Hermann Kruse, born 1966, studied Music and English at the University of Dortmund and has worked as a choirmaster since 1985. His teachers were among others Helmuth Rilling, Petr Eben, Michael Kibblewhite, Eric Ericson and former members of the King's Singers. Kruse repeatedly won several prizes at composition competitions. His repertoire now includes over sixty oratorical works from Bach to McCartney. From 2004 - 2011 he took a teaching position in choral conducting at the University of Dortmund.

The Choir of the University of Duisburg-Essen is a successful amateur choir for over 25 years with currently 140 singers. Since 2001 Hermann Kruse leads the choir. Contrasting programs like "University Choir Goes Latin", a musical program, the Brahms Requiem, Bernstein’s Candide, the Rutter Requiem, "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. "A Proms Night" in 2012, a “Caribbean Mass" or extraordinary projects such a live performance to the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” show the variety of the choir.

Halla Walcott is a junior at the College of William and Mary. Her background in music is in vocal performance, as an alum of the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Salem High School in Virginia. While her involvement in music is through this student-run group, her academic majors are Sociology and Education. This is her first year directing the Wren Singers, and is the first African-American director of the group in its 30 years at the College. She is also a member of No Ceiling, William and Mary's competitive collegiate a cappella group.

The Christopher Wren Singers are The College of William and Mary's oldest student-run a cappella group, dating back to the fall of 1987. They maintain a steady number of members of diverse majors and social classes, with very few actual music majors. They are a co-ed ensemble whose unique repertoire includes madrigals, spirituals, jazz, Gospel, contemporary choral pieces, holiday tunes and the like. They have performances throughout the academic year, including holiday and spring concerts. They often perform at churches and are available for hire to sing at special events. In addition, they tour in the spring, with such destinations reaching as far west as Texas and as far north as New York.

Conductor Vicki Blake Thompson began conducting in 1996 after a career as a dancer/choreographer. Vicki loves creating “choral theater” works combining choral music with spoken word and visuals. She taught at Bonners Ferry High School from 2001-2007 developing the program from a single 35 voice choir to 3 choirs, one of which, ARIOSO, was featured at the All Northwest MENC Conference in Portland, OR in 2007. She is currently conductor for the Bonners Ferry Community Choir, as well as an international touring choir SPIRITSONG, and the select ensemble BOUNDLESS which is included in this program. Her choirs have performed on every continent except Antarctica! Vicki is a graduate of Luther College where she also taught dance and toured frequently with the Nordic Choir, under the direction of Weston Noble.

BOUNDLESS vocal ensemble was formed in 2013. This ensemble of 8-10 performers creates evening length works of highly varied choral genres around themes incorporating spoken word, projected visuals, instrumentals, and movement. The ensemble is directed by Vicki Blake Thompson but performs without a conductor. Recent "choral theater" works have included "The Elusive Heart" which centered on the science, myth, and metaphor of the heart, and "Stardust" which explored the cosmos in science, story, and music and photography. BOUNDLESS is thrilled to be a part of tonight's performance with The King's Singers. The ensemble hails from Bonners Ferry, ID, a village of 2600 people nestled in a valley between three mountain ranges.

Aaron Tombrella is Director of Choirs for Prosper High School. He holds Masters Degrees in Educational Leadership and Music Education from the University of North Texas and Stephen F. Austin State University, respectively, and a B.S. in Bible and Music Education from Dallas Christian College. This is Mr. Tombrella’s 6th year to teach in Texas public schools, and 4th year in Prosper ISD. Students under his direction have won Sweepstakes awards at UIL Concert & Sight Reading and Outstanding Soloist awards at State Solo & Ensemble contest. One of his life’s joys is making music with his students every day!

The Prosper High School Varsity Mixed Choir was established in 2010 by then director, Connie Miserak. This auditioned group of men and women perform choral music of various styles ranging from Renaissance to Modern, with the majority of their repertoire a cappella. In recent, the varsity mixed choir has performed the Vivaldi Gloria with Southeastern Oklahoma State University, collaborated on a refugee awareness project involving Imagine Dragons, and has performed at the Morton H. Meyerson symphony center with the Dallas Youth Orchestra.

This is Addie Akin's 3rd year at St. Louis University High School. She has held other high school teaching positions in the St. Louis area and Tucson, AZ. Originally from Iowa, she holds a bachelor's degree from Belmont University in Piano Performance and Composition, as well as a master's degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Arizona. Her choirs have consistently earned superior ratings at contests and festivals. She is also active as an accompanist, composer, and arranger.

Varsity Chorus is the top auditioned vocal ensemble at St. Louis University High School, an all-male Jesuit college preparatory institution. Ensemble members range from sophomores to seniors, and perform high-level repertoire, including everything from Renaissance to contemporary a cappella. Varsity Chorus has previously toured in Boston, New Orleans, Nashville, China, and more.

Mariia Pechenova joined Cantare as Artistic Director in 2014. Ms. Pechenova holds a Master’s degree in Conducting from St. Petersburg State University, Russia. Her conducting experience includes work with professional choral groups and orchestras. Ms. Pechenova is Assistant Professor at Folsom Lake College, Folsom, CA and pianist and organist for traditional and contemporary services at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, El Dorado Hills, CA. She is a leading local authority in vocal training and performing arts. Ms. Pechenova serves on the Sacramento Valley Choral Coalition’s Board of Directors and is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, the National Association for Music Education, and a member of the International Federation for Choral Music. She has been awarded the title of “Laureate”, and has been the winner of the “Grand Prix” and “First Prize” at numerous European and Russian competitions. Mariia has assisted internationally renowned artists Vladimir Miller, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Elena Obraztsova, and conductors Yuri Temirkanov, Saulius Sondeckis, Alexander Sladkovsky, Andreas Spörri.

Cantare Chorale of the Sierra Foothills, founded in 1992, is a community chorus of mixed voices based in El Dorado County, California. Their mission is to bring quality choral music to their community and to provide a venue for aspiring musicians to develop and share their talent. The group includes singers from diverse musical and personal backgrounds--administrators, businesspeople, educators, engineers, homemakers, designers, medical professionals, and more. Singing a variety of styles of music—classical, madrigal, sacred, secular, folk, jazz, Broadway, spiritual, contemporary—with pleasure they share their voices and music with the El Dorado County community and beyond.

Matthew Otto is an innovative conductor, educator, and performer. This season marks Mr. Otto’s fifth year as conductor of the Toronto Youth Choir and his seventh season with the Toronto Children’s Chorus. He has been privileged to direct the TCC Chamber Choir on tour, including Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, USA, and Spain. The Chorus has also premiered his treble arrangements of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, and Vaughan Williams. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Education at the University of Toronto, where his research interests include cultural identity as seen in the choral music of Canada, and choral music education in a pluralistic context.

Now in its fifth season, the Toronto Youth Choir is committed to providing young singers the opportunity to enrich their lives through the art of choral music. As part of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the TYC is comprised of choristers aged 16 to 30. The ensemble offers exceptional opportunities to study and perform music as part of a world-renowned choral organization. This season, the TYC is honoured to perform a number of concerts, including the annual Toronto Children’s Chorus concerts at Roy Thomson Hall and the Toronto Centre for the Arts, a collaborative concert with Incontra Vocal Ensemble, and its first-ever tour - to perform at Carnegie Hall.

Rachel Root received her DMA from the University of Washington under the mentorship of Abraham Kaplan and Dr. Geoffrey Boers, and she received a Master’s in Church Music and Organ Performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Wolfgang Rubsam. She has served as an Organist/Choir Director in many different church denominations, in Michigan, Washington State, Illinois, Texas, and Florida. Rachel chaired the Music Department at Trinity Lutheran College in Everett, Washington for several years, and for the past 8 years has served as Director of Music and the Arts at Christ Episcopal Church, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She founded a School of the Arts through the church, which uses professional artists in their field to give quality training an instruction to children, youth, and adults. Under Rachel’s direction, The Arts at Christ Church, (which includes musical theater,) has striven to break through the barriers to personal creativity and exploration, to use art for spiritual growth, conversation, and community building.

The Christ Episcopal Church Chancel Choir has grown steadily through the years from its inception, as the church has grown to be the third largest Episcopalian church in the country. The choir sings regularly for worship services, and performs special concerts, and services throughout the church year. We are privileged to be able to offer student scholarships to music majors in local colleges, and high school students aspiring to major in music, to sing with us, through the Mallory Family Fine Arts Fund. We sing a diverse repertoire, both accompanied and a cappella works. Our specialty is singing newly created works by current composers. We recently commissioned an anthem by Bob Chilcott, “Epiphany,” which we premiered last January after a joint workshop with the University of North Florida Chamber Singers, under the direction of Cara Tasher. We are looking forward to hosting Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, in 2019, both for commissioning of a new anthem, and a 3 day workshop in conjunction with UNF.

Tammy McMath is the head of the vocal department at Eastwood Collegiate Institute as part of their Integrated Arts Program.

Eastwood Chamber Choir is a auditioned based choir under the direction of Tammy Mcmath. This group has achieved a gold standard at both Musicfest Nationals 2015 & 2016.

Jonathan Paxman is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Curtin University, but with a musical career which has developed alongside his academic one. While completing his PhD studies at the University of Cambridge in the UK, Jonathan developed his skills as a choral singer and vocal soloist, while also conducting choruses, orchestras and chamber ensembles. He was particularly privileged to conduct choral concerts for Symposiums on African Music directed by the noted composer, Professor Akin Euba. Since returning to Australia, Jonathan directed the Perth Undergraduate Choral Society for four years before finally founding Rhythmos in 2014.

Rhythmos was founded in 2014 to provide elite performing opportunities for students at Curtin University in Western Australia. The choir performs regularly around Perth for community events and charity, as well as its own popular series of concerts. The choir is renowned for a high standard of performance, performing in a diverse range of genres from contemporary pop to folk and more traditional repertoire. In 2015 the choir was selected to open for outstanding New York ensemble, Naturally 7 on its tour of Australia. Performances later in 2018 will include an appearance for the Black Swan Theatre Company.

Linda Corbitt has been the Director of Music and Organist of First Congregational Church, Riverside, CA for 18 years. She was an organ performance major at Chapman University in Orange, CA where she also sang under the direction of Dr. William Hall. Linda is a freelance musician in the Los Angeles area. She is the founder of A Touch of Ivory Entertainment Company which books musicians for special events in Southern California.

The Pilgrim Choir of First Congregational Church, Riverside, CA is a versatile group of highly trained singers. These musicians are dedicated to bringing spiritually uplifting and diverse music to the church's worship services. They perform a major work each year and a concert at Christmas.

Utsav Bhargava is 20 years old and is in his 3rd year at Berklee College of Music where he studies Film Scoring, Contemporary Writing & Production, and Conducting. In addition to directing the CharlieChords, he is also the assistant director for the Audire Soundtrack Choir and Orchestra, and a music director for the Berklee Musical Theater Club.

The CharlieChords is Berklee’s premier all-male A cappella group. They are known for putting an innovative spin on popular music ranging from alternative rock to today’s hits. With the release of their first single earlier this year, The CharlieChords are looking at their most exciting year yet!

Mr. Whitaker graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Maine Orono. He has conducted festivals throughout New England and as the Director of Choral Activities at Cony High School he conducts the Middle School Chorus, CMS Chamber Singers, High School Chorale, Concert Choir, and the Cony High School Madrigals. Mr. Whitaker is the Minstrel Director for Chizzle Wizzle, the longest-running student variety show in the nation. Aside from directing, he also teaches middle and high school classroom music including Intro to Theater, History of American Music, Guitar, Music Theory, and Digital Music.

The Madrigals are Cony High School's premier vocal ensemble. The Madrigals have performed across the United States and internationally and are extremely active in the Central Maine community often performing at functions at the State House and Library. Most singers are multi-sport athletes and many fall into the top 10% of their respective classes.

Mr. Eric Seiler has spent over 20 years in Military Bands between the USMC and California Army National Guard as an instrumentalist, vocalist, and director; performing in 27 countries. He earned his BA in Music Education and Clarinet performance in 2005, MA in Music with a certificate in Vocal Pedagogy in 2007 from CSU Chico, and Master of Education from National University in 2015.He has been the Performing Arts teacher and director at Yreka High School since Fall of 2012 and has been an adjunct professor at College of the Siskiyous in Weed, CA since 2013.

The Yreka High Vocal Ensemble is an auditioned group consisting of anywhere from 16-26 members depending on the year, and sing standard chamber choir repertoire as well as varied other styles to include modern pop Acapella arrangements and originals. The group typically performs the National Anthem at sporting and community events throughout the year as well as outreach type performances at the local elementary schools. The group was founded in 1972.

Beth Armstrong, also the Music Director of the Greater Tiverton Community Chorus, received a BA from Tufts University and pursued a Masters Degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire. She has taught music to pre-schoolers through octogenarians, including twelve years teaching in public school and fourteen at the college level. Previously she conducted the Suncook Valley Chorale, and sang with the Concord Chorale, the Providence Singers, and femme m'amie.

Since 2015, Lora Maeurer has been directing the six choirs (Age 4 - High School) and the Teen Summer Musical for Christian Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA), a choral music program primarily serving homeschoolers in Austin, TX. She has degrees from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford (BM in Music Ed.) and SUNY New Paltz (M in Elem Ed.). Before moving to Austin, she was a public school music teacher in NY State. Lora home-schooled her daughters for fifteen years while staying active as a musician by performing or teaching through homeschool, community, and church groups.

Christian Academy of Performing Arts Austin is a non-profit organization that serves the homeschool community in the greater Austin area by providing quality choral music education for ages 4 to 18 as well as a summer musical theatre experience for teens. CAPA’s Concert Choir and other CAPA choirs perform two formal concerts yearly with additional performances at Austin community venues. MS and HS choirs participate in competitions through TMEA and TPSMEA such as Region and All-State auditions, Solo & Ensemble, and Concert & Sight-Reading Contest where Concert Choir earned the Sweepstakes Trophy in 2017 for outstanding concert performance and sight-reading.

Nicholas Robson won a music scholarship to Lancing College and became a choral scholar at Durham Cathedral, during his university years. He sang with a number of amateur groups at university and beyond and has since directed choirs and ensembles. Over the last six years, he has established Holland Park School choir, and has taken great pleasure from the enthusiasm and energies of the students and colleagues who have joined him in this venture.

Holland Park School choir was established in 2011 by its current director, Nicholas Robson. Since its inception it has flourished, touring cathedrals and churches in the UK and Europe. Durham Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and Notre Dame, Paris have been its recent ventures. Singing has become an immensely popular part of students' life at Holland Park School and the music scene is brimming with enthusiasm and talent. The choir enjoys a number of public concerts in the local community, running an annual Come and Sing event for charity, which has recently featured Faure and Mozart Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. hollandparkschool.co.uk

Matt Deller has been involved in music his entire life, and is the founding volunteer director of Glendale, Arizona’s 130 voice Sounds of the Southwest Singers, founded in 2010, and of the Sounds of the Southwest Chorale, in 2015. He has directed and prepared these two groups for many diverse venues locally, nationally and internationally. Matt’s conducting and mentoring opportunities have been bountiful in working with highly respected musicians and composers from around the world. Mr. Deller brings passion to every aspect of each musical performance. Matt’s passion for song spreads deeply between these two groups and his audiences.

Alberta L. Smith is a highly respected choir director whose experience ranges from performance at Tan-tar-a, Carnegie Hall and in the great cathedrals of Italy. Alberta has served as a professional choral director for the past 37 years, in settings as diverse as a large urban school in St. Louis, to a rural setting in central Missouri, to a graduate assistant position with Dr. Guy B. Webb of Missouri State University, to, most recently, retired after 29 years with the Springfield R-12 School District where she was the 2012/13 Teacher of the Year. Alberta holds degrees from Southwest Baptist University (B. M. in Education) and Missouri State University (M. A. in Music Education). Alberta served as an officer and coordinator for her professional organizations, working extensively with both middle school and high school vocal music programs. Alberta is an active member of MENC, NAFME, ACDA, MCDA and NEA. Currently, Alberta is an adjunct instructor and the choral music director of two choirs at Ozark’s Technical Community College in Springfield, Missouri. She has recently taken a position at Greenwood Laboratory School where she directs the secondary choir. Alberta also enjoys serving as judge and clinician for choral festivals and contests throughout Missouri. Alberta’s commitment to producing the highest quality musical performances, as well as her dedication to the lives and futures of her students is her calling.

The OTC Choral Ensemble is a group of 12 singers from the Concert Choir at OTC. They are students, music teachers and community members joined together for the love of singing! They perform in the Springfield community, at OTC and are members of other community and church choirs.

Catrin John is a final year Psychology student at Swansea University. This is her first time directing a full choir however her musical background is rooted in classical vocal performance with her achieving grade 8 singing and completing music theory while studying music A level. She also directs and conducts the University Chamber choir; connected to the main choir also run by the students of the University.

The Choral Society began after the University Music Department closed down. The student body felt a musical outlet was vital, and a few keen members took on the responsibility of spearheading the Society. Over the past decade the Society has grown exponentially, winning awards within the University Students’ Union as well as the National Union of Students (NUS) Wales which represents all Welsh Universities. This includes Society of the Year at Swansea University twice, and Society of the Year from NUS Wales in 2012-2013! Another accomplishment recognized by the Students’ Union is the Society’s efforts in representing their national identity, winning the Welsh Society Award for 2014-15. The Choral Society is so excited to represent Wales and participate in their first ever international tour which takes them not only to New York City, but to perform at Carnegie Hall!

Philippe Ostiguy Artistic and musical director of Les Petits Chanteurs de Laval which comprises Le Choeur des Jeunes de Laval, Philippe Ostiguy has been working with the organization for more than 20 years. Classical pianist by training, he has developed his love of choral singing as a member of a boy’s choir for eight years. Specialized in youth choirs, he is recognized for his great knowledge of the choral world, his professional rigor, his quest for excellence and above all, for his creativity, his dynamism and his passion for communicating his love of the music world to young people.

Les Petits Chanteurs / Le Choeur des Jeunes de Laval Le Choeur des Jeunes de Laval is a mixed voice vocal ensemble formed in the fall of 2012. Under the musical and artistic direction of Philippe Ostiguy, le choir is composed exclusively of college and university choristers graduated from Les Petits Chanteurs de Laval. The choristers had the privilege of singing with international star such as Celine Dion and the legendary band The Rolling Stones. In August 2017, they were part of Montréal Symphonique, a major event of the festivities surrounding the 375th anniversary of Montreal. This great outdoor concert, presented in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 people, brought together three famous Montréal’s symphony orchestras and 20 renowned artists.

Jacob Yochum, an Iowa native, graduated from Iowa State University with a double degree in vocal and instrumental music education. Jacob is certified to teach K-12 in Iowa but church work has taken a larger role in his life. Jacob keeps very busy with multiple roles in Burlington, Iowa by directing his church choir, working with children's vocal and instrumental ensembles, plays organ, piano, saxophone, assists a handbell choir plus directs two community mixed vocal groups; Bel Canto Chorale and the Silver Singers. Jacob has entertained across seven countries in Europe and Asia, coast to coast in the US and performed for the American Choral Directors Assn. He sang at the 60th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France in 2004 on the bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. Jacob and his wife, Rachel, with their daughter reside in Burlington, Iowa.

Bel Canto Chorale (meaning Beautiful Singers) organized in 1968 with the intent of providing very fine adult vocal music as an asset to our city (Burlington, Iowa) and surrounding area. We are dedicated to enriching the lives of both, those who wish to sing and those who wish to listen. Our purpose is to present good music and to enhance the level of performance and appreciation of the best in choral literature. Bel Canto presents a fall and spring concert every year, and since 1988 has partnered with a select children's choir and the SE Iowa Brass Quintet for a special Advent season concert. Bel Canto Chorale is celebrating our own 50th Anniversary in 2018 and we are honored to be included on stage to help celebrate with The King's Singers!

Music has always been Elsje's hobby and passion, with piano being her first love. After completing her Grade 8 Royal Schools exams, choir singing, and the camaraderie, musical diversity and challenges that accompany it, came onto the scene in 2005 when she became a member of the Student Church Choir in her hometown, Stellenbosch. She has been part of the Madrigal Singers since 2011, and became the director of the group in 2014. Other than music, she enjoys coffee, hiking, a good book, and wine - preferably sharing these with friends and family.