The Choir
Meet the people behind the choir…
James Klein, Artistic Director
Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Choral Music and Piano Performance from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, and a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from the University of Iowa. He taught secondary choral music in Iowa for seven years and was the Minister of Music at American Lutheran Church in Huron, SD from 1978-1990.
From 1990-2016 Jim served as full-time Minister of Music at American Lutheran Church in Prescott where he directed seven vocal choirs, five handbell choirs, and various instrumental ensembles. He conducted the Yavapai College Master Chorale from 1993-2007, leading the Chorale on three international tours to Central Europe in 1998, Italy in 2002, and Scandinavia in 2007.
He and his wife Eileen, who served with him as organist in his church positions, are officially retired, but they are not REALLY retired! Besides serving as Artistic Director of Camerata Chamber Singers (CCS), Jim sings in the YC Master Chorale and St. Luke’s Choir, directs the Ringers of St. Luke’s handbell choir, High Desert Ringers (advanced community handbell choir), and plays piano/keyboard for the Prescott Pops Symphony. He is also arranger and advisor for Eine Kleine Freunden Musik (EKFM), a four-person ensemble of handbells, vocals, and piano, that has provided music for area worship services, both live and virtually during the pandemic.
Jim and Eileen have two children, Eric and Julie, and three grand dogs, Bill and Ted, Paddles, and Ripley. They also are proud owners of Marco, a sweet Maltipoo who provides daily entertainment.
Our Singers…
Sue Boyce
Soprano
Sue Boyce has a sociology degree from Albion College and a degree in music history from the University of Michigan. She has sung in church choirs and semi-professional choral groups her entire life. Since moving to Prescott in 2010, Sue has sung with Master Chorale, Prescott Chorale, Camerata Singers ( of which she is the only remaining founding member), and Eine Kleine Freunden Musik, as well as multiple church choirs. Sue currently studies voice with Deborah Raymond in Flagstaff.
Eileen Klein
Soprano
Eileen has accompanied and performed vocal music on the piano and organ in schools and churches in SD, IA, and Prescott. She has sung in church choirs, YC Master Chorale, Prescott Chorale, Camerata Chamber Singers, and played in numerous handbell choirs. She accompanies and sings in EKFM, a 4-person musical ensemble. After 26 years, she retired as organist at American Lutheran Church in Prescott and 24+ years as administrative assistant in the College of Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Eileen also enjoys international travel with her husband, Jim, walking their Maltipoo dog, Marco, reading, hiking, and doing crossword puzzles.
Sopranos
Sue Boyce
Eileen Klein
Staci Knotek
Pat McCarver
Emily Spencer
Diane Thornbrugh
Staci Knotek
Soprano
Stacia (Staci) Knotek is a retired Elementary teacher of 31 years and now a local Real Estate Agent. She graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN with majors in Elementary Education and in Music. She earned her MA in Elementary Education at NAU. She has been involved in church choir, Master Chorale, and Yavapai College Choir throughout her 31 years in Prescott. She enjoys playing the piano and has accompanied various groups throughout her life.
Patricia McCarver, PhD
Soprano
Patricia McCarver has lived in Prescott since 1989. She has sung with Yavapai College Master Chorale since 1991. Pat has been a featured soprano soloist for performances of Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, John Rutter’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat in D, Faure’s Requiem and Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vesperae solennes de confessore. Pat has sung with the Camerata Chamber Singers since 2017.
Emily Spencer
Soprano
Emily holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy and a Master of Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy. She co-founded and directed the Tri-State Choral Society in Sinsinawa, WI and served as soprano section Principal with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Emily’s many solo concert credits include J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mass in Time of War, and Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore. She resides in Prescott with her husband and five children.
Diane Thornbrugh
Soprano
Diane Thornbrugh holds a Masters in Business with a Music Minor. She is retired with a career in Finance, and currently Camerata Treasurer. Diane currently sings with Womansong, CCS, Arizona Musicfest, and Yavapai College Master Chorale. Other past choral affiliations include Prescott Chorale, and Santa Clara Chorale in California. Diane plays the piano for home enjoyment, has a passion for gardening, is a volunteer Master Gardener with Yavapai County extension office and Sharlot Hall Museum garden.
Gayle Gregory, M.D.
Alto
Gayle is a child/adolescent psychiatrist practicing at Ponderosa Pediatrics in Prescott. In her youth she played the oboe. She has sung with YC Master Chorale and Renaissance Choir, and Prescott Chorale. Currently ringing with 2 handbell choirs, she has also performed with smaller handbell ensembles. She loves hiking in the forests surrounding Prescott.
Linda Hoover
Alto
Linda Hoover is a lifelong lover of all things music! She is a graduate of Ithaca College School of Music with degrees in Vocal Performance and K-12 Music Education. Linda’s first love was musical theatre and lucked into several dozen much-coveted roles. Linda has been featured as a soprano soloist with various groups, among them the Southwest Consort led by Joseph Place, Camerata Singers directed by Dan Boyce, and the Prescott Chorale under the baton of Dennis Houser. Linda currently serves in music ministry with Mountain Reformed Church and Trinity Presbyterian Church. While music holds a special place in her heart, nothing makes Linda happier than time spent with her beautiful husband, children and grandchildren.
Altos
Gayle Gregory
Linda Hoover
Ember Larson
Helen McDowell
Katie Staudt
Ember Larson
Alto
Ember Larson is a classically trained vocalist, music educator, and lifelong singer-songwriter. She holds a Master of Music Degree in Music Education from ASU. Ember is the director of the choral union and guitar program at Bradshaw Mountain High School in Prescott Valley and has sung with several choirs including the Master Chorale, YC Chamber Singers, and Angelorum. In addition, Ember performs as a singer-songwriter and teaches songwriting at ASU during the summers.
Helen McDowell
Alto
For this early childhood teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, music goes beyond the auditory experience to visual and sign language interpretation of melody and lyric. Helen uses her love of music, as expressed through her involvement in instrumental and vocal ensembles since childhood, to develop language skills with the children with whom she works.
Katie Staudt
Alto
Katie Staudt initially studied the clarinet and piano. Handbells and chimes are her current instrumental focus, which she plays in Eine Kleine Freunden Musik, High Desert Ringers, St. Luke’s Bell Choir, and as a soloist. Her family moved to Prescott 6 years ago in their 11th move. She holds a BA in Elementary Education with a specialization in reading and is the current vice-president of CCS. She playfully tells others that music, knitting, and weaving help keep her out of trouble.
Ryan Gastonguay
Tenor
Prescott native Ryan Gastonguay wears many different hats in the musical realm: sacred, choral, chamber, orchestral, conducting, brass, barbershop, wind band, you name it! He is a well-known face on the scene in our quad cities area. Ryan currently serves as the Minister of Music for Mountain Reformed Church as well as being the Associate Music Director/Conductor for the Prescott Pops. He is a proud Sun Devil alumnus, having earned his Bachelor’s from Arizona State University.
Jacob Gilbert
Tenor
Originally from North Carolina, Jacob earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied voice and organ. After graduating, he began working at Prescott United Methodist Church as the Director of Music and serves as the Assistant Director of the Prescott Chorale.
Tenors
Ryan Gastonguay
Jacob Gilbert
Timothy Jordheim
James McCarver
Bill Wollam
Timothy Jordheim
Tenor
In the late 1960s in a small town in western Minnesota an amazing school music program planted in Tim the seed of love of classical music and of singing. This was followed by a hiatus or germination period of 46 years, but when he and his wife Mary arrived in Prescott in late 2016 Tim joined the Unity Church choir and that seed began to grow. Since retiring from his IT career, Tim has sung with the Yavapai College Master Chorale the past several years, that growth has blossomed, and singing has become a beloved and essential part of Tim’s life. He is very grateful for this and excited to have the opportunity to sing and grow further with the Camerata Chamber Singers.
James McCarver, M.D.
Tenor
Jim is a physician in practice in Prescott for over 40 yrs. He has had a lifelong interest in music. He has sung in Master Chorale at Yavapai College for 20+ years, he recently performed in the musical “Beauty and the Beast” at PCA. He has been a member of Camerata for several years. Singing and strumming in a local ukulele group has been a fun musical outlet for him. Other interests include competitive cycling and volunteering at Sharlot Hall Museum.
Bill Wollam
Tenor
Bill has been singing in church choirs most of his adult life and has been a guitar player and vocalist since his early teen years. Bill and his wife Pat moved to Prescott in 2004 and after retiring from a career in the computer industry in 2013, began singing with the YC performing arts Community Chorus and the YC Master Chorale. Bill also has been a singer with the Prescott Pops Chorus since retirement. He performed in his first stage musical in YC’s production of Phantom of the Opera in 2019. He is excited to be singing with such a talented group of singers as the Camerata Chamber Singers.
Don Brenneman
Bass
Don and his wife Sue Ann both recently retired and moved to Prescott Lakes after living in California for over 60 years. For 43 years he was a full-time choral conductor in 3 California churches. The last 29 years were at the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego where he oversaw and led a music ministry of graded choirs with blended services and concerts often including members of the San Diego Symphony. Don has a music degree from Whittier College and is also a member of the Yavapai College Master Chorale.
Dave Cavanaugh
Bass
Dave is a recently retired aerospace engineer with a lifelong interest in music. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He has sung with numerous performing choral groups over the years, beginning in college, including King’s Men in San Diego, the Sonoran Desert Chorale in Mesa, Orpheus Chorus in Phoenix, and the San Diego Master Chorale. He performs locally with guitar and vocals in a singer-songwriter style, and his new day job is Audible book narrator. He and his wife Marcia moved to Prescott from San Diego in early 2021. He is very happy to join this distinguished group of Singers in Prescott.
Basses
Don Brenneman
Dave Cavanaugh
Joshua Harper
Sandy Johnson
John Thompson
Joshua Harper, D.Mus
Bass
Dr. Joshua Harper enjoys a multifaceted career as a Conductor, Tenor, and Educator. He is the Director of Choral Activities at Yavapai College. Harper is a Guest Conductor with the Arizona Philharmonic and founding Artistic Director and Conductor of the Professional Chorus, Quartz Ensemble. A native of Huntsville, Alabama, he holds the Doctor of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. Read more at JoshuaHarper.Instantencore.com.
Sandy Johnson
Bass
Born in Phoenix, Sandy is a 5th generation Arizonan who grew up on a 1000 acre ranch outside of Chandler, AZ. He graduated from ASU with a degree in Marketing in 1970. While still in college, Sandy joined Motorola Semiconductor Corp in 1966 where he ultimately spent his entire career until his retirement in 2001. Sandy always enjoyed music and started singing and playing various musical instruments at an early age. In addition to the Camerata Chamber Singers, he’s also a member of the Pops Symphony Chorus and Prescott Chorale.
John Thompson, M.D.
Bass
John specializes in family medicine and addiction medicine. Husband to Gayle Gregory, he is father of four and grandfather of one. He loves hiking and trail-running. In earlier life chapters he’s been a rock-climber, country doc, home-schooler, Bob Dylan wannabe with guitar and harmonica, and violinist through high school. He’s sung with the Carolyn Eynon Singers and Prescott Chorale and is a novice handbell ringer.
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