Artists

Roberto Minczuk

Music Director

In 2017, GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor Roberto Minczuk was appointed Music Director of the New Mexico Philharmonic and of the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo. He is also Music Director Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Canada) and Conductor Emeritus of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (Rio de Janeiro). In Calgary, he recently completed a 10-year tenure as Music Director, becoming the longest-running Music Director in the orchestra’s history.

Highlights of Minczuk’s recent seasons include the complete Mahler Symphony Cycle with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach’s St. John Passion, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Verdi’s La traviata, Bernstein’s Mass, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with the Theatro Municipal Orchestra of São Paulo; debuts with the Cincinnati Opera (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Daejeon Philharmonic in South Korea; and return engagements with the Orchestra National de Lille and the New York City Ballet. In the 2016/2017 season, he made return visits to the Israel Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Teatro Colón Philharmonic and Orchestra Estable of Buenos Aires.

A protégé and close colleague of the late Kurt Masur, Minczuk debuted with the New York Philharmonic in 1998, and by 2002 was Associate Conductor, having worked closely with both Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. He has since conducted more than 100 orchestras worldwide, including the New York, Los Angeles, Israel, London, Tokyo, Oslo, and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras; the London, San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras; and the National Radio (France), Philadelphia, and Cleveland Orchestras, among many others. In March 2006, he led the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s U.S. tour, winning accolades for his leadership of the orchestra in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Until 2010, Minczuk held the post of Music Director and Artistic Director of the Opera and Orchestra of the Theatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro, and, until 2005, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, where he previously held the position of Co-Artistic Director. Other previous posts include Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Ribeirão Preto Symphony, Principal Conductor of the Brasília University Symphony, and a six-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival.

Minczuk’s recording of the complete Bachianas Brasileiras of Hector VillaLobos with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (BIS label) won the Gramophone Award of Excellence in 2012 for best recording of this repertoire. His other recordings include Danzas Brasileiras, which features rare works by Brazilian composers of the 20th century, and the Complete Symphonic Works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, which won a Latin GRAMMY in 2004 and was nominated for an American GRAMMY in 2006. His three recordings with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra include Rhapsody in Blue: The Best of George Gershwin and Beethoven Symphonies 1, 3, 5, and 8. Other recordings include works by Ravel, Piazzolla, Martin, and Tomasi with the London Philharmonic (released by Naxos), and four recordings with the Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival, including works by Dvořák, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Other projects include a 2010 DVD recording with the Chamber

Orchestra of Philadelphia, featuring the premiere of Hope: An Oratorio, composed by Jonathan Leshnoff; a 2011 recording with the Odense Symphony of Poul Ruders’s Symphony No. 5, which was featured as a Gramophone Choice in March 2012; and a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Italian Capriccio with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which accompanied the June 2010 edition of BBC Music Magazine. The Academic Orchestra of the Campos do Jordão Festival was the Carlos Gomes prizewinner for its recording from the 2005 Festival, which also garnered the TIM Award for best classical album.

Roberto Minczuk has received numerous awards, including a 2004 Emmy for the program New York City Ballet—Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100; a 2001 Martin E. Segal Award that recognizes Lincoln Center’s most promising young artists; and several honors in his native country of Brazil, including two best conductor awards from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics and the coveted title of Cultural Personality of the Year. In 2009, he was awarded the Medal Pedro Ernesto, the highest commendation of the City of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2010, he received the Order of the Ipiranga State Government of São Paulo. In 2017, Minczuk received the Medal of Commander of Arts and Culture from the Brazilian government.

A child prodigy, Minczuk was a professional musician by the age of 13. He was admitted into the prestigious Juilliard School at 14 and by the age of 16, he had joined the Orchestra Municipal de São Paulo as solo horn. During his Juilliard years, he appeared as soloist with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concerts series. Upon his graduation in 1987, he became a member of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra at the invitation of Kurt Masur. Returning to Brazil in 1989, he studied conducting with Eleazar de Carvalho and John Neschling. He won several awards as a young horn player, including the Mill Santista Youth Award in 1991 and I Eldorado Music. ●

Sarah Tasker

violin

Sarah Tasker has been busily involved in the Albuquerque music community since arriving there in 2008. She is currently the assistant concertmaster of the New Mexico Philharmonic, where she has been a featured performer, and has enjoyed playing with the Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Opera Southwest, San Juan Symphony, Albuquerque Chamber Soloists, Chatter, and The Figueroa Music and Arts Project. She has also served for many years as concertmaster for the Festival Ballet Albuquerque. Her first of several solo performances with the Utah Symphony came at age 14. Mentors instrumental in shaping her musicianship were Camilla Wicks from the San Francisco Conservatory, William Preucil and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Masao Kawasaki at The Juilliard School. She has taken her seat in international orchestral performances in several cities in Western Europe, England, China, and Japan. Ms. Tasker has received honors in competitions throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to playing, she enjoys teaching and “encouraging” three energetic children to practice. She and kids are a budding family string quartet, with two young daughters having joined her on stage in solo performances with the New Mexico Philharmonic. ●

Nancy Granert

organ

Nancy Granert was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago. She began studying the piano in the second grade, and added the organ in the eighth grade. She graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory with a B.M., studying organ with Garth Peacock, and harpsichord with David Boe and William Porter. In 1976, she received the M.M. from New England Conservatory, studying with Yuko Hayashi.

Nancy served as associate university organist and choir director at Harvard’s Memorial Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as organist at Emmanuel Church in Boston. She also served as organist at two synagogues in Boston, Temple Sinai and Central Reform Temple of Boston. While at Harvard, she toured with the University Choir as their accompanist and is heard on several of their early recordings. She spent three summers in Spain pursuing scholarly studies of early Spanish organs and organ music with Montserrat Torrent of Barcelona. She is well-known as a recitalist and teacher. During her 17 years at Emmanuel Church, she stayed on at Memorial Church as their financial director, until she retired in 2015.

Nancy moved to Albuquerque in 2015, and loves the wide-open spaces, beautiful scenery, and friendly people here. Her interests include Zentangles (a form of meditative drawing,) and beadwork. She is currently the organist at St. Luke

Lutheran Church here in Albuquerque, plays occasionally at Temple B’Nai Israel and Temple Albert, and is serving as Dean of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists. ●

Jonathan Mamora

piano

Pianist and educator Jonathan Mamora strives to uplift and positively influence others using music as a means for service. An Indonesian-American and a native of Southern California, Jonathan has served as a church pianist and organist—the result of having been enrolled in piano lessons by his parents for the purpose of becoming a church musician. Jonathan aims to use music as service not only in the church, but also in the community through homes, schools, community centers, and the concert hall.

Acclaimed for his “most assured pianism,” “natural, songful lyricism,” and “rippl[ing] through virtuosic passagework” (The Dallas Morning News), Jonathan has performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, and he is a prizewinner of numerous piano competitions, most recently winning first prize in the Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, AntwerPiano International Competition, Dallas International Piano Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, American Virtuoso International Music Competition, “Sviatoslav Richter” International Piano Competition, Chautauqua Piano Competition, and Eastman Piano Concerto Competition. He made his concerto debut at the age of 13 with the La Sierra University Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and he has since performed with such orchestras as the New Mexico Philharmonic, Dallas Chamber Symphony, Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya, Eastman Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble, Waring Festival Orchestra, and Coachella Valley Symphony, among others. Jonathan has a number of upcoming solo and concerto engagements in the United States, Europe, and Africa, as well as upcoming recording projects. As described in a review of his 2023 debut at Carnegie Hall, “Jonathan Mamora is what one might call a ‘big’ pianist, in the best sense of the term … [his] playing itself is larger-than-life. Perhaps it is unsurprising for a winner of several big competitions, but he possesses a technique so solid that it seemed at times that he couldn’t play a wrong note if he tried. On top of that solidity, he dazzles, with lightning-fast fingers and an encyclopedic array of dynamics and articulations” (New York Concert Review).

Jonathan currently serves as the music director and organist of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clifton Springs, New York. He often performs as a collaborative pianist for vocalists, instrumentalists, ensembles, and choirs. As a collaborator, Jonathan holds a graduate assistantship in accompanying at the Eastman School of Music and has received the Eastman Excellence in Accompanying Award. In addition to the piano and organ, he has also performed as a percussionist, vocalist, historical keyboardist (harpsichord, fortepiano), and conductor.

Jonathan also values education as an important tool in music making. He has previously taught piano and music theory/ ear training for various institutions and has conducted a series of master classes and concerts at the University of the Southern Caribbean in Trinidad and Tobago. He has served as instructor for music theory and aural musicianship at the Eastman School of Music and is currently teaching piano for the Eastman Community Music School.

Jonathan is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Douglas Humpherys, whom he served as studio assistant. He received his Bachelor of Music from La Sierra University and his Master of Music from The Juilliard School. Previous teachers include Elvin Rodríguez and Hung-Kuan Chen. jonathanmamora.com ●

Amy Owens

soprano

Amy Owens is known for her “high-flying vocals” and “scene-stealing” charisma (Opera News) on operatic and symphonic stages, as well as her innovative, multidisciplinary pursuits in music and entrepreneurship. Her performing career has taken her to some of America’s most beloved venues, including the Kennedy Center, where her fall 2019 debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda earned praise for “a perfect combination of purring, sensuous phrasing, and puretoned innocence” (Washington Classical Review). A well-known favorite for Carmina Burana, she has soloed twice with the National Symphony, as well as with the Omaha Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, and MidAmerica Productions for her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017. She recently created the title role in Augusta Read Thomas’s Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun with Santa Fe Opera, sharing the stage with legendary beatboxer Nicole Paris in the first commission for the groundbreaking initiative “Opera for All Voices.”

In the 2021/2022 season, Amy made her debut with Chicago Opera Theater in Becoming Santa Claus under Lydia Yankovskaya and covered the roles of Controller and Tina in Dallas Opera’s production of Flight. She also appeared with the Dayton Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony for performances of Messiah, as well as performances with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Brooklyn Art Song Society, and the Florida Keys Concert Association. She kicked off the 2022 fall season performing Enrique Granados’s Canciones amatorias with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, followed by her main-stage debut with Virginia Opera as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance.

Other notable roles include Cunegonde in Candide with the Utah Symphony, where she was praised for her “dazzling array of vocal abilities” and “remarkable acting talent,” Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Michigan Opera Theater, and Florestine in On Site Opera’s North American premiere of La mére coupable, a notoriously difficult score that Owens was hailed as handling with “keen sensitivity,” “gleaming coloratura,” and “impressive accuracy and thrilling high notes” (Broadway World, Bachtrack, Musical America). Her affinity for new music also makes her a sought-after soprano for developing contemporary works, including the Metropolitan Opera workshop of Eurydice, and multiple workshops with American Opera Projects. She covered the role of Faustina in the world premiere of The Phoenix at Houston Grand Opera in 2019, sang as a last-minute replacement in Opera America’s 2016 New Opera Showcase at Trinity Church NYC, was featured in The Intimacy of Creativity Festival in Hong Kong in 2017, and has premiered art song frequently with the NYFOS Next series.

Amy was a resident artist with Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Central City Opera, and was a grandprize recipient of the Sullivan Foundation in 2014. She also holds awards from the Jensen Foundation (2019 finalist) and Metropolitan Opera National Council (Eastern Region finalist 2015). She is a multiple prizewinner with the George

London Foundation and was a featured soloist on their recital series with Anthony Dean Griffey and Warren Jones in 2018.

As a multidisciplinary artist, Amy performed at the 50th annual New Orleans Jazz Festival with renowned musician Glen David Andrews in the Blues Tent in 2019, and as a budding conductor, she was selected to participate in the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at Dallas Opera and the International Conducting Workshop Festival in Bulgaria. She released two collaborative albums in 2019: a debut album of original music, HAETHOR, which received acclaim in the electronica world as “an enchanted force” (Impose), and Songs of Leonard Bernstein, including previously unrecorded vocal music. Other discography includes her performance as Mater Gloriosa in Utah Symphony’s recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8

As an educator and producer, Amy co-founded The Collective Conservatory and developed a unique curriculum to forge new and innovative paths for online musical collaboration during the pandemic in 2020. She has also served as the artistic director and co-founder of Bel Canto Productions in Westwood, New Jersey, and production manager for Access Opera, two organizations with missions to increase accessibility and broaden the definition of opera for a wider audience. She developed a unique online education program for vocalists in 2021 called Vocal Revolution and maintains a robust online studio focusing on technique and vocal freedom. In 2022, she codirected Opera Storytellers, a children’s day camp run through Santa Fe Opera, developing a groundbreaking process for youth to compose and perform an original opera in five days. She also produced a two-week festival for students from her private vocal studio, called Studio Fest, where she produced multiple concerts and conducted a scenes program in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Amy enjoys developing her interests as a multi-genre vocalist, producer, conductor, accordion player, dancer, yogi, educator, writer, composer, and wellness

advocate. She holds an M.M. in vocal performance from Rice University and a B.M. in vocal performance from Brigham Young University. ●

Olga Perez Flora

mezzo-soprano

Cuban-American mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora (she/her/ella) has been lauded by Opera News for her “smoky tones” and “firm, pleasant voice and lively poise.” She has performed with opera companies and symphonies across the country and internationally and is best known for her sultry Carmen, which she has performed numerous times, including her debut with Amarillo Opera. Dr. Flora was recently featured in Frida with Opera Southwest and Michael Ching’s Completing the Picture, which was recorded and filmed remotely during the pandemic, for Opera Company Middlebury. She has sung with opera companies and symphonies across the United States, including Pittsburgh Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Company Middlebury, Opera Southwest, Erie Chamber Orchestra, Amarillo Opera, New Jersey Opera Theatre, Akron Symphony, Idyllwild Festival of the Arts, Resonance Works, ReNew, Lake Tahoe Chamber Society, and more.

Upcoming performances include Carmen in Carmen and The Sea in Before Night Falls with Opera Southwest in spring 2024, as well as her debut recording: Canciones de mi Isla: Songs from My Island, featuring Cuban classical songs. She will be returning

to Rome, Italy, in summer 2024 to sing the mezzo-soprano solos in Verdi’s Requiem. Dr. Flora is currently an assistant professor of voice and head of the voice area at the University of New Mexico where she directs the Spring opera. olgaperezflora.com ●

James Flora

tenor

Hailed for his “resonant, impeccably trained voice and fearlessness to his singing,” American tenor James Flora has received acclaim in repertoire ranging from Verdi and Wagner to works by Carlisle Floyd and Daron Hagen, having sung the role of Louis Sullivan from Hagen’s Shining Brow at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 20th-century masterpiece Fallingwater. James has sung with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus under Maestro Donald Palumbo in their most recent productions of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Fidelio. He made his Pittsburgh Opera debut as Fenton in Falstaff, and has since returned for seven productions, including Carmen, Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor, and most recently as Second Jew alongside the Salome of Patricia Racette.

James has performed leading roles in opera companies across the United States, including Alfredo (La traviata), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Rodolfo (La bohème), and Don José (Carmen), appearing with companies including Washington Concert Opera, Arizona Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Company Middlebury, Opera Columbus, and others. Equally at

home on the symphonic stage, he has sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Erie Chamber Orchestra, and Buffalo Philharmonic, and recently debuted with the La Voz Humana: Lenguajes Múltiples festival in Cuba with Maestro Leo Brouwer and guitar virtuoso Joaquin Clerch. James’ recent performances include a debut as Florestan in Fidelio with Opera Company Middlebury and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, where he has previously been seen as Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Mitch (A Streetcar Named Desire).

James was a Young American Artist with Glimmerglass Opera, a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, and a Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera, where he made his operatic debut as Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth. In 2010, James was a Richard Tucker finalist. He holds voice degrees from The Ohio State University (B.M. in vocal performance, summa cum laude) and Florida State University (M.M. in vocal performance).

He is currently on the voice faculty of the University of New Mexico and has served on the faculties of Arizona State University, University of Nevada—Reno, Central Michigan University, Otterbein University, and Point Park University, and is a member of NATS and AGMA. James has students performing on and off Broadway in productions of Hamilton, Urinetown, Shrek the Musical, and Rent and has students in Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. He is the co-artistic director and co-founder of Tito Gobbi Italian Summer Program on the grounds of the Gobbi Villa in Rome, Italy.

Carlos Archuleta

baritone

A native New Mexican, Carlos Archuleta has had a varied and full singing career as an operatic baritone. His repertoire ranges from Rossini and Verdi to Adams and Falla. He has performed with notable companies such as Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, Orlando Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Utah Opera. Past repertoire includes Figaro in Il barbiere de Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro, Conte Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Conte di Luna in Il trovatore. One of his signature roles was Escamillo in Carmen, which took him to London, performing in the Royal Albert Hall. Other roles include Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Nixon in Nixon in China, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Marcello and Schaunard in La bohème, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Germont in La traviata. As an oratorio soloist, Mr. Archuleta has performed the solos for J.S. Bach’s Cantata Ich habe genug with the American Festival of Microtonal Music (NYC), and the baritone soloist in Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 with Maestro Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra. Other appearances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s Magnificat, most recently with Maestro Franz Vote and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society and the New Mexico Bach Chorale, with both Mr. Archuleta is a member, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the Fauré, Verdi, and Brahms Requiems. Mr. Archuleta has also completed a recital tour with Debra Layers and Christina Martos around the northern New Mexico area, featuring vocal music inspired by William Shakespeare. The trio also completed a salon recital with the Montage Music Society, featuring music by Schumann, Reynaldo Hahn, Verdi, and Stephen Sondheim.

Recent engagements include the role of Tonio in Pagliacci; Tenorio in the world premiere of Bless Me, Ultima; and Scarpia in Tosca and Ping in Turandot with Opera Southwest. Mr. Archuleta participated in the Mozart Music Festival and 2023 Opera Scenes with Maestro Vote and the New Mexico Performing Arts Society and was part of the guest faculty for the Vocal Artistry Art Song Festival-Canciones Españolas at the Albuquerque Academy. ●

Coro Lux Oratorio Society

Coro Lux (“Chorus of Light”) is an auditioned community chorus based in Albuquerque, founded in fall 2015. Under Artistic Director Bradley Ellingboe, the chorus has grown into one of the top choruses in New Mexico. Coro Lux consists of the larger Oratorio Society and the smaller Chamber Chorus. The Oratorio Society, with 60 members, presents major choral works, usually with orchestra and often in conjunction with the New Mexico Philharmonic. The Chamber Chorus is an ensemble of 16 members that presents a variety of smaller works in various locations around Albuquerque. Each ensemble presents about three concert programs each season.

Coro Lux has participated in music events far from Albuquerque, including a Carnegie Hall concert in 2016 and the Great American Choral Series festival in Florence, Italy, in the summer of 2018.  In 2017, Coro Lux became the Ensemble-in-Residence at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. ●

Bradley Ellingboe

director

Bradley Ellingboe has led a wide-ranging career in the world of singing, including accomplishments as a choral conductor, soloist, composer, scholar, and teacher. As a choral conductor, he has led festival choruses in 35 states and 14 countries. As a bass-baritone soloist, he has sung under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and Sir David Willcocks. Ellingboe has more than 160 pieces of music in print, including his Requiem for chorus and orchestra, which has been performed more than 300 times in this country and Europe. For his scholarly work in making the songs of Edvard Grieg more accessible to the English-speaking public, he was knighted by the King of Norway in 1994. As a teacher, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association named him Faculty of the Year in 2008.

Bradley Ellingboe retired in 2015 after serving on the faculty of the University of New Mexico for 30 years, where he was Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and Regents Lecturer. He is a graduate of Saint Olaf College and the Eastman School of Music and has done further study at the Aspen Music Festival, the Bach Aria Festival, the University of Oslo, and the Vatican.

Ellingboe has won annual awards for his choral compositions from ASCAP— the American Society of Composers, Arrangers, and Publishers—since 2000. His choral music is widely sung and has been performed and recorded by such groups as the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, VocalEssence, the Saint Olaf Choir, the Harvard Glee Club, Conspirare, and the choirs of the University of Michigan and Luther College, among many others. Beginning in the summer of 2020, he will be Composer-in-Residence for Albany Pro Musica.

He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife Karen. They are the parents of three children and have four grandchildren. Ellingboe is Director of Choirs at the United Church of Santa Fe and founder and artistic director of Albuquerque’s Coro Lux (“Chorus of Light”). ●

Valerie Potter

flute

Valerie Potter has performed as principal flutist of the New Mexico Symphony from 1993–2011 and of the New Mexico Philharmonic since 2011, and has held the piccolo position with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 1994. A student of James Pellerite, she received her Bachelor of Music from Indiana University with a performer’s certificate. Ms. Potter also received a Master’s of Music from Yale University where she studied with Tom Nyfenger. She has performed with many

orchestras across the country including the Cincinnati Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the Houston Symphony.

She has been featured as a soloist with the New Mexico Symphony, performing the C.P.E. Bach Concerto in d minor and the Concerto for Flute and Harp by Mozart and was a soloist in the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival’s performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4. She has been a member of the faculty of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is currently serving as Associate Professor of Flute at the University of New Mexico.

Ms. Potter has been featured as a performer at several National Flute Association conventions. She has also been an invited artist and clinician at several flute fairs and is in demand as a chamber musician. In 2007, she served as the local coordinator for the NFA Convention. Ms. Potter’s discography includes a recording of 20th-century wind quintet repertoire with the New Mexico Winds. ●

Kevin Vigneau

oboe

Principal Oboe of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Dr. Kevin Vigneau is also Professor of Oboe at UNM and has enjoyed an international career as an orchestral player, soloist, teacher, and chamber musician.

Principal Oboe of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra (South Africa) from 1986–1990 and Principal Oboe of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal) from 1993–1996, he has been a member of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, the Opera Company of Boston Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, and a fellow at the Berkshire Music Festival.

Dr. Vigneau has performed as a chamber musician with Music from Angel Fire, the Banff Festival, the South African Broadcasting Society, the Mistral Wind Quintet, the Cassat Quartet, the Kandinsky Trio, and the Maia String Quartet. As a recitalist and soloist, he has performed in Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon; at Octoboefest in Iowa; at International Double Reed Society Conferences in Chicago and Phoenix; in Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Cape Town, the Azores, Taiwan, and Canada; and at many colleges and universities throughout the United States.

His solo CD, Oboe on the Edge: Modern Masterworks for Oboe, was released in 2008 on Centaur Records. He has also recorded the Richard Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa for EMI Classics, the Hidas Oboe Concerto with the UNM Wind Symphony on the Summit label, and 20th-century wind quintets with the New Mexico Winds for Centaur.

Dr. Vigneau holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University (1998), where he studied with Ronald Roseman and was awarded the Dean’s Prize for outstanding member of the graduating class. He also studied with Ralph Gomberg and Laurence Thorstenberg at Boston University, where he earned his B.M.

The Cape Times has referred to Dr. Vigneau as “a consummate instrumentalist, who brings to the task technical facility, abundant musicality, and a keen intellect.” ●

Marianne Shifrin

clarinet

Marianne Shifrin is active as an orchestral and chamber musician around the country. She has been principal clarinet of the New Mexico Philharmonic since 2017, and has also been a member of the Arizona Opera Orchestra since 2010, performing regularly as principal. Recently, Marianne served as acting bass and utility clarinet with the Colorado Symphony and as acting principal of the El Paso Symphony. A frequent extra and substitute musician with orchestras around the Southwest and Western U.S., she has performed as guest principal with the Phoenix, Tucson, and Santa Fe Symphonies, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and the Colorado Ballet Orchestra, among others. Previously, Marianne was a Civic Orchestra of Chicago Fellow and a member of the Greeley Philharmonic and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.

During the summer, Marianne performs with the Missouri Symphony and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Arkansas. Marianne is the clarinetist with the August Winds, a Dallas-based wind quintet. Other chamber music appearances include the Phoenix Winter Chamber Music Festival, Albuquerque’s Chatter Series, and the International Double Reed Society Conference. Dedicated to music education, she has taught at the elementary, middle school, high school, and college level in schools and programs around the country.

of Music, and her Master of Music from Yale University. She has performed at the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen, Sarasota, Chautauqua, and Bowdoin music festivals. ●

Stefanie Przybylska

bassoon

Stefanie Przybylska serves as the principal bassoonist of both the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic, and has appeared as a featured soloist with the Santa Fe, New Mexico, and San Juan Symphony orchestras in works by Mozart, Haydn, and John Williams. Stefanie has played with ensembles here and abroad, including the Chicago Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic orchestras, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. A dedicated teacher and coach, her former students have gone on to pursue their musical studies at the Eastman School of Music, the Curtis Institute, and Rice University. ●

Maria Long

horn

Hornist Maria Long is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in Performance and Pedagogy under the tutelage of Michael Thornton at the University of Colorado Boulder. Maria holds an M.M from the Herberger Institute, Arizona State University where she studied with Dr. John Ericson. An avid performer, Maria is currently the Assistant Principal/Utility Horn with the New Mexico Philharmonic and plays regularly with the Colorado Symphony, Opera Southwest, and the Santa Fe Symphony. She has also performed alongside members of the LA Chamber Orchestra and has subbed with the Hawaii Symphony. Maria previously held the positions of Principal Horn of the Longmont Symphony, Associate Principal Horn of the West Valley Symphony, and Second Horn of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra. A strong proponent of new music, she has commissioned several pieces, even having one of her projects funded by the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Project from the International Horn Society. When she isn’t playing or teaching music, Maria can be found painting, hiking, or rock climbing. ●

Cármelo de los Santos

violin

Brazilian-born violinist Cármelo de los Santos enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. From his extensive concerto experience to his most recent performances of the 24 Caprices by Paganini and the sonatas and partitas of Bach, his virtuosity and commitment to communicate the essence of music captivate audiences worldwide. Cármelo has performed as a guest soloist with more than 40 orchestras, including the New World Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Santa Fe and New Mexico Symphonies, the Montevideo Philharmonic, Orquestra Musica d’Oltreoceano (Rome), and the major orchestras in Brazil. Cármelo is a winner of several international competitions including the 4th Júlio Cardona International String Competition (Portugal). In 2002, Cármelo made his New York debut as soloist and conductor in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall with the ARCO Chamber Orchestra. Cármelo is an Associate Professor of Violin at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and plays on an Angelo Soliani violin, 1791. ●

Laura Chang

viola

Violinist and violist Laura Chang, a native of Wisconsin, was born into a musical family and began her violin studies shortly after her fourth birthday. Laura earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Peabody Conservatory, under the tutelage of Martin Beaver and Pamela Frank, for whom she was a graduate assistant.

Laura is an avid chamber and orchestral musician whose performances have taken her to venues across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. While a resident of Washington, D.C., she was a member of the National Philharmonic and the Maryland Symphony and frequently performed as an extra with the major orchestras in the Baltimore/Washington metro area. More recently, she performed with the Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. In 2020, Laura and her family relocated to Albuquerque, where she is the principal violist with the New Mexico Philharmonic and a first violinist in the Santa Fe Symphony. Laura is also a member of the Central City Opera Orchestra and performs with the Santa Fe Opera. ●

Akilan Sankaran

piano

Sixteen-year-old pianist Akilan Sankaran is a student of Lawrence Blind at the New Mexico School of Music. Akilan has performed at distinguished venues such as the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, Mazzoleni Hall in the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Église de Verbier. He was the only junior pianist selected to attend the 2022 Verbier Festival as part of the Verbier Academy. He has had master classes with renowned musicians including Kirill Gerstein, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Stephen Kovacevich, Olga Kern, Gábor Tákacs-Nagy, Mathieu Herzog, Mihaela Martin, and Augustin Dumay. Akilan is a three-time winner of the Dennis Alexander Piano Competition, two-time winner of Professional Music Teachers of New Mexico’s State Honors Audition, and winner of the 2021 Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition. Akilan won the New Mexico state Music Teachers National Association junior piano competition in 2021. He was also awarded the National Gold Medal by the Royal Conservatory of Music twice. He has been studying piano since he was 5 years old.

Akilan is currently in the eleventh grade at Albuquerque Academy. Besides piano, Akilan plays the drums and enjoys being part of a piano trio group at Albuquerque Academy. He also loves singing and was part of New Mexico Educators Association’s All State Choir in 2018. He plays jazz piano in his school’s jazz band and was selected to the 2022 All-State Jazz Band.

Outside of piano, he also enjoys crosscountry running and frequently participates in math and science contests. He won first place in the mathematics category of the Regeneron International Science fair in 2022, the Samueli Foundation prize in the 2021 Broadcom Masters competition, and first place in the New Mexico state Mathcounts competition. As the champion of New Mexico’s spelling bee competition, Akilan represented New Mexico in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2017. ●

Daniel Steven Crafts

composer

Daniel Steven Crafts was the chosen composer of the great American tenor Jerry Hadley until his tragic death. Their first collaboration, The Song & the Slogan, a setting of poetry by Carl Sandburg, was made into a program by the PBS network and won an Emmy® for Best Music.

Mr. Crafts is the creator of a new genre of opera, Gonzo Opera, as well as being an originator of the “found sound” electronic music movement of the 1970s.

His opera and vocal music collaborations have included work with distinguished writers, including Rudolfo Anaya (La Llorona, the opera), V.B. Price (From a Distant Mesa), Benedict and Nancy Freedman (Sappho, the opera), Erik Bauersfeld (Diary of a Madman; Bartleby), poet Adam Cornford (many works), and cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man).

His latest release is Bright Star, a recording of orchestral songs and arias with tenor Brian Cheney, available on music streaming platforms.

To date, Mr. Crafts has completed 22 operas, 18 symphonies, 6 concertos, and 15 large orchestral works, as well as a variety of shorter pieces. In addition to an Emmy, his work has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous awards from ASCAP. His orchestral work has been recorded by the Kiev and Czech Philharmonics and the Prague Radio Symphony and Chorus.

Having spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Crafts moved to New Mexico in 1999. ●