The vocalists of Ars Nova Singers are an adventurous, highly skilled cadre drawn from all over the Denver Metro Area. By retaining upwards of 40 auditioned singers, we’re able to conquer the toughest polyphonic terrain with ease. 8 parts? 16 parts? No problem. (Over the years, we’ve even dared to perform a few 40-part tunes – just for the fun of it.) We believe in strength in numbers, and we’re grateful to our singers for performing the kind of complex works that few other choirs attempt.
Singers
High School Apprentice
Evan Lariviere
Tenor & 10th Grader
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Mount Sanitas What’s a COVID-Times Hobby or Skill You’ve Picked Up? Use of flight simulators for learning how to fly…
Meet the Singers
Elizabeth Swanson
Associate Conductor, Alto, & CU Boulder Associate Director of Choral Studies
Current Hometown: Lafayette, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Verdi’s Requiem performances with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (Riccardo Muti, conductor). These rehearsal and performance experiences were life-altering! What Brings…
John Adams
Bass/Baritone & Software Engineer
Current Hometown: Northglenn, CO Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Mountain Biking – new for me when first moving to Colorado in the early 1990’s (when in my 30s).…
Kathy Asta
Alto & Chief of Staff for Pfizer
Current Hometown: Broomfield, CO Favorite Shower-Singing Song? “Walking on Broken Glass” – Annie Lennox What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? It’s the community aspect of making beautiful music…
James Boyd
Bass & Educator/Researcher
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Craft beer-drinking on (healthy, safely separated) patios What brings you peace? The farmer’s market. Sorry, I misread peas! There’s…
Mary Jo Brodzik
Alto & Research Scientist
Current Hometown: Nederland, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? I come to Renaissance music because it draws me in and feeds my soul; but an odd thing…
Evanne Browne
Soprano & Founder/Artistic Director, Seicento Baroque Ensemble
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s your vocal 14’er? Conducting the monumental Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 was a summit for me. I’m evidently the only person in Colorado to have done so, and I…
John Butterfield
Bass & Retired Journalist/Web Editor
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? The Durufle Requiem was an utter revelation when I first sang it just a few years ago. Not only had I never…
Sharon Caulfield
Alto & Lawyer
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Whitacre’s “When David Heard” and Fowler’s “Yet Another Layer,” and it was so cool to do Bocanegra’s “Hanacpachap cussicuinin” Favorite Shower-Singing Song?…
Daniel Cosio
Bass
Alice Del Simone
Soprano
What is your hometown? Oakland, CA. I’ve been in Boulder for three years as a Master’s student in Voice Performance and Pedgagogy. I joined Ars Nova Singers in 2022. Tell…
Bruce Doenecke
Tenor/Baritone & Retired Pediatrician
Current Hometown: Coal Creek Canyon, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Learning and performing Thomas Tallis’ 40-part motet, Spem in Alium. No question! Favorite Shower-Singing Song? “Never Can Say Goodbye” –…
Brian du Fresne
Bass & Music Director/Massage Therapist/Massage Therapy Instructor
Current Hometown: Thornton, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Since I am an organist/pianist first, one of my greatest successes was “Pageant“ by Leo Sowerby, a tour de force virtuosic organ…
Brant Foote
Senior Scientist Emeritus, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Hiking, biking, skiing, enjoying the blue sky and the big mountains. What’s a COVID-Times Hobby or Skill You’ve Picked…
Elizabeth "Beth” Foreman
Soprano & Spiritual End of Life Caregiver
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? I think it would be an entire role. The Marschallin in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. For years I sang opera and conquered if…
Jessica Harbeson
Soprano & Church Administrator
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. I got to perform it in Washington, DC, with the Cathedral Choral Society in the late 1990s. I…
Julia Hilton
Alto & Piano Teacher
Current Hometown: Broomfield, CO What’s a COVID-Times Hobby or Skill You’ve Picked Up? Sewing! What Brings You Peace? Playing the piano and reading. Joined Ars Nova: 2017 Round of Applause…
Scott Isaacs
Bass
Barry Janzen
Tenor & Software Engineer
Current Hometown: Niwot, CO What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future? I traveled to Finland and Estonia in 2020 to visit my son, and listening to…
Sarah Kiefhaber
Alto & Retired IT Professional
Current Hometown: Longmont, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Mason Bates’ “Observer in the Magellanic Cloud” What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future? I would love to…
Steve Kientz
Tenor & Engineer
Current Hometown: Westminster, CO Favorite Shower-Singing Song? Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Chautauqua Joined Ars Nova: 2009 Round of Applause…
Maxwell McKee
Bass & Software Engineer
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei (adaptation of Adagio for Strings) Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Rock climbing! Joined Ars Nova: 2018…
Tara Mianulli U'Ren
Alto & Choir Teacher
Current Hometown: Brighton, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? The hardest a cappella choral piece I have ever done was Friede auf Erden, Op. 13 by Schoenberg. I performed it memorized…
Ellen Moeller
Alto & Freelance Singer
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? “Tanti affetti” from Gioachino Rossini’s La Donna del Lago was my 14er. I’d like to conquer the role of Didón in Hector…
Ann Marie Morgan
Alto & Freelance Musician
Current Hometown: Broomfield, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? As I spend most of my musical time in the Baroque and prior, the repertoire of Ars Nova…
Paul Munsch
Bass & Math, Music, Health, and P.E. Teacher
Current Hometown: Westminster, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? I have been drawn to Ars Nova Singers by the vast variety, complexity, emotional content and performance quality…
David Nesbitt
Tenor & Chemistry/Physics Professor at CU Boulder
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? I sang in a Renaissance acapella men’s group in college, which always made me enjoy/appreciate the Renaissance focus/talents…
Miguel Angel Ortega
Tenor
Jan Osburn
Soprano & Retired Music Teacher
Current Hometown: Lafayette, CO What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future? Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. It touches my soul! What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s…
Eric Pahlke
Baritone & Electrical Engineer
Current Hometown: Superior, CO What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future? Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb” Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? Snowboarding! Joined…
Shannon Pennell
Soprano & Music Teacher
Current Hometown: Lyons, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? Choral music can be transcendent in a way that little else can for me. Being a small yet…
Julie Poelchau
Soprano & Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist
Current Hometown: Golden, CO What Keeps You Connected to Ars Nova’s Repertoire? My parents are singers and play several early instruments (recorders, krummhorns, viol, sacbut). I grew up with groups…
Jonathan Raabe
Tenor & Business Owner
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO Favorite Shower-Singing Song? “Wonderful Tonight” – Eric Clapton What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future? Francisco Guerrero’s Duo Seraphim Clamabant Joined Ars…
Karen Ramirez
Soprano & Teaching Professor/Program Director at CU Boulder
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What Brings You Peace? Being outside, especially with family; and, working with amazing, inspiring students. I teach and mentor about 75 students through CU Boulder’s Miramontes…
Erin Stone
Soprano & Programmer/Analyst
Current Hometown: Arvada, CO Favorite Outdoor Adventure Around the Front Range? I’m just learning to ski, and finding new hikes is one of summer’s best features. What’s a COVID-Times Hobby…
Emma Vawter
Alto & Conservation Travel Professional
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? I’m dying to sing Mahler’s 2nd with orchestra someday. Mahler is my favorite composer (by a lot) and I know WAY too…
Rhonda Wallen
Alto
Louis Warshawsky
Tenor & Retired Computer Programmer
Current Hometown: Longmont, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana What’s a COVID-Times Hobby or Skill You’ve Picked Up? Getting rid of electronic junk on Craigslist. Joined Ars…
Dan Wessler
Bass & UC Boulder Choral Graduate Assistant
Current Hometown: Thornton, CO Favorite Shower-Singing Song? The bass part to whatever arrangement my barbershop quartet is currently learning. What Song or Composer Should Ars Nova Cover in the Future?…
Don Wilson
Baritone & Retired
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO What Brings You Peace? Being in the middle of the choir rehearsing on a lovely Spring Thursday evening. May it soon come back to us all.…
Steve Winograd
Bass & Retired Computer Consultant
Current Hometown: Boulder, CO (since 1968!) What Brought You to Ars Nova? I heard about Ars Nova from a friend in the group, and I went to my first concert…
Chris Wolfrom
Tenor & Photovoltaic Systems Engineer
Current Hometown: Lafayette, CO What’s Your Vocal “14er”? Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame What’s a COVID-Times Hobby or Skill You’ve Picked Up? Buying too many plants. Joined Ars…