Two-time JUNO Award winning conductor, composer, recorder, and flute soloist Matthias Maute has achieved an international reputation. In 2016 he was named artistic director of the Bach Society of Minnesota and in 2019 of the professional choir Ensemble vocal Arts-Québec. The New York Times described the orchestra he conducts in Montreal, Ensemble Caprice, as “an ensemble that encourages the listener to rehear the world.” Maute’s recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos juxtaposed with his own arrangements of Preludes from Shostakovich's Op. 87 was hailed by The New Yorker as standing out “for its fleet, characterful approach” and “its fresh, vibrant colors”. Maute’s compositions are published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Amadeus, Moeck and Carus. He has made some twenty recordings on the Analekta, Vanguard Classics, Bella Musica, Dorian, Bridge and ATMA Classique labels.

Kathy Saltzman Romey is artistic director of the 200-voice Minnesota Chorale, which serves as the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal choir. Romey is also Professor Emerita of Music and former Director of Choral Activities at the University of Minnesota, where she oversaw the graduate program in choral conducting and conducted choirs for thirty years.

Known for her meticulous training of choirs, Romey has conducted the Chorale in local, national and international forums. She has prepared the Chorale for performances with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Music Directors Osmo Vänskä, Eiji Oue and Edo de Waart, Sommerfest Artistic Directors Andrew Litton, Leonard Slatkin and David Zinman, and acclaimed guest conductors as Roberto Abbado, James Conlon, Nicholas Kraemer, Roger Norrington, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Juraj Valčuha and Thomas Wilkins. Romey has conducted the Chorale in national and international forums and in performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and The Metropolitan Symphony.

Katie Boardman, soprano, is a sensitive performer of music both centuries old and brand new. Twin Cities solo appearances include Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with the Bach Society of MN, the Poulenc Gloria, and the Fauré Requiem. She has sung with ensembles including VocalEssence, the Minnesota Chorale, the Rose Ensemble, and the Boston Camerata. She appears on the PaTRAM Institute Singers’ GRAMMY-nominated recording of Kurt Sander’s Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and was a VOCES8 Scholar in 2019-20. A native of Wisconsin, she grew to love early music at the Madison Early Music Festival and holds a degree in Historical Performance from Boston University. She maintains an active voice teaching studio in St. Paul, MN. www.katieboardman.com

Olivia Schurke is a mezzo-soprano based in Boston, where she earned her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Boston University. While at BU, Olivia performed a range of operatic roles with the Boston University Opera Institute, most notably Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina, Meg in Little Women and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. Most recently, she was featured as the Alto Fellow at Emmanuel Music’s Bach Institute, where she appeared as a soloist in Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, BWV 72 as part of their Sunday cantata series.

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In April 2023, Olivia made her Symphony Hall debut as mezzo soloist for James Stephensen’s Symphony No. 2 with the Boston University Wind Ensemble. In June 2024, Olivia collaborated with her colleagues at First Lutheran Church of Boston to present Vaterliebe, a chamber recital showcasing works by German composers spanning three centuries. Olivia’s musical studies began at age three with the violin, which remained her primary instrument until college when she turned her focus to voice. Her background in instrumental music continues to inform her approach to singing, particularly in the works of Bach.

Heralded by the Washington Post as “dulcet and exciting,” Nicholas Chalmers, tenor, has sung with The Bach Society of Minnesota, The Rose Ensemble, the Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Glorious Revolution Baroque, and Transept. Recent solo engagements include the Oratorio Society, the Bach Roots Festival, the Schubert Club, the St. Mark’s Cathedral Concert Series, Minnesota Center Chorale, Border CrosSing, and Lyra Baroque. Chalmers received a B.M. in music from St. Olaf College and an M.M. in Choral Conducting at the University of Minnesota. He is the Director of Choirs at Chesterton Academy in Hopkins, Director of Music at St. Lawrence Church, and Artistic Director of the Mirandola Ensemble. During the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years he piloted a high-school choral residency program in collaboration with Minnesota Public Radio.

Bass-baritone Alan Dunbar is a versatile performer, lauded for his beautiful tone and his nuanced musical and textual interpretation. Spanning music from the 17 th to 21 st centuries, his repertoire includes art song, opera, concert works, folk, jazz, and popular music. Performances include world premieres of solo vocal works by Libby Larsen, Elliot Carter, Nico Muhly, and Justin Merritt. He has been praised for his work as bass soloist in Bach’s passions and cantatas with Voices of Ascension, Bach Society of Minnesota, Bach Roots Festival, Madison Bach Musicians, and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. Alan’s work on the opera stage includes numerous principal roles with Madison Opera (Magic Flute, Candide, Salome, Fellow Travelers, La Bohème, Barber of Seville, Dead Man Walking, She Loves Me); the title role of Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Santa Fe Opera; Prophet/King in Dark Sisters (Nico Muhly) with Gotham Chamber Opera and Opera Philadelphia; Bluebeard’s Castle with Natchez Opera; and as Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Renée Fleming and Peter Mattei. He has also collaborated with choreographer/director Mark Morris in performances with the Mark Morris Dance Group, as well as in the Stravinsky chamber opera Renard.