Bethany Battafarano, soprano

Bethany Battafarano, soprano, finds her niche in early, choral, and contemporary classical music. She has sung with The Rose Ensemble, The Mirandola Ensemble, Minnesota Chorale, Apollo Master Chorale, Oratory Bach Ensemble, and First Readings Project. With The Rose Ensemble, Battafarano celebrated the release of her first CD, “Christmas in Baroque Malta.” Upcoming solo performances include György Kurtág's "Kafka Fragments” with 113 Composers Collective.

In 2017, Battafarano co-founded the professional chamber choir Border CrosSing, for which she sings and is Deputy Director. Battafarano is co-founder of chamber treble ensemble Artemis, which performs contemporary classical music and experimental improvisation. Artemis recently completed a commission by French artist Laure Prouvost, the Walker Art Center, and Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in New York.

Battafarano holds a BA in Music, Anthropology, and Psychology from Macalester College. She is currently pursuing MA Musicology and MM Voice degrees at the University of Oregon.

Natalie Campbell, soprano

Natalie Campbell, soprano, lives in Sioux Falls, SD, where she teaches voice at Augustana University and the University of Sioux Falls. Recent solo performances include the role of Adina in Donizetti’s L’elixir d’amore, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Haydn’s Missa brevis, and a mid-west premiere of Shawn Kirchner’s Songs of Ascent. She has performed with several professional ensembles including Cantare Houston, Mercury Baroque, The Rose Ensemble and the Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale.

This summer she attended the prestigious American Bach Soloists Academy in San Francisco where she performed as a soloist in Bach's Mass in B Minor. Natalie holds a B.M. from Houghton College in New York, and an M.M. in voice from the University of South Dakota.

Nicholas Chalmers, Tenor

Heralded by the Washington Post as "exciting and dulcet," Nicholas Chalmers, tenor, is thrilled to debut with Transept! He has sung with The Rose Ensemble, the Bach Society of Minnesota, the Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Glorious Revolution Baroque, The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists, and the Minnesota Chorale. Recent solo engagements include Oratory, Magnum Chorum, the Church Music Association of America, the St. Mark's Cathedral Concert Series, and the Schubert Club. Nicholas recently concluded his Master’s studies in Choral Conducting at the University of Minnesota, where he conducted several campus ensembles and held a Teacher's Assistant position in the music theory department.

Nicholas is in his sixth year as the Director of Music at Chesterton Academy in Edina and recently accepted the position of Director of Music and Liturgy at Annunciation Church in South Minneapolis.  He is also Artistic Director of the Mirandola Ensemble, which presents programs of rarely performed early music from the Medieval and Renaissance eras strategically juxtaposed with the compositions of 20th and 21st century composers.

Krista Costin, Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-Soprano Krista Costin, a founding member of Transept, has collaborated as a soloist and/or ensemble member with Oratory Bach Ensemble, Consortium Carissimi, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, The Singers, MN Chorale, House of Hope Motet Choir, Oregon Bach Festival, and Bachakademies in both Weimar and Stuttgart, Germany under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. 

Upcoming solo highlights of 2018-2019 season include a Schubert Club Courtroom Concert recital in November, Bach Mass in B Minor with Exultate, a staged production of St John Passion with Oratory Bach Ensemble and MN Dance Theatre, and ensemble debut with Mirandola Ensemble. In addition to performing, Krista serves on the Voice faculty at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN and teaches yoga and mindfulness classes in the Twin Cities.  www.kristacostin.com

Julie DeBoer, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo soprano Julie DeBoer joined the voice faculty at UW-Eau Claire in 2015, where she holds a voice studio and also teaches diction, opera and song literature, and class voice. Recent solo performances include Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with Bella Voce, and Bach arias with the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra. Recent operatic roles include Third Lady in The Magic Flute at Aspen Music Festival; Zita in Gianni Schicchi at Bay View Music Festival; Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, and Nancy in Albert Herring at Northwestern University.

Julie has performed with many professional choirs, including Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, South Dakota Chorale, Music of the Baroque, Bella Voce, and the William Ferris Chorale. Julie graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University with bachelor's degrees in Voice Performance and in Religious Studies, and holds a master's degree in Voice Performance and Literature from Northwestern University.

Fabiana González, mezzo-soprano 

Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano Fabiana González is quickly gaining attention throughout the United States and Europe for her “superb combination of tonal warmth and rhetorical directness” (San Francisco Chronicle). She received a Bachelor’s Degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico and a Master´s Degree in Early Music at Yale University under the tutelage of James Taylor. She is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree at the University of North Texas where she has worked closely with vocal pedagogy expert Stephen Austin. She resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she teaches voice and vocal pedagogy at the San Juan Children’s Choir and at University of Puerto Rico.

She has sung under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki, Andrew Megill, Dale Warland, Simon Halsey, James O'Donell, Simon Carrington, James Richman, Richard Sparks, and Paul Leenhouts. She has performed with many vocal ensembles including Orfeón San Juan Bautista, Yale Schola Cantorum, UNT Collegium Singers, Dallas Bach Society, Fantasmi Ensemble, the Thriteen Choir, Choral Pickup, The Rose Ensemble, and the South Dakota Chorale.

Roy Heilman, Tenor

Tenor Roy Heilman frequently sings in a broad spectrum of styles from the Renaissance to the present, but has primarily made a name for himself as tenor soloist in the music of the Baroque and Classical eras. In March of 2017, he was tenor soloist in a rare performance of Carl Heinrich Graun’s Der Tod Jesu, with Lyra Baroque Orchestra and guest conductor Simon Carrington. Other recent performances include Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Britten’s St. Nicolas and Cantata Misericordium, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Mass in B-minor. 

Roy received his musical training from Gustavus Adolphus College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music with Honors in Performance, and from The New England Conservatory of Music, with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children, where he is usually caught up in musical or outdoor pursuits.

Joseph Hubbard, bass

Joseph Hubbard, bass, With recent professional engagements at Virginia Opera, Opera Southwest, Beth Morrison Projects, Aldeburgh Festival (UK), and Aspen Music Festival, Mr. Hubbard has performed over two dozen operatic roles, ranging from early 17th century to new premieres.

His concert soloist credits include the Art Institute of Chicago, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Morgan Library and Museum, Beth Morrison Projects, Duke University, Dartmouth College, Newberry Consort, Schola Antiqua of Chicago, Music at Marsh Chapel Boston, Mountainside Baroque, Ars Lyrica Houston, Madison Early Music Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, and the Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale, with whom he also serves as Artistic Advisor.

Mr. Hubbard holds B.Mus and M.Mus degrees from the University of North Texas and Northwestern University, and a Certificate from the Opera Institute at Boston University.

Bruce Jacobs, organ

Bruce Jacobs, (organ), is heard frequently in the Twin Cities. Since his musical debut at First Avenue, he has performed with the Eglantine Consort, Waltham Abbey Singers, Ensemble Polaris, Bach Society of Minnesota, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, Elm Ensemble, Hymnus, Rose Ensemble, Consortium Carissimi and the National Lutheran Choir. He was a founding member of Banchetto Musicale, a leading baroque ensemble in Fargo-Moorhead.

Jacobs studied pipe organ performance with Ruth Berge at Concordia College in Moorhead and continuo through the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. He is Chief Technologist at Twin Cities Public Television.

Andrew Kane, Baritone

Baritone Andrew Kane is pleased to sing in his third project with Transept. Andrew has been singing professionally based in the Twin Cities since 2008. Focusing from the outset on early music, he has been a member of the Mirandola Ensemble since 2011, and has performed with the Rose Ensemble, Minnesota Bach Society, Consortium Carissimi, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, and Glorious Revolution Baroque. Other soloist appearances include VocalPoint Chorus, the music series of Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, House of Hope Presbyterian and Holy Family Catholic Church, Mount Olive Lutheran's annual ach Tage, and the Oratorio Society. Additionally, Andrew has sung with VocalEssence, Minnesota Chorale, the Minnesota Opera, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, and the Oregon Bach Festival.

Brody Krogman, bass-baritone

Brody Krogman, a bass-baritone, is a native of Sioux Falls, SD, and is a graduate of the University of South Dakota. Brody has been an active performer in the region with solo performances of Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Franz Liszt’s Via Crucis, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah. On the opera stage, he has held principal roles in Copland’s The Tender Land, Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus. 

Recently, Brody debuted with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra in Bernstein’s West Side Story. In the 2018-2019 season with the MSO, he will sing as the bass soloist for Handel’s Messiah. This last summer, he had the honor of performing as a young artist at the Illinois Bach Academy, and traveling to Weimar, Germany for the Bachkantaten Akademie under the baton of Helmuth Rilling. 

Clara Osowski, Mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, who sings "from inside the music with unaffected purity and sincerity" (UK Telegraph), is an active soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. Recognized for her excellence in Minnesota, Clara was a recipient of the prestigious 2018-2019 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Musicians administered by MacPhail Center for Music. In international competition with pianist Tyler Wottrich, Clara has won second place at Thomas Quasthoff’s Das Lied, fourth place and the Richard Tauber Prize for the best interpretation of Schubert Lieder at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation Song Competition, and most recently the Radio-Canada People’s Choice Award and third place in the song division at the 2018 Concours Musical International de Montréal.

In addition to performing, Clara serves as the Co-founder of Source Song Festival, a week-long art song festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Please see www.claraosowski.com for more information.

Seth Pierce, tenor

Tenor Seth Pierce lives in Sioux Falls, SD, and is a Sport Management graduate from the University of South Dakota. Seth has performed with Transept, the St. Joseph Cathedral Men’s Schola and Choir, and was active in the music department at USD while in school. Seth’s operatic performances include Enrico Carouser in Penhorwood’s Too Many Sopranos, Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land, and Nemorino in Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore.

Seth, along with his aunt and uncle, recorded a Christmas CD to raise money for homeless people in their communities. After two benefit concerts, the CD raised more than $30,000 to give to homeless shelters in Sioux Falls, SD and Palo Alto, CA. In addition, Seth performed as the lead male vocalist for the Miss South Dakota Pageant this past summer. Seth is a former St. Joseph Cathedral Choral Scholar recipient, where he now serves as a contract singer.

Andrew Rader, Countertenor

Countertenor Andrew Rader has been called the “purest and most vibrant [countertenor]…in memory, recent or otherwise” (Arts-Louisville.com), known for his “accurate, powerful, indeed thrilling” (John Gilks, operaramblings) interpretations of Baroque repertoire.

For over a decade, Mr. Rader has been an active soloist in the major Baroque oratorio repertoire. Performance highlights include St. John Passionwith Music City Baroque, Indianapolis Baroque, and Madison Bach Musicians, Messiahwith Bourbon Baroque, New Mexico Philharmonic, BWV 182with South Carolina Bach Society, BWV 180with the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, and Carissimi’s Historia di Jobwith Magnificat Baroque.

Operatic roles include Giulio Cesare, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Eustazio in operamission’s Rinaldo. In 2019, he will be performing the role of Silvio in operamission’s new production of Il Pastor Fido.

Phillip Rukavina

Phillip Rukavina performs as a lute and vihuela soloist and as a continuo lutenist. He’s appeared at many music festivals, including the Utrecht Early Music Festival (2013) and the Boston Early Music Festival (2015).  In 2017, Phillip performed as a soloist at the European Lute Festival in Füssen, Germany (2017) and at the Lute Society of America’s 2017 WestFest held in Victoria, BC Canada. A founding member of the Venere Lute Quartet Phillip has performed with many prominent ensembles,

including the Newberry Consort, the Texas Early Music Project, the Rose Ensemble, the Bach Society MN and with renown sopranos Emma Kirkby and Ellen Hargis.  He has served on the faculty of the Lute Society of America's LuteFest in Cleveland, OH and the Amherst and Vancouver Early Music Festivals. He has recorded on the Lyrichord, LSA, and Naxos labels. His fifth Studio395 solo release, Dutch Light: the Lute Music of Nicolas Vallet, was issued in winter of 2017.

Josh Schwalbach

Josh Schwalbach holds a DMA from Stony Brook University, where he studied double bass with Kurt Muroki and Joseph Carver. A passionate educator, he is currently on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, and the University of St. Thomas. Previously, he  served as an instructor at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, Yinghua Academy Conservatory of Music, Stony Brook University and the Stony Brook School on Long Island.

An Early Music enthusiast, Josh has performed on viola da gamba and baroque bass with groups including Transept, Cerulean Fire, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, the Rose Ensemble, the Aulos Ensemble, and at the Twin Cities and Boston Early Music Festivals.

Michael Skarke, Countertenor

Countertenor Michael Skarke, born and raised in League City, TX, has been praised for his “exquisite, almost ethereal tone quality” (Vocal Arts Chicago), and enjoys success both in the concert hall and on the opera stage. Michael is thrilled that Divine Mystery will be his debut with Transept.

 Recent solo performances include the roles of Corindo in Caccini’s L’Orontea, and Filotete in Händel’s Oreste, Bach’s Jesu Meine Freude and Wir Danken Dir, Britten’s Rejoice of the Lamb, Händel’s Messiah, and Ticheli’s Angels in the Architecture, as well as the American recital premiere of Jocelyn Pook’s songs from The Merchant of Venice. His Spring engagements include performing the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

 Michael recently graduated cum laude from Baylor University with his B.M., and is currently pursuing an M.M. degree from Baylor University with a Teaching Assistantship position in voice.

Angela Young Smucker, mezzo-soprano

Angela Young Smucker has earned praise for her “rich mezzo” (Chicago Tribune) and "powerful stage presence" (The Plain Dealer). Her performances in concert, stage, and chamber works have made her a highly versatile and sought-after artist. Ms. Smucker has been a featured artist with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, Oregon Bach Festival, Conspirare, Seraphic Fire, Haymarket Opera Company, Bach Collegium San Diego, Les Délices, Carmel Bach Festival, Newberry Consort, Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Third Coast Baroque. She has also had the distinct pleasure of working under the baton of such esteemed conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Hermann Max, Jane Glover, Phillip Brunelle, and Rubén Dubrovsky.

In addition to performing, Ms. Smucker is currently pursuing her doctorate at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and holds degrees from Valparaiso University – where she was also instructor of voice for seven years – and the University of Minnesota. She serves as Executive Director of Third Coast Baroque.

Kim Sueoka, soprano

Soprano Kim Sueoka is a performer and teaching artist with Lumina Women’s Ensemble, Lau Hawaiian Collective, and COMPAS. She has performed nationally and internationally with The Rose Ensemble and has appeared as a guest artist with the Neuss Chamber Orchestra, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Ames Chamber Artists, Des Moines Choral Society, and the Flint Hills International Children’s Festival.

Sueoka received bachelor's and master's degrees in vocal performance at The University of Evansville and the University of Minnesota. Kim’s solo recordings include Clear or Cloudy: The Lute Songs of John Dowland with lutenist Phillip Rukavina, Wai: Hawaiian Fresh Water Songs with Lau Hawaiian Collective, and The River Inside of Trees with composers Todd Harper and Paul Cantrell.