Ryan O’Neal (Sleeping at Last), arr. George Chung Hands
Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)
Michael Jones, tenor & Kathlene Ritch, soprano
ORPHEUS & DESERT CHORALE PROGRAM
Svete Tihiy (Gladsome Light) Alexander Gretchaninov (1864-1956) from All-Night Vigil, Op. 59
Sweet Rivers
Shawn Kirchner (b. 1970)
PROGRAM NOTES • TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS
Please scan the QR code to view program notes and texts & translations for this performance.
Please CLICK here to view the program notes and texts & translations or visit desertchorale.org/orpheus-desert-chorale-program
Orpheus Chamber SINGERS ARTISTS
SOPRANO
Julie Bowdren
Anna Clarkson
Taylor Fenner
Jacki Miller
Kori Miller
Caitlin Wells Molechat
Haley Sicking
ALTO
Katrina Burggraf
Rashaad Calaham
Hasoo Eun
Jenna Hernandez McLean
Lauren Harrison
Maiya Williams
TENOR
Johnny Brown
Justin Kroll
Eric Lewis
Travis Lowery
Barrett Radziun
Jeremy Rohwer
BASS
Hawkins Burns
Cody Conway
Matt Glass
David Grogan
De’Evin Johnson
Connor Lidell
Hastings Reeves
Orpheus Chamber Singers artist biographies and headshots are available at orpheuschambersingers.org/the-chorus
SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE ARTISTS
SOPRANO
Chelsea Helm
Sarah Moyer
Jennifer Perez
Savannah Porter
Kathlene Ritch
Alissa Ruth Suver
ALTO
Sarah Brauer
Dianna Grabowski
Kate Maroney
Sarah Nickerson
TENOR
Chris Albanese
BASS
Simon Barrad
Lindsay Pope
Angela Young Smucker
GUEST ARTISTS
Nathan Salazar, piano
Ama Zathura, narrator
George Case
James K. Bass
Brad Diamond
Erik Gustafson
John Buffett
Harris Ipock
Michael Jones
Bradley Naylor
Neil Netherly
Marques Jerrell Ruff
Santa Fe Desert Chorale artist biographies and headshots are available at desertchorale.org/artists
SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE BOARD AND STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Catherine Gronquist, President
Diane Graves, Vice President
Felicia Morrow, Treasurer
Gregory Dove, Secretary
Barry Lyerly, Immediate Past President
Murray Bern, M.D.
Kathryn King Coleman
Tom Conner
Mary Delk
Jeffrey C. Fort, J.D.
Joshua Habermann*
Chelsea Helm*,
Singer Representative
Stephen Hochberg
Christine M. Lorillard
Emma Marzen*
Fraser A. McAlpine
Sara J. McKenzie
Carmen Paradis
Marianne Reuter
Patricia Stanley
Susie Wilson, D.M.A., Honorary Director * ex-officio member
DIRECTORS EMERITI
Mary G. Brennan
David A. Bueschel
Mark Edw. Childers
Allegra and Jim Derryberry
Margie Edwards
Kirk Ellis
Allison Elston†
John Greenspan†
Kathleen Davison Lebeck, J.D.
Sheryl Kelsey
Lynn F. Lee
William H. Lynn
Dorothy Massey
Ian McKee†
Laurie Meyer
Haydock Miller†
Margaret K. Norton
Jane Clayton Oakes
Mary Lou Padilla, Ph.D.
Nina Hinson Rasmussen†
Don Roberts†
Brooke Bandfield Taylor
Jane Thomson
Frances White†
Brahna Lauger Wilczynski
Mac Wright† † in memoriam
ABOUT THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Joshua Habermann, Artistic Director
Emma Marzen, Executive Director
Joanna Armstrong, Sales & Marketing Director
Heather Eaves, Cultivation & Engagement Manager
Lydia Milá Garmaier, Artist Manager
Amanda Sidebottom, Operations Director
Mark Zero, Grants Manager
CREATIVE SERVICES
Sean Johnson, Mesa Creative Solutions
Zina Jundi, Adverti-Zing!
Jennifer Kuyper, Jentech Marketing
Enrico Lagasca, Digital Content Manager
Clarissa Lovato, Elevate Media
Tira Howard Photography
Founded in 1982 by Lawrence “Larry” Bandfield, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale is one of the longest-running professional music organizations in New Mexico, as well as one of the most distinguished American professional chamber choirs. “The Santa Fe Desert Chorale [is] a top-notch, 24-voice group…comprising the crème de la crème of professional choral singers from coast to coast” (Dallas Morning News). Performing in historical venues such as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the Desert Chorale has become a centerpiece of the cultural life of Santa Fe. Their annual Summer Festival is one of the nation’s largest choral events.
Artistic Director Joshua Habermann has led the Chorale since 2008 in repertoire spanning seven centuries, from early polyphony to contemporary works. Habermann’s versatile programming sets the ensemble apart as “a rara avis in the choral music world” (Santa Fe New Mexican).
The Chorale’s first commercial release, The Road Home, launched at No. 3 on the Billboard Classical Chart following a soldout CD launch program in Santa Fe. The ensemble has traveled across the nation, performing in prominent conferences and cities such as Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The Desert Chorale had the honor of performing at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Salt Lake City in 2015, and they returned to perform during the closing concert at this year’s National Conference in Dallas.
Dedicated to advancing the composers of our time, the Chorale has commissioned over 30 new works, and several additional pieces have been given their world or American premieres by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. The organization’s Commissioning Club selects and funds a new commission annually.
Santa Fe Desert Chorale, 311 East Palace Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 988-2282 • desertchorale.org Facebook, Instagram, & YouTube: @desertchorale
The mission of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale is to excite, engage, and inspire diverse audiences with the beauty and power of great choral music.
JOSHUA HABERMANN - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Joshua Habermann is in his seventeenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premiere professional chamber choirs. Since joining the ensemble, he has broadened its repertoire to include choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences ranging from early music to new commissions. Under his leadership, the Desert Chorale has been featured at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and its summer and winter festivals are among America’s largest choral events.
Habermann’s experience with symphonic choruses spans over three decades, encompassing the full range of the choral-orchestral repertoire. From 2011 to 2022 he was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, where highlights included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor, and in 2022-2023 prepared Handel’s Messiah, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem for the San Francisco Symphony.
A passionate advocate for music education, Joshua Habermann is a regular clinician for state and national events and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 2024, he conducted Cantatas 72, 73 and 92 for Bach Santiago (Chile), a concert series dedicated to the first full cycle of Bach Cantatas in South America. He currently teaches choral literature at the University of North Texas.
As a singer (tenor), Habermann has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling and Conspirare under Craig Hella Johnson. Recording credits include Requiem and Threshold of Night, both GRAMMY® nominees for best choral recording. Recordings as a conductor include The Road Home and Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
EMMA MARZEN - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Emma Marzen has been Executive Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale since January 2020. Under her leadership, the Chorale has experienced transformational financial, audience, and personnel growth. In the first five years of her tenure, the organization’s net equity has risen by $3M, including a new permanent endowment and cash reserve fund, and annual operating revenues have increased by 37%. Audience retention and growth has increased dramatically beyond pre-pandemic levels, producing reliable 20%+ tickets sales revenue growth year over year. To advance the organization’s mission and goals, Emma has built a team of professional arts administrators, adding four new full-time and two new part-time employees, in addition to specialized contractors, to the Chorale’s staff.
From 2018 to 2020, Marzen served as Board Relations Manager of the Santa Fe Opera, one of the world’s leading opera companies, following her initial tenure with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale from 2016 to 2018, where she ultimately served as Assistant Director.
A singer by training, Marzen holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. Highlights of Emma’s collegiate years in the Frost Chorale under the direction of the late Dr. Karen Kennedy include: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Holst’s The Planets with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; a tour of the United Kingdom in May 2014, including a BBC recording at Canterbury Cathedral; and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Joshua Habermann. Marzen additionally holds a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University and is a member of Chorus America’s Leadership Development Forum.
Known for its technical precision with “impressive and subtle overlay of nuance and emotional empathy” (Onstage NTX), Orpheus Chamber Singers is a professional chamber choir that features artists from across North Texas. Orpheus was founded in 1995 by Donald Krehbiel as a medium to explore the wide range of choral repertoire from the past seven centuries, and is now celebrating its 30th anniversary season.
Currently led by Artistic Director J.D. Burnett and Executive Director Ruth Ann Ritchie, the choir has more than tripled its annual concert productions in the past three years. Since 2022, Orpheus has appeared at state and national conventions, has garnered invitations to prestigious concert series around the state of Texas, and has sold out performances on its annual subscription concert series. The organization focuses on seeking out, developing, and showcasing top choral artists from across North Texas and on creating programming that represents excellent choral music from around the world.
Orpheus also works to inspire the next generation of choral artists by hosting a bi-annual student composition competition, providing free lessons and master classes for students at underserved high schools in DFW, and hiring music majors to serve as production interns. In spring 2025, Orpheus will launch a new scholarship for high school seniors entering a music degree program.
Orpheus Chamber Singers, Inc., is the premier professional choir in North Texas, committed to performances and activities that perpetuate and elevate the art of choral music.
J.D. BURNETT - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
J.D. Burnett enjoys a varied career as a conductor, singer, and teacher. He was named Orpheus’s Artistic Director in March 2021. Burnett is also Director of Choral Activities and Head of the Division of Vocal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music. In addition, he is the founding Artistic Director of Kinnara, Atlanta’s premier professional chamber choir.
Formerly, he was Associate Professor of Music and Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He has served as Assistant Director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, conductor of the New Jersey Youth Chorus Young Men’s Ensemble, Associate Conductor of the Masterwork Chorus of New Jersey, and Acting Director of Choral Activities at Montclair State University. Earlier posts include Interim Director of Choral Activities at San Jose State University, Artistic Director of the New Jersey Chamber Singers, Music Director of the Houston Masterworks Chorus, and Founder of Men’s Consort Houston. He also served as Choral Editor at McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Burnett did his undergraduate studies at Stanford University and Oklahoma State University. He holds advanced degrees in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College and the University of North Texas.
As a professional choral singer, Burnett has performed and recorded with the Stillwater Chamber Singers, Cantare Houston, Fuma Sacra, Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street, Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Conspirare.
RUTH ANN RITCHIE - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ruth Ann Ritchie joined the Orpheus Chamber Singers as Business Manager in 2017, and became the organization’s first Executive Director in 2020. She oversaw Orpheus’s first transition in artistic leadership in its 25-year history.
A flutist by training, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Flute Performance from Indiana University and a Graduate Diploma in Flute Performance from the Sydney (Australia) Conservatorium. Her primary teachers have been Tom Robertello, Alexa Still, Linda White, and Joseph Juhos. In 2007, she founded Astraios Chamber Music, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to welcoming new audiences to classical music.
Ruth Ann holds certificates of nonprofit management, fundraising/development, financial management, and marketing from the Center for Nonprofit Management, and a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida. She regularly consults with organizations across the country on best business practices for performing artists, and also serves as a grant review panelist for the Texas Commission on the Arts. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Chorus America, Chamber Music America, and the National Flute Association.
SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE DONOR HONOR ROLL
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING DONORS FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORT OF OUR 2025
Sherry Kelsey & George Duncan Susie & Jerry Wilson Jim & Karla Wintle
VIRTUOSO
Gifts of $50,000+
Sallie Bingham
Barry and Margaret Lyerly
The Estate of Thomas F. McGuire
The 2010 Faith Charitable Lead Trust
FOUNDER
Gifts of $25,000 to $49,999
Mary and Phil Delk
Richard and Chris Frenk
Catherine and Guy Gronquist
Stephen and Jane Hochberg
Dalit Holzman and Ron Holzman
The Hutson-Wiley & Echevarria Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Carmen Paradis and Brian McGrath
Suzanne M. Timble
DIRECTOR
Gifts of $10,000 to $24,999
Nancy and Murray Bern
Dmitri Bovaird and Maggie Edmondson
Susan Esco Chandler and Alfred D. Chandler
City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department and the 1% Lodgers’ Tax
Kathryn and Hank Coleman
Anne and Thomas Conner
Gregory Dove
The Edw. F. Zimmer Community Fund
The Evelyn L. Petshek Arts Fund, Santa Fe Community Foundation
Jeffrey Fort and Diane Locandro
Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado
Bill and Diane Graves
Lynne Horning
Sheryl Kelsey and George Duncan
Katherine and William Landschulz
Andrea Meditch
Felicia and Daniel Morrow
New Mexico Arts
Dr. and Mrs. Leon Podles
Lindsay S. Pope
Kelly Purcell and Kevin Sadler
Martha Rochelle
Patricia “Tish” Romer
Peter and Sara Rutenberg
The Santa Fe County Lodgers’ Tax Advisory Board
Tourism Santa Fe and the City of Santa Fe Occupancy Tax
Elaine Wang Meyerhoffer
Susie and Jerry Wilson
MAESTRO
Gifts of $5,000 to $9,999
Dr. J. Randle Adair DO, PhD
George Case and Nathan Salazar
Allegra and Jim Derryberry
Halley Faust and Eve Cohen
The Frederick H. Leonhardt Foundation
Justin and Sandra Greene, Dashing Delivery
Barbara Houser and Sarah Nolan
Steven Kerchoff
Susan Koehn, Habermann
Koehn Foundation
Mark Kriendler Nelson,
The Lawrence P. J. Bonaguidi Foundation
Phyllis Lehmberg
Marian “Mimi” Lloyd
Christine and Pierre Lorillard
Dana and Jim Manning
Fraser and Alice McAlpine
Sara J. McKenzie
Laurie Meyer
James Murphy and Roxanne Howe-Murphy
Susan Noel
Jon Patrick and Peter Siegel
Marianne Reuter
Donald Shina and Kevin Waidmann
Patricia Stanley
Lee and David Takagi
Thornburg Investment Management
Tobi Watson
ARTIST
Gifts of $2,500 to $4,999
Anonymous
Brooke Bandfield Taylor
Patrick Carr
Frances and David Ertel
Jane and Ernest Godlove
Rick Gustafson
Richard Henderson and Joyce Wolff
The H.B. and Lucille Horn Foundation
Joe Bob Kinsel and Jane Kinsel
Joy and Phil LeCuyer
Stephen Marquart and Audrey La Fehr
Beverley McArthur
James and Sarah Nickerson
Linda Osborne
Jose Piedra de la Portilla and Ernesto Roederer
Nyla and Larry Rasmussen
Eileen and Ron Ricks
Andrew J. Rudnick
Leslie Shaw
Bradley and Patricia Thompson
Patti Wetzel and Sirous Partovi
Janusz and Brahna Lauger Wilczynsk
CHOIRMASTER
Gifts of $1,000 to $2,499
Anonymous (3)
Lexey Alcorn and John J. Vazquez
Catherine Alsip
Rick Andrew and Diane Buchanan, The Andrew Family Foundation
Celia Baldwin
May R. and Larry C. Ball
Cris and Marilyn Barnes
Dr. Camille Cates Barnett
Robert and Sharon Barton
Bette Betts
Martha Blomstrom
Lisa Romanoff Botos and Stephen Botos
Lisa and Dave Caldwell
Bill and Susan Cammock
Jack Campbell
Charles G. Case II and Pamela Culwell
Elizabeth Case
George Davis
Julie Ann Dakin and Christopher Oechsli
Susan and Conrad De Jong
Thomas and Clair Eastwood
Joanne and Andrew Eggen
Judith Ford
Peter Frank
Gwen and Ralph Fuller
Karen and Bill Gahr
W. Peyton George
Julius and Suzan Glickman
DALLAS TOUR:
John Gray and Ray Landy
Joanna and Joshua Habermann
Robert and Marian Haight
Dora and Clinton Horn
Susana Howard and Vincent Charles Pigott
Bruce Jackson
Lynn and Jacqueline Johnson
Paul and Sylvia Johnson
Rev. Canon Ted Karpf
Bill Keller and Robert Holleyman
Lane and Phyllis Keller
Dr. Walter L. Kirchner and
Mary Meredith-Kirchner
Enrico Lagasca and Jonathan Stewart
Donald and Jean Lamm
Mary Anne and Bruce Larsen
Alan and Kathleen Davison Lebeck
David and Julia Leifeste
Karen Linder
Thomas Lopez
Barbara Lynn
Richard Macklin and Dianne Eret
Ginnie Maes
Emma Marzen and Sean Johnson
William McArthur and Jennifer Martinez
David and Jane McGuire
The Mickey Inbody Charitable Foundation Inc.
Steve Moise
New Mexico Bank & Trust
John Overbey
Mary Lou and Alex Padilla
Dorothy Peacock and Douglas Brew
Cathy and Todd Sickles
John and Susan Shaffer
Silvia and Alexander Speyer III
Allen and Andrea Steele
Charles and Jan Swaney
Caroline and Sid Swinson
Edwin and Melanie Peters Thorne
Lore Thorpe
Sue Wetsel and Cary Brown
Joyce Wolff
Please CLICK here or scan the QR code for the complete list of Santa Fe Desert Chorale Donors.
