate Church of Saint Nicholas Galway, Christ Church Cathedral Dublin and the Church of The Assumption, Tullamore.

The Choir has recorded numerous in-house CD recordings and one commercially available recording on the GOTHIC label entitled “O Beauty Ever Ancient Ever New.” The album’s title track is a premiere recording of a substantial work for chorus and orchestra written by Buonemani for the 100th anniversary of St. James Church. The CD has received critical praise by the American Record Guide, and the AAM Journal. Many of the Choir’s performances are available online at https://www.youtube.com/@GreatMusicLA

In addition to weekly services and monthly evensongs, the Choir of Saint James has presented concerts featuring many of the great choral masterpieces with full orchestra. Under James Buonemani’s direction since 1995, significant works have included the Requiems of Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Fauré, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Mass in G Minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams, the Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn, the Funeral Ikos and Song for Athene by John Tavener, the 40-part motet “Spem in Alium” by Thomas Tallis, the Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein, Missa Miamiensis by Buonemani, Lux Aeterna of Los Angeles composer Morten Lauridsen and Benjamin Britten’s Cantata Misericordium with acclaimed guest conductor James Conlon.

James Buonemani began his musical career at age thirteen when he was appointed Assistant Organist to William Ferris, then Director of Music, at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rochester, NY. An early interest in composition won him first prize at age 15 in Baylor University’s Young Composer Competition. Since then he has composed music primarily for the church. His setting of the “Preces and Responses”, published by Paraclete Music, has been performed throughout the US and in England and has become a staple of the Evensong repertoire. His “Vis Aeternitatis”, published by MusicaBellaLuna, has been released on the Raven Label, performed by the Choir of the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC, directed by Jeremy Filsell and broadcast nationwide on NPR. A review of this work appearing in the Sept/Oct 2015 issue of the “American Record Guide” remarked on “Buonemani’s beautifully evocative setting…a welcome discovery.” His “Missa Miamiensis” for choir, organ, piano, soprano saxophone and field drum was premiered at a Sesquicentennial Eucharist in 1994 at the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC, with Presiding Bishop Edmond Lee Browning, officiating, and has subsequently been performed multiple times in Chicago, New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. The Fantasy on Ave Regina Caelorum is his most recent composition written for the 25th Anniversary of the Murray M. Harris organ in St. James Church. Dedicated to organist Todd Wilson, the work has been recently released on a double CD album on the Gothic label by Mr. Wilson performing on St. James’ organ. Wilson premiered the work at the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, in the summer of 2021. Reviewed in the May 2021 issue of The American Organist, James Hildreth writesIt is a piece that deserves to find its way into the established repertoire.”

Mr. Buonemani graduated with highest distinction from both the Eastman School of Music and the Westminster Choir College and has also studied in England at the Royal School of Church Music. He was awarded the Performer’s Certificate from Eastman in 1978 as an organ student of David Craighead. He was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, the American collegiate honor society for musicians, in 1977.

He has performed as solo organist and/or conductor in such notable venues as the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, and Church of St. Paul the Apostle at Lincoln Center, Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (Chicago), Walt Disney Concert Hall and First Congregational Church (Los Angeles) and in many of the great Cathedrals and Chapels of the British Isles including Canterbury Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, St. George’s Chapel Windsor, Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, and in Ireland at Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral, Galway’s St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Cork’s St. Finn Barre’s Cathedral and Tullamore’s Church of the Assumption. He has also performed in Mexico City’s Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe and on Mexican National Television. 

Mr. Buonemani collaborated with Los Angeles composer Morten Lauridsen in setting the organ version of Lux Aeterna and performed the world premiere with the Los Angeles Master Chorale in April, 1997 and jointly inaugurated the Walt Disney Concert Hall Organ with a performance of the work in 2004. He can also be heard in the premiere recording of this version of the work, among other works, in a 1998 CD release with the Donald Brinegar Singers.

Buonemani has appeared before regional and national conventions of the AGO, the American Choral Directors Association, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the Organ Historical Society. He has guest conducted on several occasions the William Ferris Chorale of Chicago and the Chicago Choral Artists. His choir’s 2018 CD album on the Gothic label “O Beauty Ever Ancient Ever New” received critical praise with the Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians stating “this recording has been a musical highlight of my year . . . nothing short of genius in its conception and execution.” Jack Sullivan writes in the American Record Guide “This is a wonderful choral collection, full of variety and adventure, mostly radiant and serene but with moments of melancholy and subtle disturbance.”

 

Since 1995, James Buonemani has been Organist & Director of Music for St. James Church, Los Angeles, CA. Now in its third decade of concerts, the “International Laureates Organ Series” was founded by Buonemani with underwriting from the Ahmanson Foundation to provide the greater Los Angeles community the opportunity to hear world-class artists on the church’s historic pipe organ in free recitals annually. In addition to the organ recital series, Buonemani has secured the continuation of Los Angeles’ oldest continuous running chamber music series “Sundays Live,” now entitled “Classical Sundays at Six,” presenting solo, chamber and orchestral musicians from throughout the US and abroad.

Prior to his position at St. James Church, Buonemani was Organist & Director of Music for the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, DC, where he developed the church’s weekly Tuesday Afternoon Concert Series and launched the Epiphany Artists Series featuring full-length programs of drama, music and dance. In 1992, he founded and conducted “Musicians Against AIDS,” a fund-raising event which featured musicians from the National Symphony and musical luminaries baritone John Shirley-Quirk and the American Boychoir.

In June of 2015, Mr. Buonemani conducted a choir of over 200 voices in Walt Disney Concert Hall marking the 150th anniversary of Episcopal Ministry in Southern California, at which time the Rt. Rev. Jon J. Bruno, then Bishop Diocesan of Los Angeles, conferred on him the title Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, acknowledging his extraordinary contributions to the musical life of the Episcopal Church.

Mary Abbott has been singing with Choir of St. James’ since 1983, the year her eldest daughter started Kindergarten at St. James’ School. She sang with the Adelphian Concert Choir at the University of Puget Sound under the direction of Dr. Bruce Rodgers (a UCLA classmate of Roger Wagner) and has studied voice with Margaret Myles (at UPS) and more recently with Dr. Rich Brunner. Along with her husband, Tom, Mary also currently sings with Cor Cymraeg de California (the Welsh Choir ofSouthern California), Legal Voices, the choral group affiliated with the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic, and various other choral groups as invited from time to time. As a legal assistant, she works for The Wonderful Company in West L.A. She has three daughters – Melah (an 8th grade teacher at New Heights Charter School), Maya (currently working as a nanny, housesitter and dog walker), and Emily (development associate at Pasadena Playhouse) – and two grandchildren, Ani and Jaya. Her husband Tom is an electrical engineer, and is currently in much demand as a tutor. Their home is in the Westchester area of Los Angeles.

Tyler Berg is a proud graduate of the Challey School of Music at North Dakota State University, where he studied Vocal Music Education. In his time at NDSU, Tyler studied conducting with Jo Ann Miller and Michael Weber, and composition with Jocelyn Hagen. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Music degree in Choral Conducting at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music where he studies conducting with Jonathan Talberg, and directs both the ConChord and Bel Canto ensembles. Tyler also serves as assistant director of the award-winning Bob Cole Chamber Choir.

As a tenor, Tyler has lent his voice to acclaimed ensembles such as The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, BorderCrosSing, and Bach Roots Festival, and served as a tenor staff singer at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church in Saint Paul, MN. Additionally, Tyler has sung under the direction of renowned artists such as Paul McCreesh, María Guinand, and Eric Whitacre. He is a regular singer at recording sessions for MorningStar/ECS publishing, where he, along with members of The Singers-MCA, can be heard on over 100 recordings of new church music octavos. In 2018, Tyler presented a lecture recital on the art songs of Morten Lauridsen at the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference. 

Prior to relocating to California, Tyler served as the choir director at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota for four years. Under his direction, the Cretin-Derham Hall Choir toured nationally to San Antonio and routinely received superior regards at state contest performances. His students were consistently selected to participate in both state and national honor choirs.

Gerald W. Craft, tenor, is a staff singer at St. James in-the-City Episcopal/Anglican Church in Los Angeles. He has sung with the Donald Brinegar SingersJouyssance Early Music EnsembleChorale Bel CantoHorizon Music GroupCantori Sine Nomine, and has been tenor soloist at the Redondo Beach Baroque Music Festival and the Whittier College Bach Festival. He is also a founding member of The Clarion Singers. Gerald is a technology director at Occidental College in Los Angeles, from which he earned a Bachelor’s Degree and studied voice with G. G. Prosper.

Dr. Claire Fedoruk (BM, Pacific Lutheran University, MM, Eastman School of Music, DMA, University of Southern California) is a scholar-practitioner whose research is focused on vocal music of the Renaissance and twenty-first centuries. A professional soprano in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Dr. Fedoruk has collaborated as a soloist and ensemble artist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is a Grammy winner for her contribution to the Los Angeles Chamber Singers Padilla: Sun of Justice (2005) recording. She is active as a recording artist and can be heard on various film soundtracks, including solo cues in Heaven is For Real (2014) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), as well as solo and small ensemble work in the following recordings: Steve Reich – You Are Variations (2004), Nico Muhly: A Good Understanding (2010), the national anthems – David Lang (2014).Dr. Fedoruk has collaborated as a soloist with numerous early music groups such as the Concord Ensemble, Musical Angelica, Gravitacion, Tesserae, Bach Collegium of San Diego and Stuttgart Festival Ensemble. Additionally, Dr. Fedoruk has presented her work at several conferences, including  Historical Performance: Theory, Practice, and Interdisciplinarity (Historical Performance Institute, Bloomington, IN), the Society for Musicology in Ireland (Queen’s University, Belfast, UK), New Zealand Musicological Society Conference (University of Auckland, NZ) and at Music and the Sonic Arts Conference (Karlesruhe, DE). She was invited and presented as a guest speaker for the Research Quorum at Newcastle University in May of 2019. Dr. Fedoruk is Professor of Musicology at Azusa Pacific University, where she teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels, coaches historical performance practice and served as the Director of Graduate Programs from 2018-2018. In the 2018-2019 season, Dr. Fedoruk toured the Lagrime di San Pietro, staged by Peter Sellars, with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. This staged and memorized project premiered at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Melbourne Recital Hall in Melbourne, Australia, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Barbican Center in and Sage Gateshead in the UK, Cité de La Musique in Paris, France and at the Salzburg Festspeile in Salzburg, Austria.

Graycen Gardner, soprano, is currently based in Los Angeles, where she is a professional singer specializing in classical and session vocals. She received a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Lawrence University and graduated from the University of Southern California with an M.M. in Vocal Arts in 2017, where she earned the Outstanding Graduate Award and the Vocal Arts Department Award. That same year, she was selected to perform in the Boston Court Performing Arts Center’s Emerging Artists Series, and in 2018, Graycen worked as a studio artist at Central City Opera, where she received the Young Artist Award for Excellence. In 2018, she performed in the Playing Dualities concert at Boston Court, and in 2019, she performed in the premiere tour of Timothy Peterson’s The Séance with New Opera Works. Prior to pandemic cancellations, she was scheduled to perform as a soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the St. Matthew’s Music Guild, and she was selected to perform as a member of the chorus in Beth Morrison Projects’ production of Angel’s Bone. She currently performs as a rostered artist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and as a session singer in the Los Angeles area.

Milena Gligic is an established pianist and singer from Belgrade, Serbia. After receiving numerous scholarships in her home country and finishing degrees in solo piano, chamber music and classical and jazz singing, Milena continued studying in NYC at Mannes College. She went on to do a Collaborative Piano Fellowship at Bard College, followed by a Doctorate in Collaborative Piano at the University of Maryland.

In 2016 she moved to Los Angeles as a Young Artist at LA Opera and immediately started singing with St. James. This choir holds a special place in her heart because of the quality of music, the quality of people and musicians in it, and because thanks to James Buonemani she has had many opportunities to express herself as a soloist.

Milena has collaborated with the LA Philharmonic, The Industry Opera and Pacific Opera Project, accompanying large shows and working with some of the greatest names in the classical music world. Because of her specialization in working with singers, she is now a vocal coach at CalArts University and at UCLA.

Milena is often invited to sing with the LA Master Chorale. As a singer, Milena premiered several new roles and appeared as a soloist with the LA Virtuosi Orchestra, Deaf West Theatre, Bach Collegium San Diego, American Bach Soloist Academy, and Contemporaneous, the ensemble whose core pianist she has been since 2012. With them she premiered numerous works and got to perform at Carnegie Hall and at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The ensemble regularly holds residencies at colleges across the United States.

Milena recorded her first full CD album with Danielle Marcelle Bond and released her first single, “Daredevil”, which she wrote shortly after she met someone at St. James who had a profound and lasting effect on her. This single is also the basis for her first music video. She is determined to devote more of her time to personal projects and she has a few more songs and recordings coming up soon.

Before coming to the US in 2010, Milena spent 8 years singing with Collegium Musicum – a prestigious female choir that traveled the world representing Serbian culture. She is also a dancer of Bulgarian Folk here in Los Angeles, and regularly performs with a group called Xorotroptzi.

Growing up as a chorister in the UK, Andy Griffin has been singing in the Anglican choral tradition for nearly his whole life. Originally studying voice under the tutelage of acclaimed soprano and teacher Elizabeth Cooper, Andy has sung with choirs and ensembles of all sizes and styles including Surrey University Chamber Choir, The Full Monteverdi and Mosaic Chamber Choir and has toured to France on multiple occasions with the London Bach Players.

Andy has competed in music festivals across the South of England and on one occasion landed “Best Male Voice” for a performance of Finzi’s The Phantom. A software engineer by trade, Andy jumped at the opportunity to relocate to the United States and since then has also sung with choirs such as Grace Cathedral Camerata in San Francisco, Lacuna Arts and the Pacific Mozart Ensemble. Andy moved to Southern California in 2015 and considers himself honored and blessed in equal measure to be singing with The Choir of Saint James.

Genie Hossain, Alto Staff Singer, has a completed BM degree in vocal performance with a focus in opera performance from BCCM at California State University Long Beach. On stage has covered the role of Nicklausse in Repertory Opera’s production of Les contes d’Hoffmann, and in the chorus for Pacific Opera Project’s Carmen, L’elisir d’amore, and The Mikado. As a professional chorister, she has sung with various Southern California ensembles including Pacific Chorale and Choral Arts Initiative, where she has served as Alto Section Leader. She can be heard on Choral Arts Initiative’s 2017 premiere album ‘How to Go On: The Choral Works of Dale Trumbore’, available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Dermot Kiernan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (majoring in performance on the Classical Accordion) and a Master’s Degree in Medieval Music Performance and Musicology from The National University of Ireland, Maynooth.  During his time at University, Dermot sang with all three of Dublin’s Cathedral Choirs in and several ensembles, including Schola Cantorum Dublinia, The University College Dublin Choral Scholars, Resurgam and The Dublin Bach Singers. He has appeared as a soloist at Dublin’s National Concert Hall and The Royal Dublin Society. From there he joined the post-Masters Degree program at the University of Paris-Sorbonne.
In 2009 he was appointed choir leader of the Aontas Choral Ensemble as part of the internationally acclaimed music group, Celtic Woman. For six years he toured worldwide with the show and featured on several of their CD and DVD recordings as well as their PBS TV specials.
Since moving to Los Angeles in the summer of 2013, Dermot has worked with many prestigious ensembles in the city and currently sings with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the choir of St. James in the City, the LA Schola and the Clarion Singers.

Jillian Krickl, soprano, hails from Chicago and is new to L.A. She began her choral singing career while she was an undergraduate at The University of Chicago, where she served as soprano section leader of the Motet Choir and also sang with the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Choir under the direction of James Kallembach. Upon graduation she was hired as a staff singer at Holy Name Cathedral as part of the all-professional Schola Cantorum Cathedralis, where she sang under the direction of both Ricardo Ramirez and David Jonies until her move to L.A. During her time at Holy Name, Jillian was the vocal soloist performing Gregorian chants corresponding to select movements from Charles Tournemire’s L’Orgue Mystique at several concerts hosted by the Cathedral featuring internationally-acclaimed organists Olivier Latry of Notre Dame de Paris and Stephen Tharp of New York.

Possessing a strong love of and passion for the music of both the Renaissance and the English choral tradition, Jillian also enjoyed singing in small ensembles and subbing at other renowned church music programs in Chicago when she was not otherwise occupied at Holy Name. She has sung under the baton of many acclaimed directors, including Richard Hoskins, Paul French, Benjamin Rivera, Stephen Blackwelder, Christopher Windle, John Sherer, James Michael Thompson, and more. Jillian has also begun expanding her musical career into non-classical genres as both a backup singer in pop and as a singer-songwriter exploring both the downtempo electronica and sound healing genres. Recent notable backup singing engagements include Sarah Brightman’s 2021 “Christmas Symphony” concert at the Auditorium Theatre and Josh Groban’s 2022 “Harmony Tour” concert at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

When she is not singing, Jillian greatly enjoys traveling (especially to Estes Park, Colorado), hiking, and generally basking in the glory of the great outdoors. She is also passionate about mindset shifting and journaling, and she’ll happily engage in conversation for hours about these topics. And if you’re a fan of the show “Better Call Saul”, be sure to tack on an extra hour.

A member of the Bass section, George Marks has been involved in music and singing in choirs since an early age.  This included singing in children’s choirs in church and elementary school as well as high school.  While in college at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, he sang in the College Glee Club and the Trinity College Chapel Choir under the direction of Dr. Clarence Waters.  George studied piano from age 9 through high school under Mrs. Jamesetta Jones and daughter, Anna MacDonald (mother of singer and actor, Audra MacDonald).  George did take a break from singing to attend medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but continued his participation in the church attending St. Mary’s Episcopal Church located on the campus of U PENN.  When he moved to Los Angeles for Fellowship Training in Cardiology, George was excited and felt privileged to be able to continue singing joining the Choir of St. James’ Church in the fall of 1981.  George works for the County of Los Angeles and is a Cardiologist on staff at the Martin Luther King Jr Outpatient Center in South Los Angeles.  George feels privileged and blessed to be able to sing with such talented and accomplished singers as we have at St. James’.

Brett McDermid holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN.  After graduation, Brett spent several years touring in the US and internationally with various choirs.  He has performed with The Concordia Choir, Kentucky Opera, Cornerstone Chorale, the Pallas Ensemble and the Cardinal Singers.    

Brett currently sings with the Clarion Singers, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LASchola, De Angelis Vocal Ensemble, Horizon Chamber Choir, Pacific Bach Ensemble and LA Chamber Singers.  He is also a member of the early music ensemble Tesserae, and was recently the solo vocalist in a concert of works for period instruments and basso profundo.  In addition, Brett works as a TV and internet voice-over artist.

He is an original member of the male vocal ensemble Chanson who have released four studio albums.

J. Aaron McDermid is a singer, composer, pianist, and conductor. Prior to coming to Los Angeles, McDermid was the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Jamestown, Assistant Conductor of the internationally acclaimed 110-voice University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club, Artistic Director of the Tucson Masterworks Chorale & Orchestra, and Director of Choral Activities at Northfield High School.  As a tenor soloist, McDermid has performed the role of Evangelist in Bach’s St. John PassionAscension Oratorio, and the Schütz Christmas Oratorio, and has appeared as the tenor aria soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn’s St. Paul. McDermid has also established a national and international reputation as a choral composer. His choral works are published by E.C. Schirmer, Walton Music, and MorningStar Press and are performed by professional, university, church, community, and high school choirs throughout the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, including performances at ACDA National and Regional Conventions, the Kentucky, Nevada, Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Tennessee All-State Choirs, as well as International Choral Festivals in England, Poland, Norway, Slovenia, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and Taiwan. McDermid received his DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona, an MM in Conducting from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Susie McDermid began singing as a young chorister in her native England, taking part in numerous residencies at the country’s most renowned cathedrals. _She studied at the University of London and Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating with a BA in English and Theatre. She produced and directed several plays both in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before becoming a theatrical agent and eventually moving to Los Angeles. 

She joined the Choir of St James in 2009 and took part in the 2010 tour to England. She has sung with several local professional groups including De Angelis Vocal Ensemble, Horizon Chamber Choir and LASchola, and has also toured with the choirs of All Saints Beverly Hills and St Wilfrid of York in Huntington Beach. In 2014, Susie worked with renowned British conductor Suzi Digby to create the 16-voice professional ensemble The Golden Bridge, producing a festival concert every year and commissioning over 20 new works from Californian composers during her 5 years as producer. She is a founder member and Artistic Director of The Clarion Singers, a Los Angeles-based chamber choir which has completed three UK tours, including two residencies at Canterbury Cathedral. Susie is currently the Director of Production for the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Kathleen Moriarty, mezzo-soprano, is a lecturer, teacher, and musician based in Los Angeles, currently performing with the LA Master Chorale, the Choral Arts Initiative, and various other groups. She received her Master’s in German Language and Literature, focusing on German Drama and Music, her BM in Vocal Performance with a focus in opera, and BA in German Studies from California State University, Long Beach. She was a Professor of German with the RGRLL Department at CSULB, ranging from basic language courses to medieval-enlightenment era literature. From 2018-2019, she spent a year in Braunau am Inn, Austria as a United States Teaching Assistant with Fulbright Austria. She was a recipient of numerous scholarships in both German and Performance including Prichard Opera, Shigemi Matsumoto, Frank Fata, Kristen J. Brown, Friend of Goethe LA, and Outstanding Student of Music Scholarships. As a mezzo-soprano, she has performed in musical theatre and opera productions/scenes including Music Man, Beauty and the Beast, L’elisir D’amore, The Bartered Bride, Ballad of Baby Doe, Carmen, Giulio Cesare, Cosi fan tutte, The Barber of Seville, Chérubin, and Der Rosenkavalier and in numerous Lieder performances.  

Adam Noel has been performing in Southern California for over ten years, and sings in various choral groups throughout Los Angeles. In addition to the choir of St. James, he is currently a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Clarion Singers, and LASchola. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Hollywood Master Chorale, The Concert Singers, and as a trombonist in Disneyland’s All American College Band. Adam received his BA in music from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa with an emphasis in voice and trombone. He currently works for MGM studios in television distribution.

Jae Park is studied Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education at Cal State Long Beach. He has performed in the Chamber Choir, the University Choir, and the Men’s Chorus. With the Chamber Choir, he has performed at ACDA Conventions, and won the first prize at the Choir of the World Competition in 2017. He also studied Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Southern California. During his study at the institution, he performed with USC Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers under the direction of Magen Solomon and Jo-Michael Scheibe respectively. Some of the guest conductors he has worked with are Paul Salamunovich and Helmuth Rilling. He also studied voice with Gary Glaze.

Jae currently sings with The Golden Bridge Choir, The Credo Catholic Choir, Choir of St. Therese, The Clarion Singers and the Choir of St. James, for whom he is also the Assistant Conductor.

John Peterson has a BA in Oboe Performance and Music Education from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, but his lifelong fascination with the acoustics and mechanics of musical instruments has led him to a career of repairing oboes, rather than playing them.

He has worked at RDG woodwinds in Los Angeles, CA since 1989. Although he has never formally studied musical acoustics, he has actively pursued his interest in the history and physics of the oboe, clarinet, and pipe organ.   He has built several instruments, including the oboe he still plays on. Besides repairing, he keeps busy building clarinet barrels and oboe bells, and maintaining his collection of historical oboes.

While John no longer performs much on the oboe, he still maintains an active and rewarding musical life as a choral singer.

A native of Houston, TX, Samoan American tenor Solomon Reynolds has passions for classical music, musical theatre, and indie pop. Solomon is a three-time Encouragement Award recipient of the Laffont Competition in the Houston, Utah, and Los Angeles Districts. He recently performed as Perchik in the First Nat’l Tour of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Tony-Award winning director Bartlett Sher. In addition to stage roles, Solomon is also an active singer-songwriter under his artist name Solly. You can listen to his latest EP release “Heart Things” on all streaming platforms. @sollyolly

Mark Edward Smith is living his dream working as an actor and singer in Los Angeles. He has worked in TV, film and concert stages throughout North America and Europe. Bass with the LA Master Chorale for 17 seasons. He has sung on dozens of blockbuster film scores: Haunted Mansion, The Super Mario Bros., Creed 3, Black Panther- Wakanda Forever, Mulan, Sing 1&2, Secret Life of Pets (1&2), Star Wars (8&9), to name a few. 

A versatile vocalist who has recorded or performed live with Sting (tour), Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, Vinx (tour), Vonda Shepard, LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, LA Chamber Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. Honored to sing in the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar with the LA Opera. Had an amazing time as a guest soloist with the Santa Monica Symphony. 

Mark is also a working SAG actor that has appeared in over 10 dozen National TV commercials, top rated dramas and comedies; from Everybody Loves Raymond to Ray Donovan. 

Mark’s love for music began in his hometown Kansas City, MO. During his high school years he was concertmaster of his school orchestra and the Kansas City Youth Symphony. He received his BFA from Stephens College in Theatre. Prior to that he attended the University of Missouri as a music major on full viola and voice scholarships. 

A big time foodie, cyclist, rollerbladder, dancer, and when his schedule permits, he loves to play violin or viola with the Santa Monica Symphony. 

https://imdb.me/markedwardsmith

Nancy Sulahian has sung with the Los Angeles Master Chorale since 1992, concertizing, touring and recording with maestros Grant Gershon and Paul Salamunovich. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, she has sung under Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, and many others. Her voice is heard on over eighty movie soundtracks. Since 2009 Nancy has directed the Caltech Glee Club and Chamber Singers, and she has prepared and conducted the choir and orchestra for Disneyland’s annual Christmas Candlelight Procession and Ceremony since 1998. Her degrees are from the University of Southern California where she studied choral conducting with Rodney Eichenberger, instrumental conducting with Daniel Lewis, church music with James Vail, and voice with Herta Glaz. She joined the Choir of St. James in 2022.

Theo Trevisan (b. 1999) is a Los Angeles-based composer and bass-baritone from New Jersey.  His compositions have many influences, including the Renaissance, algorithms, minimalism, and memes, and he primarily draws from 20th-21st century repertoire for voice.

As a child, Theo sang at the American Boychoir School, performing in over 30 states and South Korea with world-class conductors and ensembles.  Theo received a B.A. from Princeton University, majoring in composition and minoring in computer science and consort singing. He studied composition with Jeff Snyder, Dan Trueman, Donnacha Dennehy, and Dmitri Tymozcko; voice with Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek; and conducting with Gabriel Crouch. He is currently pursuing his Masters in Composition at USC Thornton, studying with Ted Hearne.

Theo’s music has been performed by a wide variety of ensembles and collaborators, including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, Antioch Chamber Ensemble, Princeton University Glee Club and Chamber Choir, Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk), the Walden School Players, Harmonium Choral Society, DJ Sparr, David Friend, Matthew Gold, and Soo Yeon Lyuh.  He has sung with the choir of St. James in the City LA, Gallicantus, the USC Chamber Singers, the Princeton Glee Club and Chamber Choir, and the Princeton Katzenjammers (mixed voice acapella group).  Additionally, he is a member of the recently founded vocal octet Exilio, which is dedicated to programming new music and composers from historically underrepresented groups.

Theo has contributed to software development for Dan Trueman’s bitKlavier app and Jeff Snyder’s Vocodec instrument. Since 2019, Theo has spent his summers working on faculty and staff at the Walden School’s Young Musicians Program, teaching composition and conducting choirs. In 2022, he received the Ruth and Arno Drucker Faculty Award for his contributions to Walden’s choral program.

Other hobbies and interests include reading obscure history, playing strategy games, telling bad puns, skiing, and vegetarian cooking.

During her graduate studies, Maura Tuffy served as the Principal Assistant Conductor for the Yale Camerata, in which she prepared the chorus for works such as Julia Wolfe’s Letter from Abigail (Marguerite Brooks, guest conductor) and André Thomas’ Mass: A Celebration of Joy and Love. Maura sparked particular interest in performing new music while acting as both a guest conductor and vocalist for New Music New Haven from 2020-22 and recently served as the Conducting Fellow for the Black House New Music Workshop in Los Angeles. She has participated in masterclasses with conductors such as Masaaki Suzuki (Bach Collegium Japan), Marcus Creed (Danish National Vocal Ensemble), Simon Carrington (Norfolk Chamber Music Festival), and Beat Shäfer and Markus Utz (Zürich University of the Arts). In 2019, Maura was one of eight conductors selected to participate in the American Choral Directors Association’s Undergraduate Conducting Masterclass, where she worked with Pearl Shangkuan. Her teachers include Jeffrey Douma, André Thomas, David Hill, Marguerite Brooks, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Tram Sparks, Cristian Grases, and Matthew Erpelding.

An avid ensemble singer, Maura has appeared with GRAMMY-award-winning groups Los Angeles Master Chorale and Conspirare, as well as Yale Choral Artists, Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, and Audivi. She has sung as a soloist with the Yale Schola Cantorum, Yale Camerata, and USC Thornton Chamber Singers, and with prominent conductors such as Masaaki Suzuki, Gabriel Crouch, André Thomas, and David Hill. In 2019, she was the soprano soloist for Frank Ticheli’s Angels in the Architecture with the USC Thornton Wind Ensemble at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Maura regularly sings with the acclaimed Choir of St. James’ in-the-City in Los Angeles. Her teachers include Sherezade Panthaki, Thomas Michael Allen, Lynn Helding, Gary Glaze, Kathy Price, and Adam Phillips.

Maura’s artistic mission is to catalyze interdisciplinary thinking in classical spaces and to encourage a more accessible and thought-provoking concert experience for broader audiences. Her work with DesMuse has challenged the ways chamber music is presented, and her work with choreographers/dancers from Ballet Hispánico and Ballet of Difference Am Schauspiel Köln has opened a new window for intersecting choral music and dance. Maura continues to forge new possibilities for this type of creative work by working with composers. Most recently, she conducted J.E. Hernández’s Desert Shelter at POST Houston with NobleMotion Dance.

Maura holds two Master’s degrees in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music and Bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Arts and Choral Music from the USC Thornton School of Music. She is the recipient of several honors including the Robert Shaw Prize from the Yale School of Music, the Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize, and the Vocal Arts Department Award from the USC Thornton School of Music. Maura currently serves as the Assistant Choral Director of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and taught choral conducting at California State University, Los Angeles during the spring 2023 semester.

Born in Brooklyn, Kristina Valcarce learned about music from her Dad, a guitar player in local rock bands. When she started learning about classical music, she realized that opera singers got the most attention – so she became determined to be one. Her first role was at the age of 21, singing Livio in Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera “Eraclea”. She has since performed with many orchestras and ensembles, including The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pasadena Lyric Opera, Opera of the Foothills, Lyric Opera of Los Angeles, ProVoce, the New Valley Symphony, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church of Glendale’s Cantebury Choir, the Choir of Saint James in the City, and the San Gabriel Valley Choral Company. She recently became a Mom and loves it, despite the face that her school aged daughter is her toughest critic.

Recently Ms. Valcarce sang in Disney Hall; playing the Queen of the Night in the LA Phil Educational Outreach Program’s production of “Mozart’s Birthday Party”.

Ms. Valcarce has also taught and performed with the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra’s Educational Outreach Program: TEMPO.

In 2002 Ms. Valcarce helped found Opera of the Foothills. She served on the board of directors, and sang the principal roles of Adela (Adele) in Bat Out of Hell (Die Fledermaus), and Die Königen der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte. She also sang The Queen of the Night with the New Valley Symphony in 2004. In May of 2004 she sang the role of Maguelonne in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon with Lyric Opera of Los Angeles.

Kristina Valcarce began singing with Pasadena Lyric Opera in 1998, first singing in the ensemble and going on to sing principal roles. Her first principal role with the company was Frasquita in Carmen. The following season she sang Die Königen der Nacht in Die Zauberflote, Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman, and the Secretary in a special presentation of Michael Canales’ new opera Color of Vengeance. She also sang Musetta and Zerlina.

Ms. Valcarce has sung in many concerts, recitals and workshops with ProVoce, the highlight being having sung the role of Le Rossignol in their production of L’Enfant et les Sortileges.

In 1997, she received the J. Arthur Myers Sr. and J. Arthur Myers Jr. Award from the Glendale Music Teachers Association. She studies with Dr. Kathleen Roland. She was the soprano section leader and soloist at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church of Glendale for 8 years, where she has sung the soprano solos in Mozart’s Missa Brevis in C, Haydn’s Jugendmesse, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Charpentier’s Petite Messe de Noel, and Pergolesi’s Miserere II.  She is enjoying her seventh season as a staff singer at the prestigious choir of Saint James Episcopal Church on Wilshire.

Kristina received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. Here, she sang the roles of Cathleen in Riders to the Sea, Clara in Signor Deluso and Livio in Eraclea. She won the Irving and Geraldine Schaeffer Award while at Purchase. Immediately afterward she attended the Mannes College of Music, where she received her Masters in Music. Here, she sang the role of Susanna in the first two acts of Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as the Novice and Lay Sister in Suor Angelica.

In past seasons, Ms. Valcarce has sung multiple roles in the Sierra Madre Playhouse’s production of A Christmas Carol Story. She’s also performed with the successful caroling group “The Voices of Christmas.”

Soprano Ellie Walters is pursuing a career in early vocal music. She has earned various performance opportunities at the undergraduate level, including performances as the alto soloist in selections from Beethoven’s Mass in C and soprano soloist in Gabrieli’s Hodie Christus Natus Est. Walters’ ensemble work has included performances of early composers, including Barbara Strozzi, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Chiara Margherita Cozzolani. She studied privately with Dr. Kirsten Hedegaard at Loyola University Chicago and currently studies with Jennifer Kampani at the Thornton School of Music. During her time at Loyola, she studied conducting, organ, and early music repertoire through performances with the choirs at the Church of the Atonement, under the direction of Christopher Windle and Charlie Sega.During her free time, Ellie likes to spend time with her partner and cat, as well as cosplaying and exploring new cuisines. 

Dan Wessler holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Conducting and Literature from University of Colorado Boulder (’23) and a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Western Illinois University (’12). He is currently the director of the Los Angeles based Westminster Chorus (www.westminsterchorus.org), the four-time International Barbershop Chorus Champion and 2009 Choir of the World winner. Dan also sings with After Hours (www.afterhoursqt.com), the 2018 International Barbershop Quartet Champion, with whom he travels and sings frequently, inside and outside of the United States. He has served as clinician for several barbershop chorus festivals, taught courses at international barbershop educational events, and is an active barbershop arranger (www.dwarrangements.com). Dan has written over 125 arrangements for various groups around the world, a number of which have been published by Hal Leonard. Before moving to Southern California, Dan served as Director of Choral Activities at Freeport High School in Freeport, Illinois from 2012-2019. While in Colorado from 2020-2023, Dan sang with St. Martin’s Chamber Singers in Denver and Ars Nova Singers in Boulder.

David Yang is a pianist and countertenor working in the Los Angeles and Denver area.  He was the Director of Music and Liturgy at Christ the King Catholic Church in Evergreen, CO and is also the founder and Artistic Director of a classical chamber music concert series, Chamber Music Evergreen.  A Los Angeles native, Yang holds a Bachelor of Music and is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California. Solo performances include Britten’s Cantata Misericordium under Maestro James Conlon during the Britten 100 centenary celebration and the solo movement of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms as part of Saint James in Concert.