Sharyn Peterson
Music Director Sharyn Peterson holds a B.A. in Fine Arts (music emphasis), and studied voice, viola, and violin. She also holds an M.A. in Violin Performance/Pedagogy from the University of Washington. She studied conducting with Vilem Sokol and Gary Bonner, and is currently in her 11th year of conducting the Mt. Baker Youth Symphony, her 8th year of conducting the Fidalgo Youth Symphony. Sharyn also has soloed on the violin with several Northwest Orchestras and is the Artistic Director and Violin Soloist for the Starry Night Chamber Concerts in the historic Lincoln Theater in Mt. Vernon.


Robert Parker
Robert Parker, originally from Michigan, spent several years learning, writing, recording, and touring with jazz legend, Marcus Belgrave. Robert appeared on television with Belgrave’s “Tribute to Louis Armstrong” group, and has performed at many prestigious jazz festivals. Robert has received numerous awards for outstanding solo work, including a Downbeat award and an award from the Notre Dame jazz festival. Robert can be heard on Marcus Belgrave’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong on the WJS Jazz Discs label, and Western Michigan University Jazz Orchestra: Blue Miles on the Sea Breeze label. Presently, Robert lives in New York City, where he is composes, arranges, performs, and records as a freelance musician. Mr. Parker is on staff at the Manhattan School of Music.

Christi Salisbury
Christi Salisbury began performing the violin at the age of 5 for child audiences across the U.S., Canada, and the Bahamas. She received recognition for her accomplishments from Liberty University which awarded her the titles of Music Student of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year. Christi continued her studies with Mitchell Stern and Ilya Kaler at the Eastman School of Music. In 1999 she was invited to perform with the Schlossfestpiel Orchester in Heidelberg, Germany. In 2002 Christi began studying with Burton Kaplan, Manhattan School of Music. She has more than 10 years pedagogic experience and currently teaches at Monmouth Conservatory in Red Bank, New Jersey. She now resides in Closter, New Jersey.

Elizabeth Hodes
Elizabeth Hodes started her piano studies at the age of 3, attending the Mannes School of Music preparatory division and participating in its honor program for many years, under the tutelage of the late Sheila Aldendorff. Later, while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, from which she was graduated magna cum laude with a major in classics, Elizabeth continued her piano study with William Wolfram. She most recently achieved a Masters in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. Elizabeth has performed in and around New York for more than twenty years, including debuts at Steinway and Baldwin Halls. She has repeatedly been a concerto soloist with the Colorado Springs Summer Music Festival and as guest artist at Musique de Provence in France. Elizabeth currently resides in New York.

Victoria Parker
Victoria Parker began studying the violin with her mother, Sharyn Peterson, at age two-and-a-half, and was performing with her family quintet by age 5. Other private teachers include: Wai Chan-Mitsutani, Eric Shumsky, Barton Frank, Renata Knific, and Walter Schwede. She currently studies with Burton Kaplan. She has toured throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and music educator. As an orchestra member, Ms. Parker has performed with Aretha Franklin, Sarah Brightman, Manhattan Transfer, Yefim Bronfman, Alan Vizutti, James Galway, Elmar Olivera, Leif Ove Andsnes, and others. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Barton Frank, John Barcelona, Peter Christ, Walter Shwede, Bottom Line Duo, Wai Chan-Mitsutani, and her husband, Robert Parker. Now 26 years of age, Victoria has 13 years of concertmaster experience and 14 years of teaching experience. Victoria received a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Western Michigan University, and is a candidate for a Master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music.

Jamie Jordan
A native of Illinois, Jamie Jordan is a versatile soprano, having earned her master of opera performance degree from Arizona State University and her bachelor’s degree in jazz studies from Western Michigan University. As part of the Lyric Opera Theatre, Miss Jordan sang in Die Fledermaus and Cosi fan Tutte at ASU. She has performed principal roles in Xerxes, The Medium, and Trouble in Tahiti, and has appeared as a soloist across the United States. Jamie recently received her Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and has performed with Encompass Opera Theatre.



Emily Schaefer
Emily Schaefer began her cello studies at age 12 in her hometown of Jackson, MI. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Western Michigan University as a student of Bruce Uchimura and holds a Master’s Degree from Mannes College of Music, where she was a scholarship student of Marcy Rosen. As part of the Melussine Quartet, Ms. Schaefer has performed in masterclasses for such artists as The Guarneri, Lark and Cavani Quartets. Emily has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Verizon Hall.

3. Baroque Northwest

Formed in 1993, Baroque Northwest and is made up of people who share the same dedicated and progressive attitude towards performing music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, as well as Modern, and Traditional music.

We challenge and question the traditional canon of what historical performance practice should be, as well as the traditional concept of what a concert should be. We have fun with our concerts while never violating the integrity of the music (we show respect for the dead). We make our programs accessible to the general public while keeping them stimulating to our regular audience of early music aficionados.

While some early music ensembles chose to perform in 19th-century costumes, we perform in modern clothes because we believe ancient music is for modern people. Our programs are given in a traditional classical music setting but we often speak directly and informally to the audience, sharing interesting and amusing anecdotes about the music and composers, and we have been known to encourage audience participation.

In the 2003-04 season we began to further expand our musical horizons with two cross-genre concerts with two different groups who play traditional music from around the world. The concerts were an opportunity to make historical connections between different peoples and musics.

We’ve also begun premiering pieces written just for us. We’ve been featured on the NPR syndicated program Harmonia, performed at Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, the Boston and Bloomington early music festivals, and given concerts in Israel, California, Oregon, and the Midwest. We are a graduate of the Professional Affiliate program of the Early Music Guild.

We’ve been part of the Washington State Arts Commission Arts In Education Program, with tours and residencies at schools in rural Washington. Our programs include everything from intimate chamber music, orchestral music with concerto soloists, sacred and secular music for chorus and orchestra, vocal a capella concerts, and staged baroque opera productions. Our programs also include jazz, zydeco, traditional, and contemporary music. We love music of alltypes and enjoy sharing it. See #6 for Baroque Northwest member biographies.

4. Roderick Jimmy

Roderick Jimmy, of the Nooksack Tribe, has been performing and composing since childhood. Roderick’s mother, Vera Harris, her native name being Sotia, had a profound influence on Roderick’s musical development. His first CD, entitled: Sotia’s Love, was released in 2002. Roderick is also a classically trained pianist and has performed in numerous venues, including the Seattle Opera House. Roderick is one of the most talented Native American wood flute players in the Northwest. His style encompasses a range of music from Native American, Church, chants, to more contemporary sounds. Currently, he is working on his second CD, Yellow Cedars Pride and Joy, which will be dedicated to his father, Tom Harris. In his free time, Roderick teaches moccasin making.

5. Wayne Lavallee

Wayne Lavallee is from the Cree/Metis Nation; he was born in Vancouver and raised in Surrey, B.C. At the age of five Wayne received his first guitar & discovered his passion for music and singing. Through the influence of his Native culture, music and theatre, Wayne would emerge as a professional entertainer touring nationally as a singer/songwriter and actor.

The fusion of his folk/rock acoustic style with traditional Cree chanting makes his work unique, fresh and innovative.

Wayne’s music is inspired by many genres, from Led Zepplin to Aboriginal chants thousands of years old. His recent most recent album “Green Dress,” was produced by Kevin Kane how also produced “Grapes of Wrath.” Join Wayne and his band in a fabulous outdoor event!

6. Baroque Northwest (Individual Members)

Kim Pineda
Kim Pineda has performed throughout the US, Canada, in Israel, and on NPR. Founder and director of Baroque Northwest, he plays regularly with leading early music ensembles in the U.S. He has performed at the Boston, Berkeley, Long Beach Bach, and Bloomington early music festivals, Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, and has recorded on the Focus and Centaur labels. Kim received the Master of Music degree from Washington University, St. Louis, and the Bachelor of Music degree from California State University Northridge. He has taught at Indiana University, USC, at workshops sponsored by the San Francisco and San Diego early music societies and the Seattle Recorder Society, and directs his own Baroque Flute Boot Camp. Kim has also adjudicated at the NFA’s Tri-annual Baroque Flute Artist competition.

Ronnee Fullerton
Ronnee Fullerton is a prominent member of Seattle’s multi-faceted early musicians. He plays a variety of historical stringed instruments, bass and treble violas da gamba, baroque and modern violin, ud, vielle, and rebab, and composes music. A founding member of Le Nuove Musiche and a regular member of Baroque Northwest, Ronnee also appears regularly with Contrafacta, has done numerous recitals for the Early Music Guild of Seattle and their education program, and has been a member of the Tacoma Symphony.

An endearing and engaging educator, Ronnee is known for his innovative teaching style with young people. He is a music specialist for the Tacoma Public Schools, and teaches for the Pacific Northwest Viols. Ronnee can be heard on Le Nuove Musiche’s premier CD, Dolce Desio. He has performed with Margriet Tindemans, Mary Springfels, Annalisa Pappano, and Matthias Maute. He studied viola da gamba and vielle with Margriet Tindemans and baroque violin with Ingrid Matthews.

Elizabeth Brown
Elizabeth Brown is head of the Guitar and Lute program at Pacific Lutheran University and is active throughout the Pacific Northwest as a solo and ensemble performer. Known for her musically passionate performances, she has given solo recitals and performed concertos throughout the West Coast from Vancouver to Southern California, and has been a featured soloist for the Seattle Bach Choir, Fresno Pacific University’s Musica Pacifica Baroque and St. Mark’s Cathedral Associates

A regular member of Baroque Northwest, Ms. Brown has appeared with the Seattle ProMusica, ArtsWest, and the City Cantabile Choir. Ms. Brown is a founding member of the early music group Le Nuove Musiche, which released in 2001 the recording Dolce Desio: The Birth of the Baroque in Italy, France and England. She is a regularly featured musician on Channel 9s “KCTS Connects” program, and was a frequent guest on Classic King FM. Ms. Brown graduated cum laude from the University of Washington with Bachelor of Arts and Music degrees in Guitar and Lute Performance under the direction of Steven Novacek.

August Denhard
August Denhard has been a key figure in the production and management of early music in the Midwest since 1995. In Indiana he was the Education Director for the Columbus Philaharmonic from 1995-1998, and since 1996 has worked with the Bloomington Early Music Festival as Assistant Director, Education Director, and Opera Producer. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peabody Conservatory and Northwestern University, and pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University, where he is currently completing his dissertation in early music performance practice.

Mr. Denhard is active as a performer on lute, theorbo, and Baroque guitar, performing as a regular member of Baroque Northwest, and also with Seattle Baroque.

He has taught early music at the Interlochen Summer Music Camp and the Indiana University Summer Recorder Academy, and has lectured at the Lute Society of America Seminar. He is currently serving as Executive Director of the Early Music Guild of Seattle.

7. Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble

The Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble was founded in 1981 by conductor Maurice Backun and a group of talented wind and percussion players who wanted a challenging playing experience. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the ensemble now draws musicians from all over the Lower Mainland, and has become one of the finest ensembles of its kind in North America. From its inception, the group has worked with a variety of composers, conductors and soloists, performing new and unusual works as well as standard wind ensemble repertoire.

The Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble will be a headline event at the opening ceremonies, Friday July 16th. Playing on a barge on the channel, the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble will perform Handel’s Water Music, and Music for a Royal Fireworks under a fireworks display. Join us for a magnificent evening of art, music and tradition.

Mark Crompton, Music Director
Marc Crompton is Director of Bands at St. George’s School. He has also directed the bands and taught percussion at the West Coast Amateur Musicians’ Society Summer Camp and Courtenay Youth Music Center and is a past director of the Cambie Street Brass Band. He currenty runs a summer percussion workshop at Summer at St. George’s and is an active clinician, performer, guest conductor and adjudicator.

He is an active member of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the British Columbia Band Association and the Canadian Band Association and Associate Member of the College Band Directors’ Association. He has been a member of the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble since 1984 and served as Principal Percussionist before becoming Associate Music Director in 1996 and Music Director in 1999.

12. Jillian Speer

Today at twenty-four years old, Jillian has opened for Jewel in San Diego, California as well as Michael Franti and Spearhead at “Reggae on the River.”

Jillian’s music is making it’s mark, her star is rising. This year, she was nominated “Best Album of the Year,” by the LA MUSIC AWARDS and was on the cover of the “Music Connection” Magazine in the September 2003 release. In November 2002, Speer played in New York City at “The Songwriters Hall of Fame.” Her title song, “Angel Among Us” was selected and released in a recent “Songwriters Hall of Fame” Compilation CD.

Jillian’s music has often been on Party of Five, the television series, and two of her songs are currently in a feature film called, “ Purpose .” In 2000, an exclusive entertainment segment about Ms. Speer was featured on Oprah’s cable channel, “Oxygen.”

13. Elizabeth Brown and Gus Denhard: Duos for Lutes and Guitars

Elizabeth Brown
Elizabeth Brown is head of the Guitar and Lute program at Pacific Lutheran University and is active throughout the Pacific Northwest as a solo and ensemble performer. Known for her musically passionate performances, she has given solo recitals and performed concertos throughout the West Coast from Vancouver to Southern California, and has been a featured soloist for the Northwest Chamber Chorus, the Seattle Bach Choir, Fresno Pacific University’s Musica Pacifica Baroque and St. Mark’s Cathedral Associates. Also active as a chamber musician, Ms. Brown is a member of Baroque Northwest, and has appeared with ArtsWest, Seattle ProMusica, and the City Cantábile Choir. Ms. Brown is a founding member of the early music group Le Nuove Musiche, which has released the recording Dolce Desio: The Birth of the Baroque in Italy, France and England. She has been featured on Channel 9’s “KCTS Connects” program, and is a frequent guest on Classic King FM.

Gus Denhard
Gus Denhard has been a key figure in the production and management of early music in the Midwest since 1995. In Indiana he was the Education Director for the Columbus Philharmonic from 1995-1998, and from 1996 to 2000 worked with the Bloomington Early Music Festival as Assistant Director, Education Director, and Opera Producer. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Peabody Conservatory and Northwestern University, and pursued doctoral studies at Indiana University, where he is currently completing his dissertation in early music performance practice. Mr. Denhard is active as a performer on lute, theorbo, and Baroque guitar, performing regularly with Baroque Northwest, and occasionally with Seattle Baroque, Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Pro Musica, and Seattle Choral Company. He has taught early music at the Interlochen Summer Music Camp and the Indiana University Summer Recorder Academy, has lectured at the Lute Society of America Seminar, and directs the Early Music Guild’s Community Continuo Ensemble. He is currently serving as Executive Director of the Early Music Guild of Seattle.

15. Trio Atlantico

Lorraine Min
Canadian-born pianist, Lorraine Min, praised by the New York Times for her “crystalline sound…characterful and charming musical impulses,” has performed in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, in Washington DC’s Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, Town Hall in both England and New York, Gracie Mansion at the request of New York City’s former Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and throughout other parts of the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, India, and Australia.

Min has won top prizes and awards of distinction in international competitions including the Washington International, D’Angelo, and William Kapell. She was the top ranking Canadian pianist at the age of nineteen in the Harveys Leeds and Busoni competitions and was laureate in the Van Cliburn Competition. She has been the recipient of the prestigious “Arts Grant B” for three consecutive years, among other grants from the Canada Council for the Arts.

She has performed with the Vancouver, and Abbotsford Symphony Orchestras in B.C., the Juilliard Orchestra, Peabody Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, D’Angelo Symphony, Whatcom Symphony, Orchestra del Tolima in South America, and others. An active chamber musician as well, Min has performed frequently throughout North America including at the Ravinia and Tanglewood Music Festivals. She has had the privilege of working with many acclaimed artists; among them are Leon Fleisher, Emmanuel Ax, Christoph Eschenbach, Gilbert Kalish, Leon Kirchner, the Tokyo String Quartet, and Robert Mann of the former Juilliard Quartet.

Min received her Doctoral and Masters degrees from the Juilliard School, and graduated Pi Kappa Lambda with her Bachelors degree from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University on full scholarship. Her principal teachers have been Joseph Kalichstein, Jerome Lowenthal, and Ellen Mack.
Min’s upcoming engagements include performances at the Octagon Music Centre on Cape Breton Island, New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, concerto appearances with Symphony Nova Scotia, and chamber music with the critically acclaimed St. Lawrence String Quartet. Her solo compact disc recording of Schubert and Liszt is available this summer.

In addition to her performing career, Min was Director of Piano at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania from 1998-2001 and a full-time Professor of Piano at Western Washington University from 2001-2003.

Norman Adams
Norman Adams is Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia, the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN music, and an improviser and experimental musician eager to explore many different styles of music, sound creation and performance.

A student of Hans Jørgen Jensen, the American master Bernard Greenhouse, and Pauline Oliveros, Norman has been a featured soloist with SNS, and Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal and has performed chamber, and improvised music throughout the US and Canada. His performances have also been heard across the country on CBC Radio One and Two.

His musical career finds him performing in diverse venues, in collaboration with a broad range of performers. Amongst others, he has collaborated with pop singer Linda Brooks, Jest in Time Theatre, composer Barry Guy, improvisers Ladonna Smith, David Mott, Pauline Oliveros, Rufus Cappadocia and The National Ballet of Canada. Norman can be heard on many recordings and soundtracks. He has recorded music for the NFB documentary “Hoffman’s Potion” and Sandy Moore’s music for the Thom Fitzgerald feature film “The Event”. Norman has also been featured in concert at the Atlantic Jazz Festival most recently with Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee.

Norman is the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN, a Halifax improvising ensemble, and loves to produce concerts of strange and exciting music, both as a soloist, collaborator, and with suddenlyLISTEN. Over the past seven seasons Norman has collaborated as a performer, improviser and composer with Halifax dancer/choreographer Gwen Noah.

Together they have performed over fifty concerts around Nova Scotia, and in several tours across Canada.

This past season Norman premiered descendant a major new movement/music project with Gwen Noah Dance, performed the Saint Saens Concerto with SNS, and produced and performed four concerts for suddenlyLISTEN, as well as initiating new projects with Janice Jackson, and a major creative project for Junior High School students.

In 2000, Norman was named to the Halifax Chronicle Herald Arts Honour Role.
Norman makes his home in Halifax with SNS principal violist Susan Sayle, and his two young sons. His passion for music is equalled by his love for riding and racing bicycles, and if he’s not playing the cello he’s probably out riding on the trails and roads of Nova Scotia.

Terence Tam
A native of Canada, Terence Tam has been performing publicly on the violin and piano since the age of eight. He is a frequent recitalist and chamber musician in Canada and the U.S.A., and has also performed in England, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with numerous Canadian orchestras including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Sinfonia. His performances are regularly broadcast on Canadian national radio and television. Tam has performed at the Montreal International Festival of Music as violinist and pianist and made his New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall. In 2001, he made his Paris concerto debut playing the Ligeti violin concerto with the Academy of 20th Century Music Orchestra under conductor Jonathan Nott.

An active chamber musician, Tam’s performances have been heard at the Sarasota, Ravinia, Meadowmount, Banff, Aspen and Encore music festivals among others. He has performed with distinguished musicians from the Juilliard, St. Lawrence, Ying and Pacifica string quartets. In 2000 he was first violinist of the resident string quartet at the Music Festivals of the Hamptons in New York. He will be returning as guest artist at the University of New Brunswick’s Summer Chamber Music Festival in 2004 as well as performing in the prestigious Scotia Festival of Music.

Born in Toronto, Tam studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto where he was a double major with full scholarships in violin and piano. His teachers included Jaime Laredo, Jose Luis Garcia, Leon Fleisher and Boris Lysenko. Subsequently, he received a Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore where he studied violin with Victor Danchenko. Studies in Europe followed, at Berlin’s Hochschule fur Musik “Hanns Eisler” with violinist and conductor, Christoph Poppen.as well as in Paris with members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Tam has been a prizewinner of international and national competitions including the Pierre Lantier International Violin Competition in Paris, the Rameau Internation Violin Competition, the CBC Young Artist’s Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition and the Canadian Music Competition. Tam is a recipient of grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts as well as the Chalmer’s Foundation of the Ontario Arts Council.

Since 2002, Tam has been concertmaster of Symphony Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada’s only full time professional symphony orchestra. In addition to his busy performing career, Tam is a practicing, board certified emergency room physician.

18. Artist Brunch with Henk Sikkenga

Henk studied classical guitar in Spain and the Netherlands. He graduated with a Masters degree from the Conservatory of Music in Maastricht. ( Holland ) . He performed for the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe and North Africa for 15 years. He performed in the greater Seattle area with Jazz groups and also gave classical guitar recitals. He was a former teacher at Pacific Luthern University, Tacoma, instructing classical guitar. Currently Henk teaches classical guitar and performs on special occasions.

19. Musical Sculpture Walk

Mary Lou Sanelli
Sanelli’s fifth published collection of poetry is The Immigrant’s Table. Her latest, Craving Water: Poems of Ordinary Life in a Northwest Village is forthcoming in the fall of 2004.

She is a contributing writer for, The Seattle Times & Northwest Woman Magazine. Her commentaries have been aired on KUOW: Northwest Public Radio and Weekend Edition, NPR. Her column, A Writer’s Notebook, appears monthly in Port Townsend’s newspaper, The Leader. Her columns are aired weekly on KSER, 90.7 FM.

Honorariums include an Artist Trust GAP Award, A Jack Straw Writers Award, A Seattle Bumbershoot Festival Book Award for her second collection of poetry, The Skagit River Poetry Festival, The Seattle Poetry Festival, a recent writing residency in Costa Rica, and an upcoming residency in Spain. She presents her work extensively throughout the country and divides her time between Port Townsend, Washington & Belltown, Seattle.

20. Seattle Pro Musica

Group biography
Seattle Pro Musica, winner of the Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, is a critically acclaimed choral ensemble, performing under the direction of conductor and artistic director Karen P. Thomas.

Seattle Pro Musica is widely considered to be one of the finest ensembles in the Pacific Northwest – American Record Guide ranks it “among America’s very best choirs.” Seattle Pro Musica has received international recognition and acclaim for its CD recordings and live performances. Of the CD Alnight by the Rose, Choir and Organ magazine (Great Britain) writes: “…there is great depth and purity in this performance… Seattle Pro Musica presents a cappella singing at its best…” Fanfare Record Magazine writes: “The Seattle Pro Musica’s intonation is razor sharp…” and “the tone and blend are exquisite.” Of Seattle Pro Musica’s recording of Rachmaninov’s Vespers, American Record Guide says: “They sing with incredible smoothness, rich sonic textures, impeccable technique, and truly heartfelt emotionality. It is fully on a par with (Robert) Shaw’s account in terms of choral accomplishment, but Thomas and company do an even better job of plumbing the piece’s deep spirituality and credibly evoking the Slavic pathos… this is a masterly and utterly gorgeous reading that illuminates many of the work’s profoundest passages with subtle clarity, while delivering plenty of power and punch where called for.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has praised the group’s “crystalline textures and precise musicality...” as well as its “technical finesse.” Seattle Pro Musica has performed by invitation for the World Festival of Women’s Singing, Festival Vancouver in Canada, the American Guild of Organists National Convention and the American Choral Directors Association Regional Convention

Known for its adventurous programming and compelling performances, Seattle Pro Musica performs an annual subscription concert season of repertoire ranging from Medieval chant to standard choral repertoire and the works of living composers. Seattle Pro Musica also performs outreach concerts and workshops, and has an active education program. The music of American composers also features prominently in Seattle Pro Musica’s repertoire, with a special emphasis on the composers of the Northwest. Musical highlights of the last few years include numerous world premieres and Seattle premieres, as well as performances of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Poulenc’s Gloria and Fauré’s Requiem, plus major works by Britten, Brahms, Handel, Monteverdi and Pärt.

Karen P. Thomas
Karen P. Thomas (b. 1957), composer and conductor, is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Seattle Pro Musica. With Seattle Pro Musica she has received the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP-Chorus America Award for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music. She has appeared as guest conductor at the Bergen International Festival, International Conference on Women in Music and the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing, and has conducted her choirs at the American Guild of Organists National Convention, the American Choral Directors Association NW Division Convention and Festival Vancouver in Canada.

Ms. Thomas has presented lectures for the American Guild of Organists National Convention, the Chorus America National Convention, the American Choral Directors Association and the World Festival of Women’s Singing. A review of Ms. Thomas’ CD with Seattle Pro Musica, Alnight by the Rose, in Choir & Organ Magazine (Great Britain) remarks: “… there is great depth and purity in this performance...Seattle Pro Musica presents a cappella singing at its best.” American Record Guide describes her CD Peace in Our Time as “probing and radiant…vibrant and gutsy…a most satisfying and deeply affecting release” which has “warmth and emotional punch.” Her conducting has received critical praise for its “integrity and high purpose...delivered with taste and impeccable musicianship...”

Ms. Thomas’ compositions are regularly performed and broadcast on radio and television throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America, including the International Festival Donne in Musica in Italy, the Bergen International Festival in Norway, the International Congresses on Women in Music in London and Spain, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing and the Goodwill Arts Festival in the U.S. Her choral works are performed regularly by groups such as The Hilliard Ensemble, and have been praised as “…superb work of the utmost sensitivity and beauty.”

Of her music theater work, Boxiana, the Seattle Times wrote: “...one of the most dazzling interdisciplinary pieces to have hit Seattle in the past few years. Passionate, witty and daunting in its technical prowess...This is one knockout of a piece.” Her recent work for clarinet and orchestra, When night came... (dedicated to the women of Bosnia-Herzegovina), has received performances in London, New York City and throughout the U.S. Her catalogue of compositions includes choral, orchestral, vocal, chamber, solo instrument, and theater works.

21. Arlie Neskahi Ensemble

Arlie Neskahi is of the Dine’ Nation of the Southwest. In the early 80’s he moved to the Pacific NW and since then has performed and collaborated throughout the region with his traditional vocal style and native wooden flutes. He is known for his creation of native songs and is frequently commissioned to compose for individuals, families and organizations.

In the 90’s he along with keyboardist Mark Cardenas were founding members of the Songcatchers, a Seattle-based band that produced an award-winning landmark album of contemporary native music, which also featured Charles Neville and Lara Lavi. He continues to perform regionally, solo and with group.

Neskahi and Cardenas’ music will touch ancient places while pushing the cutting edge of native contemporary music. http://www.rainbowwalker.net/arlie