
Penelope Freeh (co-creator, choreographer,
dancer) is a contemporary ballet dancer and choreographer. She
creates works that explore the ballet idiom even as they diverge from
it. She is a McKnight Fellow for Choreographers and SAGE awardee for
Outstanding Performer. Her work is in the repertoires of James Sewell
Ballet and Minnesota Ballet among others. Penelope danced for James Sewell
Ballet for seventeen years, serving as Artistic Associate from 2007 –
11. She teaches at the University of MN and Zenon Dance School. Her collaborative
work with composer Jocelyn Hagen has been called “completely original
in all respects”.
Stephanie Fellner (dancer) has been in
Ballet of the Dolls since 1993. She has also performed with: James Sewell
Ballet, City Children’s Nutcracker, Metropolitan Ballet, MN Orchestra,
MN Opera, North Star Opera, The Reebok Performance Team for the MN Timberwolves,
Children’s Theatre Company, Penelope Freeh and TU Dance. In 2005 she was
awarded a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers and named Best Dancer by City
Pages. In 2007 she received a Sage Award for Outstanding Performer.
Nic Lincoln (dancer) -
Nic has been self producing, dancing and choreographing his own work for
over twelve years in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was named one of 25 to
Watch by “Dance Magazine”, Best Dancer by the “City Pages”, and one of
three Artists Who We Love by “MN Monthly” magazine. He is a proud recipient
of a McKnight Artist Fellowship for Dance. He danced with James Sewell
Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Cleveland San Jose Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet.

Carrie
Henneman Shaw (Katharine Wright - select performances) -
Carrie is known across the US as a singer who weaves style and emotion
into vivid performances
of Baroque and contemporary classical music. Praised in the New York
Times “as graceful vocally as she was in her movements”, Carrie was
a 2010 McKnight fellow and has earned awards as co-director Glorious
Revolution. Carrie earned degrees from Lawrence University
and the University of Minnesota, and she currently teaches at Bethel
University and Winona State University.
Mary
Hubbell (Katharine Wright - select performances) - Mary Hubbell,
described in the New York Times as “a soprano with a sweetly focused
tone,” has appeared in Europe and the US as a recitalist, chamber music
collaborator, and oratorio soloist. Orchestral engagements have included
Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate, Barber’s Knoxville, and Haydn’s Creation.
She performs in the contemporary chamber music group conText. Ms. Hubbell
is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Graduate Center of CUNY
and is a faculty member of Smith College.
Paul
R. Coate (singer) - Paul R. Coate is a vocalist, actor, director,
and educator. Vocal performance credits include Opera Omaha, Omaha Symphony,
Skylark Opera, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra, where
he most recently appeared as Enoch Snow in a concert version
of "Carousel". Theatre credits include Guthrie Theater, Children's
Theatre Company, History Theatre, Park Square Theatre, Nebraska Repertory
Theatre, Nebraska Shakespeare and Theater Latte Da, where he will be returning
for his second season in "All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914."
Jake
Endres (singer) -
Jake Endres lives in St. Paul and wears many hats. He has appeared with
many regional organizations, including The Minnesota Orchestra, The Flying
Foot Forum/Guthrie Theater, The Schubert Club, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra,
The Metropolitan Symphony, The Children’s Theatre Company, History Theatre,
Park Square Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Skylark Opera, Nautilus Music-Theater,
Paul Bunyan Playhouse, and Frank Theatre. Mr. Endres is also a third-year
member of The Rose Ensemble.
Aaron
Humble (singer) -
Tenor Aaron Humble has performed in opera, recital, concert, and
chamber music venues. During his tenure with Cantus, Aaron enjoyed solo
appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Pops and
concert appearances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Library
of Congress, Wolf Trap, and The Chautauqua Institute. Aaron has taught
at Augustana College (IL) and was recently appointed to the faculty at
Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota.
Gary
Ruschman (singer) - Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “funny
and fresh-voiced”, Kentucky native Gary Ruschman is a veteran performer,
educator, visual artist, and prize-winning composer/arranger. Along with
thirty stage roles and hundreds of concert appearances, the tenor has toured
the globe as a member of Cantus, appeared with major orchestras and opera
companies, played in rock bands, and presented new works and music for
dance in Cincinnati, New York, California, and the Twin Cities.
Timothy
C. Takach (singer) - Takach enjoys a busy and varied career as a
composer, singer, clinician and freelance graphic designer. As a full-time
composer, Takach has a healthy schedule of commissioned work, and his music
has been called “gorgeous” (Washington Post) and “eventful” (Star Tribune).
He is a co-founder of the professional ensemble Cantus and Vice President
of both Graphite Publishing and the Independent Music Publishers Cooperative.
Takach graduated with honors from St. Olaf College with degrees in Music
Composition and Art.
Justin
Schell (videographer) - Justin Schell is a documentary filmmaker,
writer, and educator. His documentary We Rock Long Distance weaves the stories
of three diasporic hip-hop artists across generation and geography. In addition,
he helped establish the Minnesota Hip-Hop Archive at the Givens Collection
of African American Literature at the University of Minnesota Libraries.
He currently lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan and directs the Shapiro Design
Lab for the University of Michigan Library.
Alexandra
early (violin) -
Alexandra Early is a native of St Paul, Minnesota. She has performed
in orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra,
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Cleveland
Pops Orchestra, and Charleston Symphony. She spent the 2012-2013 season as
a member of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to her experience
onstage, Alex has appeared in interviews and performances on the BBC, NPR,
and PBS. Alex holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the
Manhattan School of Music.
Jean
Marker De Vere
(violin) -
Jean Marker De Vere joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 1978, the same year
she graduated from Indiana University. Throughout her tenure, De Vere has
participated in numerous Minnesota Orchestra activities and has
attended several summer music festivals including Blossom Festival, Yale
Summer School, Music Academy of the West and the Spoleto Festival. De Vere
is currently on the faculty at both the MacPhail Center for Music and the
Mount Calvary Academy of Music, and has a private studio in Golden Valley.

Kirsten
Whitson (cello) - Kirsten performs
extensively as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has played
with MN Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Florida
Orchestra and Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic. She has performed throughout
the United States, Europe and Asia. Composers Timothy C. Takach, Jocelyn
Hagen, David Evan Thomas and Carl Witt have written pieces for her. Kirsten
has received grants from the MN State Arts Board and the National Endowment
for the Arts.