SINGERS BIOGRAPHIES

MARTHA AINSWORTH

Martha Ainsworth is beginning her 16th season with the Princeton Singers. A graduate of Westminster Choir College with a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, she has sung professionally in various ensembles in New York City and New Jersey for the past 25 years. Her interests in music, contemplative spirituality and the Internet have blended into an eclectic vocation as a singer, writer, cyberspace denizen, and Anglican solitary.

 

LES ANDERS

Les Anders, bass/baritone, has specialized in ensemble and small choral group singing since 1990. Starting in 2006, Les was delighted to add The Princeton Singers to a roster of performing organizations which includes The Choir of St. Clement’s Church (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania Pro Musica, Piffaro, The Albemarle Singers (American Boychoir), and The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, among many others. Les has sung in concerts and recordings under the batons of such noted vocal and instrumental music directors as Ricardo Muti, David Hayes, Peter Richard Conte, Sean Deibler, Richard Stone, and Alan Harler. His musical education includes four years of intensive jazz studies (saxophone and composition) at Temple University, as well as vocal tutelage with Gary Magby (Opéra de Lyon). Residing in downtown Philadelphia, Les is the lead buyer for a web-based retailer, and has held purchasing positions at corporations throughout the Delaware Valley for over 15 years.

 

MARGARET ANNE BUTTERFIELD

Margaret Anne began singing with The Princeton Singers in 1995 and appears on their five most recent recordings. A native of Washington, DC, Margaret Anne earned a Master of Music degree in voice performance from Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from The Catholic University of America. She also studied in the Opera Studio at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Margaret Anne has sung with New York City Opera National Company, New York City Opera Education Department, New York Choral Artists, Fuma Sacra, Princeton Pro Musica, Princeton Symphony, Garden State Philharmonic and Lehigh Choral Arts among many other ensembles and organizations on the eastern seaboard. While living in New Jersey, Margaret Anne taught at The Lawrenceville School and served as Children’s Chorus Master for opera Festival of New Jersey. Appointed as Upper School Choir Director at Wilmington Friends School in Delaware in 2003, she currently serves as President of the Delaware chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Margaret Anne lives in a music-filled home Wilmington, DE with her husband of 25 years, Stuart, and their two sons, Steven and Jimmy.

 

DIANE CALELLO

Diane Calello, soprano, graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia where she toured with the William and Mary Choir as well as founding and directing an all-female ensemble, The Accidentals, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.  Since graduation, while pursuing a medical degree and completing her training, she has sung with a number of regional ensembles in addition to The Princeton Singers including the Choir of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey under the direction of David Fedor.  She lives with her husband in Pennington, NJ and, when not performing, is a cantor at the Catholic Community of St. Charles Borromeo in Skillman and an attending physician in the Pediatric Emergency Department and Poison Control Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

 

ALAN CHAMPION

Alan Champion, bass joined the Princeton Singers during Director Steven Sametz’ first year as conductor of the group and sings on each of the Princeton Singers recordings produced since Sametz’ tenure with the group.  For five years he sang with St. Clement’s Church Choir in Philadelphia, a professional 19 voice liturgical choir nder the direction of renowned organist, Peter Conte.  He currently sings at St. Mary’s Church in New York City in a nine voice choir under the direction of acclaimed organist and choirmaster Robert McCormick.  Both of these churches specialize in tight choral ensemble singing of Latin masses by composers ranging from the renaissance era to 20th century, both European and American.  He has sung  with several liturgical and community based choruses throughout New Jersey, New York & the Philadelphia area. He is originally from Tulsa, lived most of his adult life in New York City followed by a few years in Princeton before moving to his current home just north of Philadelphia.

 

TIMOTHY COOMBS

Tim Coombs (tenor) is a music education major at Westminster Choir College. He has studied with Winston Hughes and currently studies with Marvin Keenze. At Westminster, Tim performs with the Symphonic Choir and the Westminster Choir. In the summer of 2006, he performed at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. Before college, Tim had the distinct opportunity of being the only tenor from New Jersey to be a part of the Youth Choral Academy at the Oregon Bach Festival. He has worked with such conductors as Dr. Anton Armstrong, Helmuth Rilling, Dr. Andrew Megill, Dr. James Jordan, Dr. Joe Miller, and Sun Min Lee to name a few. After graduation, Tim plans to audition for a number of choirs and would love to be a high school choral/band director.

 

ERIC JOHNSON

Eric Johnson is currently a freshman studying at Westminster Choir College. He has won several singing competitions as well as singing in many choral ensembles in his home state of Michigan. Also a composer, Eric’s will have world premieres on three continents this season.

 

SAGE LUTTON

Sage Lutton earned her Master’s degree  in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance from Westminster Choir College, where she studied with Margaret Cusack, and her Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from Trenton State College, where she studied with Suzanne Hickman.  She has sung under the direction of Richard Yang Yuk in the New Jersey Opera Festival (1995-2003) and Princeton Festival (2005-07.)  She also performs with the Skylark Ensemble, directed by Jerome Brandt.   Sage can be heard as a guest artist on That Was Then, This Is Now, and Green Mountain Dreaming, cd releases of Mary Koth Lutton.

 

REBECCA MIGLIORE

Becca splits her time between pastoring a Presbyterian congregation in West Orange, and running a healing music ministry at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Her CD, “A Drop of Peace” features original wordless vocals with piano accompaniment.”

 

BRIAN RAMSEY

Counter-tenor Brian Ramsey has been singing with The Princeton Singers since January of 2006. A native of Gary, Indiana, he moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music. Said to possess a voice of “haunting beauty”, Mr. Ramsey has performed with numerous ensembles in and around Philadelphia, including ChiaroOscuro, Ancient Voices of the University of Pennsylvania, The Athenaeum for Early Music at Rutgers University, Pennsylvania Pro Musica, and The Philadelphia Classical Symphony. He has been singing with the choir of Saint Clement’s Church, Philadelphia, since 1991, and is on the faculty at Friends’ Central School, Wynnewood, PA, where he teaches Middle and Upper School music classes, directs several choral ensembles, and teaches private voice. When not pursuing musical endeavors, Brian can be found spoiling Joey, his 8 year-old Jack Russell “Terrorist”!

 

WILLIAM F. WALKER

Bass baritone William F. Walker has performed extensively in Europe and the United States. Mr. Walker has appeared frequently with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was heard in THE BARTERED BRIDE, and created the role of Papa Siepe in the world premiere of Bolcom's MACTEAGUE, directed by Robert Altman. Other productions with the Lyric Opera of Chicago include Barber's ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA, LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST, TANNHAUSER, and SALOME. With the Sarasota Opera, Mr. Walker sang the role of Geronimus in the American premiere of Carl Nielsen's MASKARADE, sung in Danish. Mr. Walker also performed the role of Kecal in THE BARTERED BRIDE, sung in Czech. Mr. Walker appears regularly with many American regional opera companies. He appeared with the Chautauqua Opera; with Tulsa Opera and Boheme Opera, and with the Opera at Florham and Rockford Symphony. Mr. Walker has sung extensively with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Florentine Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Sacramento Opera. With the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Mr. Walker has appeared on national TV, as DON PASQUALE. He also created the role of Bowen in the World Premiere of DIFFERENT FIELDS, by Mike Reid. Locally, Mr. Walker has appeared with Boheme Opera of New Jersey. With the Zurich Opera, Mr. Walker sang under the baton of Nello Santi and Ferdinand Leitner. In addition to performing Papageno in THE MAGIC FLUTE with the company, he appeared in their productions of L'ORMINDO, LOHENGRIN, and TOSCA. As a concert soloist, Mr. Walker made his Carnegie Hall Debut singing Mozart's REQUIEM with the New York City Philharmonic, conducted by Joseph Flummerfelt. He has since appeared there with Eve Queller's Opera Orchestra of New York, in Bellini's SONNAMBULA; and as bass soloist in the Faure REQUIEM, under the baton of John Rutter. He is currently a member of the Princeton Singers, and is Bass Soloist at the Nassau St. Presbyterian Church of Princeton, NJ.

 

KAREN WAPNER

Karen is originally from Central Pennsylvania and came to the Philadelphia area to attend West Chester University where she earned a BS in Music Education and an MM in Voice, pursuing advanced study in the Graduate Music Therapy Program at Hahnemann University.  She has been singing professionally in the tri-state area for many years, performing with Sarum Singers, PA Pro Musica, Vox Amadeus, Calliope, Philomel, Piffaro, West Jersey Chamber Music Society, Princeton Singers, St. Clement’s, and the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, NYC.  Karen has studied voice with Julianne Baird and Tamara Matthews, and coached with Drew Minter and Joshua Rifkin at the Amherst Early Music Festival.  Karen’s day job is in the field of Psychiatric Social Work and she lives with her partner, Alix, and their miniature dachsunds in Moorestown, NJ.

 

MICHELE ZUCKMAN

Michele Zuckman holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance and Music Education, with a Conducting Minor, from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting/Music Education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. While in graduate school, Michele served as graduate assistant to Joseph Flummerfelt and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Michele also sang with the Westminster Choir, served as Artistic Director/Conductor of the Jackson Civic Chorus in Jackson, NJ, and was on the voice faculty of the Westminster Conservatory in Princeton , NJ . While a student at Carnegie Mellon, Michele sang with Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, and Operafestival di Roma. She also held an internship with the Education and Outreach Departments of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and taught private and group voice lessons at the Civic Light Opera Academy in Pittsburgh. Michele is currently a vocal music teacher at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts in Bethlehem , PA, where her choirs have performed at the United Nations and the National Shrine.   This past summer, Michele was thrilled to sing with the Spoleto Festival Choir in Spoleto , Italy, under the direction of Donald Nally. Michele is a member of the Opera Company of Philadelphia's chorus and gives private voice lessons in Lambertville, NJ.