The Choir

Meet the people behind the choir…

Jacob Gilbert, Artistic Director

A native of Andrews, North Carolina, Jacob received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro. While in college, he studied voice, piano, and organ. He currently serves as the Director of Music Ministries at Prescott United Methodist Church in Prescott, Arizona, and is the new Artistic Director of the Camerata Chamber Singers.

Jacob has been a part of numerous choirs around the United States including the Bel Canto Company, Josquin de Prez Chamber Ensemble, Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall, NAfME Honors Choir, and the ACDA Honors Choir, and Assistant Director of the Prescott Chorale. Jacob is also a member of NAfME, ACDA, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Laura Taylor Turner, Accompanist

Laura Taylor Turner, Collaborative Pianist, started her musical career as a young accompanist for church and school choirs. She developed a love for musical theater at the Spencer Community Theater in Spencer, Iowa, when she was asked to accompany the production “Carousel” at the age of 17. Throughout her adult years, she developed a wide and all-encompassing piano performance background including solo performances, collaborative accompanying for churches and individuals young and old, orchestra and chamber music group performances, and pit work for multiple college, community theater and local productions (The Mikado, The Producers, Children of Eden, Chicago, Peter and the Star Catcher, Anything Goes, Cabaret, Annie, Sweeney Tood, School House Rock, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown and more). In addition to her musical career, she obtained a Juris Doctorate from the ASU College of Law in 1999, and owns a law firm in Prescott, Arizona. She resides with her husband, Jim, and her four fur babies, and has one son, Sage.

Our Singers…

Sofia Guzman

Sofia Guzman

Soprano

Sofia Guzman grew up in Santa Monica, California where she was a classically trained singer. She participated in competitions across the state including the Kiwanis solo competition where she held first place and was a state finals competitor in the Music Teachers Association of California’s, VOCE. She moved to Prescott in 2023 to attend Embry Riddle Aeronautical University where she is currently studying human factors engineering. In her free time she enjoys singing with the Prescott United Methodist Chancel Choir.
Patricia McCarver, PhD

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.

Sopranos

Sofia Guzman
Patricia McCarver
Kirsta Phelps
Kristin Sargeant
Diane Thornbrugh
Stephanie Zeh

Kirsta Phelps

Kirsta Phelps

Soprano

Kirsta Phelps has been singing at church and in choirs since childhood. Including a trio and touring choir in Texas.
Living in Prescott for several years she has been participating in Master Chorale at Yavapai College and is now pleased to be a part of Camerata Chamber Singers.

The love and healing power of music permeates Kirsta’s life as she facilitates bi-monthly group sound healings at Elk’s Theater.

In her spare time she reads, hikes, creates herbal salves/tinctures and bakes sour dough bread.

Kristin Sargeant

Kristin Sargeant

Soprano

Kristin Sargeant moved to Prescott in 2022, and has since sung with Yavapai College Master Chorale and Prescott United Methodist Church Chancel Choir. She has been singing in choirs most of her life, including the St. James Episcopal Church Choir in San Diego and the Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir. Kristin earned her master’s degree in history from UNC Chapel Hill, and is currently a middle and high school history teacher. She is excited for the opportunity to sing with Camerata Chamber Singers!
Diane Thornbrugh

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.
Stephanie Zeh

Stephanie Zeh

Soprano

Stephanie Zeh is a coloratura soprano that has performed with many local ensembles including Prescott Chorale, Yavapai College’s Master Choir and PUMC’s Chancel Choir. She has also performed as Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly, Blanche Ingram in Jane Eyre and Ma Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life at Yavapai College.
Helen McDowell

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.
Gretchen Sargeant

Gretchen Sargeant

Alto

Altos

Helen McDowell
Gretchen Sargeant
Teri Schwan
Dianne Tennant-Rucker
Karen Thompson

Teri Schwan

Teri Schwan

Alto

Dianne Tennant-Rucker

Dianne Tennant-Rucker

Alto

Dianne is a talented occupational therapist from Illinois with a deep love for music. She has sung in church choirs, performed with bands, and currently sings in multiple vocal groups, including the Yavapai Master Chorale, the PUMC chancel choir and the Kindred Sisters trio. She even had the opportunity to sing the Verdi Requium at Carnegie Hall last March. During her life she has shown a dedication to therapy and a passion for music.
Karen Thompson

Karen Thompson

Alto

Karen is pleased to have been invited to join the Camerata Chambers singers for their Fall concert. She jokes that she came out of the womb singing! Karen has lived in Prescott Valley for over 13 years and has sung with the Prescott Chorale, the Community & Master Chorales at Yavapai College and the Prescott POPS Symphony chorus. She is currently singing with the YC Master Chorale. In her free time, Karen likes to hike and spend time with her sister and her pups.
Troy Eagar

Troy Eagar

Tenor

Troy is a 5thgeneration Arizonan, having grown up in the small town of Eagar in the White Mountains. Troy received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University – Hawaii where he had a music scholarship for both trumpet and voice. He performed daily at the Polynesian Cultural Center as a member of the Polynesian Brass Band. Troy has been singing with choirs since being a part of a boy choir from age 7 to 12 years old. He enjoys singing with Camerata Chamber Singers, Yavapai College Master Chorale and the Prescott Pops Symphony Chorus. Troy received his Master’s Degree in Human Resources and currently is the Director of Human Resources at Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital.
Joseph Jenkins

Joseph Jenkins

Tenor

Joe graduated from Wittenberg University with a degree in accounting and a minor in Voice where he sang with the Wittenberg Choir and Collegium Musicum. After moving to Baltimore with Arthur Andersen, he sang with the Baltimore Symphony, Handel Choir and other Various groups. He directed the Emory Methodist Church Choir for 25 years. He and his wife Jill moved to Prescott in 2014. He has sung with the Prescott Chorale for several years. This is his first concert with The Camerata Chamber Singers.

Tenors

Troy Eagar
Joseph Jenkins
Timothy Jordheim
Lance Sandleben

Timothy Jordheim

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.
Lance Sandleben

Lance Sandleben

Tenor

Lance is a retired pharmacist, having served the Prescott community for almost 40 years. He credits his mother for teaching him the love of music, which has blossomed in retirement. He sings in the Yavapai College Master Chorale and the Camerata Choir, and has done several musicals on local stages. He also sings Indian Classical Music, having studied both in Mother India and in the U.S.

Music is Life!

Dave Cavanaugh

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.
Cliff Elliott

Cliff Elliott

Bass

Cliff has had music in his life, almost from the beginning, including church and school choirs, and performing and travelling internationally with the San Luis Obispo, California Vocal Arts Ensemble for 20 years. He occasionally accompanied the choirs with clarinet and flute. Cliff also played clarinet in the USMC Fifth Marine Division Band at Camp Pendleton, CA. He has sung with the Prescott Chorale and has recently joined the Camerata Chamber Singers. He and Lois married and will happily celebrate 60 years together in 2025. They have two children, Heather in Chico, CA and Phil here in Prescott, together with 4 grands.

Basses

Dave Cavanaugh
Cliff Elliott
Jim McCarver
Bill Wollam

James McCarver, M.D.

James McCarver, M.D.

Bass

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

Bill Wollam

Bass

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.

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