Led by renowned conductor Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare brings together outstanding vocal artistry and great music to inspire passion, sensitivity and playfulness. Conspirare combines the classics with contemporary works taking the audience on a journey of innovative sound, colorful images and thought- provoking literature. Formed in 1991 as The New Texas Festival, Conspirare began as an annual spring festival, and moved to a year round concert season in 1999.

Today, Conspirare is set apart as one of a handful of professional choruses around the country bringing world-class performances to its listeners. An ensemble of professional singers from across the United States, Conspirare has garnered rave reviews, 5 Grammy® nominations, numerous awards, and national recognition for its refined artistry, virtuosity, and expressive singing.

SOPRANO

Nancy Curtis
Soprano Nancy Curtis enjoys a multifaceted career as a singer of opera, oratorio, symphonic repertoire, and recitals. Nancy’s commitment to her artistry has drawn praise from colleagues, audiences, and critics alike, and she is in demand as a vocalist and teacher. Hailed as a “stand-out,” Ms. Curtis has been featured with opera companies including the Virginia Opera, the Tulsa Opera, the New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the Lyric Opera of San Antonio. This highly versatile singer has also been presented as the soprano soloist with many outstanding symphony orchestras including the Austin Symphony, the Maryland Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, the Santa Fe Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, and the Tulsa Philharmonic and Ballet. As a winner of the prestigious Enrico Caruso International Vocal Competition, Nancy was invited to sing concerts throughout Italy including an appearance at the famed opera house, La Scala. Ms. Curtis has also been invited to sing for many of our nation’s leaders including former Presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Nancy lives in Houston with her husband, Ryan, and is the proud mom of two boys, R.J. and Ashton.

Melissa Givens
American soprano Melissa Givens has been resoundingly praised by audiences and critics alike for her rich, liquid tone, intelligent, musical interpretations, and her expressiveness and elegance on the stage. A singer whose music making is “consistently rewarding” and “a pleasure to hear,” Givens is also known for her versatility, regularly performing repertoire from the Baroque era through music of the 21st century. Indeed, a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion, led Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicle to proclaim her “the best, singing with effortless tone and gracious musicality.” Recent appearances include Porgy and Bess with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Givens recently concluded a European tour of the production Pitié! with the Belgian dance collective Les Ballets C de la B and can be heard on the soundtrack recording on Cypres Records. She also performed as the soprano soloist in the world premiere, at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, of Friedenskantate by noted Houston composer and HBU Professor Ann Gebuhr. Givens is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Houston Baptist University. A champion of collaborative arts, she performs with Ars Lyrica Houston, the Bach Society of Houston, as well as the Grammy© nominated Conspirare: Craig Hella Johnson and Company of Voices. Givens is featured on the latest compact discs from both Ars Lyrica and Conspirare. She can also be heard on her solo compact disc, let the rain kiss you, available at www.melissagivens.com.

Cynthia Gonzales
Cynthia I. Gonzales began singing professionally in 1983 when selected for the inaugural season with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, where she served as Soprano Section Leader for four summer seasons and Company Manager for three. She joined Conspirare in 1996. Last month marked her fourteenth consecutive “Christmas at the Carillon” concert series. Having earned degrees in Music Education and Music Theory from the University of North Texas and from Harvard University, Cynthia is an Associate Professor at Texas State University-San Marcos, where she serves as Coordinator of Music Theory and Aural Skills. Text-music relationships in German Lieder is her primary research focus, particularly in the early songs of Arnold Schoenberg, which is a repertoire she also performs. Cynthia serves as Music Director at First Lutheran Church in San Marcos and enjoys knitting.

Julie Keim
Praised by the Washington Post for “the purity and impressive suppleness of her voice,” soprano Julie Keim is known for her outstanding musicality and vital vocal quality. She has performed in a variety of venues, including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Washington National Cathedral. She was featured soloist at the White House for the National Day of Prayer which was broadcast live on national television. Among the many ensembles with which Ms. Keim has been a featured soloist are the Santa Fe Symphony, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Oratorio Society of Charlottesville, Texas Baroque Ensemble, Canterbury Choral Society, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. In the Washington, DC area, she has appeared with many of the leading musical organizations including the Washington Bach Consort, the Cathedral Choral Society, Choralis, and the National Philharmonic. This is her second season singing with Conspirare.

Nicole Lamartine
Nicole began singing soprano with Conspirare in March, 2006. Nicole is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wyoming where she conducts three of the five choral ensembles: Collegiate Chorale, Singing Statesmen, and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. In addition, she teaches public school teaching methods and choral conducting. In addition to conducting, Nicole enjoys an active performing career, including solo recitals in Cardiff (Wales), London, and Mexico. She has sung under the batons of Helmuth Rilling, Charles Dutoit, and Craig Hella Johnson in the US and JĂĽn Märkl, Sakari Oramo, JiĹ™i BÄ›lohlĂ vek, Sir Andrew Davis, Martyn Brabbins, James MacMillan, David Hill, Simon Halsey, and Stephen Jackson in Europe. Her extensive operatic experience includes the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Rose in Street Scene, the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, Yum-yum in Mikado, and Mrs. Alice Ford in Falstaff. Furthermore, her love of jazz, blues, and country music has led to various gigs including singing back-up for Barry Manilow and Linda Ronstadt.

Abigail H. Lennox
Quoted as angelic and stylish in her interpretations of Bach and Mozart, Abigail Haynes Lennox is at home with genres ranging from early plainchant to 19th-century mélodie to improvised avant-garde. She has served as music director for the Wesley Foundation of First Methodist, performed with the Michigan Opera Theater, and has been a frequent soloist on recordings of contemporary works. In 2007 Lennox completed her master’s degree in voice at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She has performed as soloist in Bach St. John Passion and Buxtehude Membra Jesu Nostri under Simon Carrington, Mozart Vespers with Sir David Willcocks and with Sir Neville Marriner, Bach Magnificat in E-flat major with Helmuth Rilling, Beethoven Mass in C with Yale ensembles, a program of French Baroque music with the Ensemble Européen William Byrd, Steve Reich Daniel Variations with the New World Symphony, Purcell Dido and Aeneas with Apollo’s Fire, and Bach Weihnachts Oratorium and B minor Mass with the American Bach Soloists under Jeffrey Thomas.

Jeannie Lovett Barrick
Jeannie Lovett Barrick has been a member of Conspirare since 2005. Barrick currently serves on the music theory faculty at Texas Tech University where she teaches all levels of undergraduate music theory and aural skills. Barrick is an active oratorio and early music solo performer, specializing in the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras and can frequently be heard performing with the Caprock Early Music Association. A sampling of Barrick’s solo experience includes various Haydn Masses, the Bach St. Matthew Passion and Magnificat, the Vivaldi Gloria, and the Allegri Miserere Mei.

Gitanjali Mathur
Gitanjali was born in India, and immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. She finished her Bachelor, Master, and Performer Diploma degrees in Voice Performance at Indiana University, Bloomington, along with minors in Mathematics and Computer Science. Most recently, Gitanjali has sung solos in Virginia, New York, Eugene, Stuttgart and Esslingen in Germany, and Austin for J.S. Bach’s B-minor Mass, Messiah, Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, Exultate, Jubilate, Waisenhausmesse, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and Despina in Cosi fan tutte by Mozart in Rome, Italy.

Kathlene Ritch
After graduating from UT with a degree in Music Education, Kathlene Ritch moved to New York where she was fortunate to sing with such noted ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, and the Vienna Philharmonic. She has sung under the batons of Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, Andre Previn, Sir Colin Davis, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. She made her solo debut at Avery Fisher Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra in Listz’s Dante’s Inferno and recorded with them Strauss’ Die aegyptische Helena as Hermione opposite Deborah Voigt’s Helen. She now resides in Austin and in addition to singing, has turned her passion for cooking into a business, The Red-Headed Chef.

Sonja DuToit Tengblad
Sonja DuToit Tengblad has appeared as the soprano soloist for such events as the American Guild of Organists National Convention, Helmuth Rilling’s lecture concert of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem at St. Olaf College, and Dominic Argento’s 80th birthday celebration concert where the Minnesota Star Tribune reported her to have given “the most affective performance of the evening.” A versatile performer and lover of new music, Ms. Tengblad premiered the role of Maria in Diego Luzuriaga’s El Nino de los Andes with VocalEssence of Minnesota, and was the soprano soloist for the American premiere of Siegfried Matthus’ Te Deum for 5 soloists, symphony orchestra, choir and boy’s choir, and for the world premiere of Carol Barnett’s The World Beloved, A Bluegrass Mass (available through Clarion recordings). She most recently sang the role of Eva in Haydn’s Die Shopfung with Boston University’s Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium and the Boston University Chamber Chorus. Currently, Ms. Tengblad performs with the 5-time Grammy-nominated ensemble Conspirare out of Austin, Texas, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, the Lorelei women’s ensemble (performing early and new music), and previously with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers under the direction of Philip Brunelle. 2010 performances include Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro as Susanna, and Bach’s B Minor Mass as the soprano soloist with the Bay Bay Chorale of Boston.

Janeene Williams
Soprano Janeene Williams has been thrilling audiences with a voice praised for being stunningly beautiful, ethereal, and glorious. The Austin American-Statesman proclaimed that Janeene “is blessed with a crystalline voice” and possesses a “remarkably beautiful tone and compelling expression.” Janeene specializes in oratorio, concert repertoire, new music and song recital. She has received accolades for performances of Handel’s Messiah and Creation, Bach’s B-Minor Mass and Weichet nur, betrĂĽbten Schatten, Mozart’s Requiem, Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Strauss’ Brentano Lieder, and Schwantner’s Sparrows.

ALTO

Wendy Bloom
Wendy Bloom’s diverse artistic background includes opera, oratorio, early music, chamber music, choral music, recitals, cabaret and musical theatre. She recently played Maddy in a new opera, Two Candles Burning, by Stephen Rush and Michael Rodemer. Her solo appearances have included concerts with symphonies in Ann Arbor, Flint, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Baltimore and Toledo. Recently she performed as alto soloist in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Bach’s B Minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mahler’s Third Symphony. She is the artistic director for a popular cabaret in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Wine, Women and Song, now in its eighth year, and has created a solo recital, “The New American Songbook.” 2007 marked her first appearances with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale as well as with Conspirare in Austin, Texas.

Dorea Cook
Dorea Cook is an active musician in the Austin area. In 2005, Ms. Cook graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University, with a double masters in voice performance and voice pedagogy. While living in Chicago, Ms. Cook sang with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Grant Park Music Festival Chorus, and the William Ferris Chorale. She has also soloed with the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago College of Performing Arts Orchestra, and the University of Texas Early Music Ensemble. Since moving to Austin in 2008, Ms. Cook has enjoyed singing with the Conspirare Symphonic Choir and the Austin Lyric Opera Chorus. She is currently preparing for doctoral auditions and is in her second year teaching private voice lessons at Westwood High School and Westlake High School.

Cina Crisara
Cina Crisara has just joined the Conspirare Company of Voices and serves as a singer and section leader of the Symphonic Choir. She is a native New Yorker with a Bachelor of Music degree from Potsdam State College, a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from Ithaca College, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. She has been a choral studies professor at Ithaca College (4 years), the University of Nebraska at Omaha (16 years), and at Texas State University (3 years). She was the Chorus Master for the Omaha Symphony and for Opera Omaha for the duration of her time in Nebraska. Currently, Cina is the Director of Music at Saint John’s United Methodist Church in Austin. She is also a free-lance vocal coach and accompanist.

Wravan Godsoe

Emily Lodine
Emily Lodine has performed with many of the world’s finest conductors, including James Levine, Hugh Wolff, Paul Hillier, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin, Jane Glover, Daniel Beckwith, and Bernard Labadie. She has appeared with the symphonies of Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Indianapolis and the Pacific Symphony, as well as the orchestras of Detroit, South Dakota, Phoenix and Rochester, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Philip Glass Ensemble. A frequent soloist with Music of the Baroque, she can be heard on the group’s recording Vom Himmel Hoch. She also received acclaim for her work in the world premiere and recording of Jon Polifrone’s Requiem, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Ms. Lodine made her Carnegie Hall debut in Handel’s Messiah conducted by composer-conductor John Rutter. Upcoming engagements include Handel’s Messiah with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the South Dakota Symphony, Bach Cantatas with Bach Week of Evanston, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Chicago Rembrandt Players, under the baton of Jane Glover.

Elizabeth PĂ©tillot
Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth PĂ©tillot enjoys a busy and fulfilling life as a full time performer, teacher and student in Austin, TX. She regularly performs with Conspirare Chamber Choir, the Texas Early Music Project, The Austin Lyric Opera, the San Antonio Chamber Choir, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, The Oregon Bach Festival and as a soloist for oratorio, recitals, opera and chamber music. In addition to her performing life, Elizabeth teaches voice and diction for the University of Texas at Austin, voice lessons for students of Westwood High School and at her private home studio. She is also a full time Doctoral student in vocal performance at UT under the tutelage of Professor Rose Taylor.

Linda Ramsey
This is the fifth season for Linda Ramsey to perform with Conspirare’s professional Chamber Choir. As a member of Conspirare, she has sung on the I Still Love You, Love Calls You, Love Again and the 2008 internationally released Threshold of Night albums. She was privileged to be a part of the only American choral group to be invited to The 8th World Symposium on Choral Music held in Copenhagen in July of 2008. As a section leader and soloist with the Conspirare Symphonic Choir, Linda has performed at the annual Victoria Bach Festival since 2005 and for the 2008 Grand Opening of the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas. A native of Texas, Linda has been with Keller Williams Realty since 1987 and has served as the Director of Compliance for the Southwest Market Center in Austin since 1999.

Keely Rhodes
Keely J. Rhodes is a mezzo soprano and has been performing regularly with Conspirare, a company of voices since 2002. Keely received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and her Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Texas in Austin. Dr. Rhodes has the additional honor of serving as a Fulbright scholar to Italy during 2006 – 2007. Along with teaching private voice lessons, she performs as a soloist and collaborative artist for choral, chamber, and symphonic groups and as an opera singer in the United States, Europe, Central America and South America.

Debra Scroggins
Debra Scroggins, mezzo-soprano, has sung throughout the United States and in Europe. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Dallas, Kansas City, Mississippi and East Texas Symphony orchestras and numerous others. Some of the noted conductors for whom she has served as soloist include the late Robert Shaw and Eduardo Mata, and English conductors Sir David Willcocks, Lazlo Heltay and David Hill. Her solo performances have included Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Easter Oratorio, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, Fauré’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata 102, Buxtehude’s Cantata 62, Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater for Ten Solo Voices and Schütz’s St. Matthew Passion to name a few. She has served as soloist for Helmuth Rilling in masterclasses at the Oregon Bach Festival numerous times and appeared as alto soloist in Handel’s Dettingten Te Deum at Avery Fisher Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center in March 2009. In addition to Conspirare, her current professional choral credits include being a tenured member of the Oregon Bach Festival Professional Chorus, the Orpheus Chamber Singers and the Texas Vocal Arts Ensemble. For many years she was a member of both the Kansas City Chorale and Robert Shaw’s Festival Singers and she has frequently sung in the Carnegie Hall Professional Choral Workshops. Debra enjoys a busy composition career and in addition to self-publishing, her choral music is published by Oxford University Press and Alliance Music Publications. She is Composer in Residence for The Texas Voices, a professional chamber choir in the Dallas area.

Jennifer Whatley
For over 20 years, Jennifer Whatley has delighted in sharing her love for the chorale art with the children of Texas. Past teaching assignments include W.B. Ray High School (Corpus Christi) Winston Churchill High School, Samuel Clemens High School (San Antonio) and a sabbatical chorale position at Trinity University. Ask her about her most significant accomplishment, and she will beam describing her 40+ former students who have progressed to become conductors, professional singers, classical guitarists, university professors, arrangers and public school music teachers around the U.S and Europe. In addition to Conspirare, Ms. Whatley has performed with the San Antonio Symphony, the San Antonio Chamber Chorus. In addition to teaching, and singing, she serves as the Artistic Director of the Alamo City Men’s Chorale in San Antonio, Texas.

TENOR

Daniel Buchanan
Daniel Buchanan is a multi-faceted artist active as a singer, composer, pianist, and music educator. He has been a member of the Conspirare roster since 2006 and also sings with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Cantare Houston, and the Houston Chamber Choir. Daniel previously sang as the tenor in Houston Grand Opera’s “Opera to Go!” ensemble, performing opera at a variety of venues and schools throughout Texas. He enjoys frequent appearances with the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Bach Society of Houston (St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion), the Mercury Baroque Ensemble, and the Houston Chamber Choir (St. John Passion, Mass in B Minor, Messiah). Daniel is one of the founding members of Opera Vista, an innovative opera company based in Houston, Texas. With Opera Vista, he has sung the roles of Bill in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, and Dominique in Amy Beach’s Cabildo. Other opera roles include the title role in Albert Herring, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte. A graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Daniel has served on the music faculties of Wheaton College and Lone Star College. He released his debut album in 2008, entitled Devotion and available on www.danielbuchanan.net.

J.D. Burnett
J.D. Burnett has already enjoyed a varied career as a conductor, singer, and educator. He is Artistic Director of the ensemble Kinnara, a chamber choir of twenty professional singers, Conductor of the New Jersey Youth Chorus Young Men’s Ensemble, Associate Conductor of The Masterwork Chorus in Morristown, NJ, and is Choir Director at St. Peter’s Church in Mountain Lakes, NJ. Prior to these appointments, he served as Interim Director of Choral Activities at San Jose State University, was Artistic Director of the New Jersey Chamber Singers, was Music Director of the Houston Masterworks Chorus, founded Men’s Consort Houston, and was a member of the choral music faculty at Kingwood High School in suburban Houston. Burnett did undergraduate study at Stanford University and Oklahoma State University, and holds a Masters Degree in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College, where he served as Assistant Conductor of the renowned Westminster Choir and sang in the Westminster Symphonic Choir and Westminster Kantorei. As a professional choral singer, Burnett has performed seasons, concerts, and recordings with the Stillwater Chamber Singers, Cantare Houston, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, The Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Fuma Sacra, the Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and Conspirare.

Dann Coakwell
Dann Coakwell, tenor, enjoys performing in the world of oratorio and opera, focusing on roles by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Rossini, Mendelssohn, and Britten. Dann’s most recent performances include the title role of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with Cantare of Houston; the lead role of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, the tenor role in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, and the role of Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra; the title role of Honegger’s King David with the Oregon Bach Festival; and the role of Evangelist in Conspirare’s production of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Parts 1-3) in Victoria, Texas. In addition to his solo work, Dann performs with Conspirare as well as with other highly selective ensembles under Grammy-winning German conductor Helmuth Rilling, including the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus in New York, and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany. Dann is featured on recordings including Conspirare’s Grammy-nominated Requiem and Threshold of Night on the Harmonia Mundi label; and Helmuth Rilling’s latest releases of Haydn’s late masses, Schöpfungsmesse, Teresienmesse, and the upcoming Heiligmesse on the Hännsler Classic label. Dann is a long-time resident of Austin and currently resides in Lubbock, TX where he is a doctoral candidate in Vocal Performance at Texas Tech University.

Paul D’Arcy
Paul D’Arcy maintains an active career as a professional choral singer, soloist, and music educator. Originally from New York’s Capital District, Paul now resides in Austin, TX, where he regularly performs with Conspirare, the Texas Early Music Project, the choirs of Saint David’s Episcopal Church, the Schola Cantorum and Musica Ecclesiae at the Cathedral of Saint Mary, and the Victoria Bach Festival. For the past ten years, Paul has been a featured soloist with various ensembles and festivals in the Northeast. Works include Bach’s Magnificat, Saint John Passion, Christmas Oratorio and many cantatas; Mozart’s Requiem, Vesperæ solemnes de Dominica, and masses; Haydn’s Stabat Mater and various masses; Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus; Schubert’s masses; Caldara’s Stabat Mater; Saint-SaĂ«ns’ Christmas Oratorio and SchĂĽtz’s Musikalische Exequien. Paul is the co-founder and co-director of the Aoede Consort, a professional chamber ensemble based in New York’s Capital Region. He currently teaches voice lessons at West Lake High School in Austin and maintains a small private voice studio.

Andrew Gray

Robbie LaBanca
Robbie LaBanca, tenor, earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007. A native Texan, Mr. LaBanca was a two- time member of the Texas All-State Choir and was picked as an outstanding soloist at the U.I.L. State Solo and Ensemble Contest while in high school in Corpus Christi. During his time at the University of Texas he performed with many ensembles including Concert Chorale, Chamber Singers, Men’s Chorus, Opera Chorus and UT Choral Arts Society while under the direction of Dr. Suzanne Pence and Dr. Jim Morrow. Mr. LaBanca enjoys choral and operatic singing and has performed as a soloist in choral works such as Handel’s Messiah and in Operatic performances of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi while studying with baritone David Small and tenor Leonard Johnson. Since graduation, Mr. LaBanca has taught private voice lessons in New Braunfels and the Austin area. Mr. LaBanca was a soloist and section leader at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Austin from 2002-2008 under the direction of Dr. Cina Crisara, a fellow member of Conspirare. Joining the Conspirare Symphonic Choir in 2009, this marks Mr. LaBanca’s first performance with the Conspirare Chamber ensemble.

Kelly Neill
Kelly Neill maintains an active performing career singing recitals, oratorio and choral music. He has been a soloist with the Pittsburgh Bach Choir, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, Western Colorado Chorale and chamber music series in Colorado and Arkansas. Solo performances include Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Howells’ Requiem, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. As a choral singer he has sung with Conspirare, the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Kansas City Chorale. In opera, he has sung the title role in The Student Prince, Rodlfo in La Boheme, Remandado in Carmen, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. Kelly is a graduate of Abilene Christian University and Baylor University and teaches voice and conducting Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Prior to teaching at Harding, Kelly lived in Delta, Colorado where he taught vocal and instrumental music and conducted the Valley Symphony Chorus.

Tracy Jacob Shirk
Tracy Jacob Shirk is a graduate of West Texas (State) A & M University in Canyon where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in vocal performance working with Royal Brantley, Cloyce Kuhnert, Robert Hansen, Hugh Sanders and René Clausen. A resident and native of the Houston area, he is currently on the faculty of Lone Star College North Harris. Mr. Shirk serves as Director of Music Ministries for First Congregational Church, UCC and tenor soloist at Temple Beth Israel. He has directed the Houston Tidelanders barbershop chorus and has sung lead in several championship barbershop quartets. As a tenor, Mr. Shirk has sung operatic and musical theater roles, and solos in major works, oratorios and recitals throughout the Southwest with such organizations as Da Camera of Houston, the Amarillo Opera, Houston Masterworks Chorus, the Victoria Bach Festival, New Texas Music Works, and Cantare Houston.

Todd Teske
Todd Teske is delighted to be joining Conspirare for a third time since the thrilling “Gretchaninov” tour two years ago. As a tenor soloist Todd has been engaged by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Bach and Schubert, Bethany College for the Messiah and St. Matthew Passion, and the Washington D.C. Kennedy Center for Hand­el’s L’Allegro Il Penseroso with the Morris Dance Group. In 1995 Mr. Teske won second place at the Richard Tauber International Tenor Competition in New York City and made his New York debut in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with the Dessoff Choirs, Handel’s Messiah with the Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and three Bach Cantatas with The Canticum Novum Singers. Todd has also soloed in Bach’s Magnificat and Cantatas with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, and performed the title roles in Milhaud’s Le Pauvre Matelot and the world premiere of Jean Francaix’s Le Diable Boiteux in Giessen Germany.

Matt Tresler
Matthew Tresler is the chair of the choral and vocal area at Irvine Valley College in Irvine, CA. He has sung with Conspirare for the past six seasons. An active choral singer, Matt has also sung with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, and the Phoenix Bach Choir. Also an active soloist, he most recently performed Schubert’s Mass No. 6 with the New World Symphony, under Michael Tilson Thomas. Matt holds a B.M. in voice from Northern Arizona University, and the M.M. and D.M.A. in choral conducting from the University of Miami.

Dana Wilson
Dana Wilson’s performance repertoire extends from early renaissance music to contemporary jazz. Mr. Wilson earned his education at the Loyola College of Music and Fine Arts in his native New Orleans. He now performs in the Philadelphia region, throughout the US, and internationally in opera, operetta, oratorio, in recital, and as a chamber music soloist. Dana is particularly noted for his communicative expression, musicality, and his musical sensitivity in works of the Renaissance and Baroque genres, for being equally and artistically versatile in his performance of the Classical and Romantic repertoire as well as his distinctive and authentic musical interpretation of German Lied, French Melodie and of the “Art Song” genre.

BASS

Cameron Beauchamp
Cameron Beauchamp, bass, is in demand throughout the country as a soloist and chamber musician. Based in Boston, Cameron is a member of Blue Heron, Exsultemus, Cut Circle, Schola Cantorum, Boston Secession, and the Church of the Advent. He also sings with Austin’s Conspirare, Atlanta’s New Trinity Baroque, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. A native of San Antonio and ten-year resident of the DFW area, Cameron frequently performed with the Dallas Bach Society, Texas Camerata, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Texas Choral Artists, the Helios Ensemble, the Orchestra of New Spain, and a regular soloist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Cameron sang in residence at the Lincoln Cathedral and Westminster Abbey with the choir from the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. He received his musical training from the University of North Texas, where he doubled in voice and jazz trombone.

Ronald Lee Downs
Ronald Lee Downs, Bass, a resident of Baltimore, MD, has sung in various choirs professionally for more than 30 years. He currently sings with Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Choir of Christ Church, Georgetown, DC, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Ron actively researches, collects and studies unaccompanied choral literature of the Renaissance, late Romantic and Contemporary eras, with special emphasis on the middle-twentieth through twenty-first centuries. He also does extensive work in computerized music engraving and publishing.

Charles Evans

David Farwig
David Farwig, baritone, is a free-lance concert vocalist based in Denver, Colorado. Having a deep love of the choral art, his performing season always includes singing with professional ensembles throughout the country including Conspirare, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Choral Arts-Seattle, The Oregon Bach Festival, and Seraphic Fice in March of 2010. David has also sung with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, The USAF Singing Sergeants, St. Martin’s Chamber Choir, Vox Early Music Ensemble and many other professional companies throughout his career. As a concert soloist, he as appeared with The Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Albuquerque Baroque Players, The Santa Fe Symphony, Choral Arts-Seattle, and the Carmel Bach Festival, where he was awarded the Virginia Best Adams Fellowship for aspiring Baroque soloists in 2003. David received undergraduate degrees in voice and music education, and a master’s degree in choral conducting from the Lamont Conservatory at the University of Denver. He can be heard on several commercial recordings including Conspirare’s Grammy®-nominated album, Requiem, on the Harmonia Mundi label, singing the baritone solos in Herbert Howells’ “Requiem”. www.davidfarwig.com

Rick Gabrillo
In addition to his work as a Director of the Conspirare Youth Choirs, Rick Gabrillo is currently the Assistant Conductor for Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare and the Choir Director of the Traditional Choir at St. Louis Catholic Church in Austin. Active in the choral music education field throughout Texas, he is in frequent demand as an adjudicator and clinician for regions across the state. Mr. Gabrillo has also been selected to be a Conducting Fellow for the Chorus America Conducting Masterclass in January 2010 with the Houston Chamber Choir. After attending the New England Conservatory of Music and Boston University, he completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in choral music education and choral conducting at the University of Texas in Austin in 1996 and 1999 under Craig Hella Johnson. Mr. Gabrillo has performed on all three of Conspirare’s Grammy®-nominated albums, Requiem, Threshold of Night, and A Company of Voices: Conspirare in Concert, and has been an active member of the ensemble since 1994.

Paul Guttry
Bass-baritone Paul Guttry enjoys the variety of opera, oratorio, and a specialization in early music. His first full-time singing job was traveling throughout the US and Europe with the a cappella group Chanticleer. He has also sung throughout the USA and internationally with Sequentia, the Boston Camerata, and New York’s Ensemble for Early Music. He has appeared in concert and opera with the Seattle Early Music Guild, St. Paul’s Ex Machina, the Plymouth Music Series in Minneapolis, and the Santa Fe Pro Musica. A resident of Boston, he has appeared as soloist with Händel & Haydn, Boston Early Music Festival, the Tanglewood Music Center, Cantata Singers, Boston Cecilia, Prism Opera, Intermezzo, Boston Revels, and Collage New Music. Since 1990 he has been a member of the choir of Emmanuel Church in Boston, which performs Bach cantatas with orchestra during each Sunday service. He is also a member of Blue Heron, a Renaissance choir, which made its New York debut this fall. Paul can be heard on recordings of medieval music, Bach, Weill, and spirituals on Harmonia Mundi USA, Erato, BMG, and Koch Records.

Robert Harlan
Robert Harlan is a founding member of Conspirare, having performed in the professional and symphonic ensembles every season since 1993. Robert has sung as a soloist and a chorister with numerous professional, civic and educational organizations over the last 30 years including; Texas Early Music Project, UT Chamber Singers, Victoria Bach Festival, Austin Handel-Haydn Society, Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Oratorio Society of New York, Austin Pro-Chorus and Houston Masterworks. He has also performed in numerous musical theater productions with UT Drama, Zachary Scott Theater and Austin Pro-Arts Collective. Robert studied voice with notable baritone Jess Walters as well as performing in countless masters and doctorate recitals. Robert has a degree in English from UT and has owned a car repair business for 20 years. He lives in Austin with his wife and three small children in an antique farm house on East 6th street.

Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller, bass, is Director of Music and Organist at Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Well-known for his unique basso profundo voice, his singing career includes numerous performances and recordings as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, the St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, Choir of Men and Boys, the Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, the New York Choral Artists, Vox Early Music Ensemble (Ann Arbor) in addition to Conspirare. As a soloist he has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and has been featured in operatic productions in Bonn and Prague.

John Proft
John Proft, bass, graduated from the University of North Texas where he studied voice with Linda DiFiore and Julie McCoy. At UNT, John sang as a section leader with the A Cappella choir under Jerry McCoy, and with the Collegium Singers under Lyle Nordstrom. With Collegium, John performed as a chorister and soloist at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, MoUNTain Music Institute, and recorded the bass solos in the Biber Requiem. He has also been accepted to sing under Ton Koopman in two Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshops specializing in Bach and Handel choral works. He has sung with several professional choirs in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and now resides in Boston.

Jonathan Riemer
If it were the 1700s, Jonathan would be called “a man of letters” (meaning he dabbles in a bunch of random things with varying degrees of success). When not working as a marketing professional at an Austin-based international software company, he performs with Conspirare, Texas Early Music Project, the Schola Cantorum of St. Mary’s Cathedral, and the Victoria Bach Festival. Jonathan studied voice at the University of Texas at Austin, singing with the Concert Choral and Chamber Singers. Besides a BS in marketing design from UT, he also holds minors in art, creative writing, and music. He also has overseen visual design for Conspirare’s NEA-Sponsored “American Masterpieces Festival” and the popular “Hidden Music” concerts.

Paul Tipton
Paul Max Tipton, baritone, has soloed under such notable conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Nicholas McGegan, Paul Hillier, Leonard Slatkin, Martin Katz, and Simon Carrington. Upcoming performances include Bach and Monteverdi with Masaaki Suzuki, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen under Arianne Abela, and Frank Martin’s Sechs Monologe aus Jedermann with Ted Taylor, all in New Haven, CT, where he currently studies with tenor James Taylor at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, a May, 2010 candidate. Highlights from the current and past seasons include Elizabethan Christmas concerts with the Rose Ensemble in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Yale Camerata, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival, and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum with Ton Koopman at Carnegie Hall.

PIANO

Faith Debow
Faith DeBow has been performing regularly with Conspirare since 2004. She enjoys a vibrant and eclectic career as a collaborative and solo pianist throughout the Central Texas region. Faith has been teaching class piano and accompanying at Texas State University since 2001, where she frequently plays for faculty and student recitals. She is also a staff accompanist at Trinity University, and music director at Three Rivers Community Church. Faith earned a master’s degree in accompanying from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied under the Brooks Smith Fellowship, and a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Butler University. She has performed in over a dozen states and six countries. Faith has a wide range of musical interests including singing/songwriting, contemporary music, and popular song of the early 1900′s. She lives in San Marcos, TX.