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Home > About Us Meet the Artists
For his innovative programming and high musical standards, Jonathan Miller has gained international accolades, most recently the 2008 Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal from Chorus America. Since founding Chicago a cappella in 1993, he has guided the ensemble through more than 130 concerts, six commercial CD releases, and thirty choral-music demo CDs. Passionate about bringing new music to Chicago audiences, Jonathan has presented more than sixty-five new a cappella works in their local, national, or world premieres. His skills at presenting a wide spectrum of music are a combined product of his singer’s ear, scholar’s training, and composer’s temperament. He was exposed at an early age to a wide range of music by a remarkable group of mentors, including Christopher Moore, Lena McLin, Max Janowski, Joseph Brewer, Howard Mayer Brown, Richard Proulx, John Nygro, and Anne Heider. Eager to learn research tools for repertoire, Jonathan pursued musicology, earning his doctorate at UNC-Chapel Hill while remaining an active performer. Since returning to the Chicago area, Jonathan has led the volunteer choir at Unity Temple in Oak Park (1997-2006), Heritage Chorale (2001-03), and several other choirs as clinician and coach. He has written more than fifty choral works including his latest, Half asleep in prayer (for Chicago a cappella, upcoming in February 2009); his music has been sung at venues including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and the Pentagon. Since 1998, Jonathan has taken a growing leadership role in Chicago-area Jewish music, conducting high-holiday choral music and now leading Kabbalat Shabbat services at Congregation Rodfei Zedek in Hyde Park. He has guest-conducted Kol Zimrah (the Jewish Community Chorus of Metro Chicago) and holds as a great honor his role as publisher of the late Max Janowski’s catalogue. Jonathan lives with his wife and daughter in the woods of Downers Grove.
An acclaimed choral conductor, pianist, vocal coach, and chamber musician, Patrick Sinozich joined Chicago a cappella's musical staff in 2007 as Music Director. He is currently in his 12th season as Artistic Director of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus. Patrick did his undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and completed graduate studies at Northwestern University. He is on the musical staff of the Chicago Symphony and the Grant Park Music Festival and has performed chamber music with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony. He has also produced three CDs for Chicago a cappella and three for the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus (which featured many of his own arrangements). Patrick’s association with Chicago a cappella goes back to the ensemble’s very first auditions, which he accompanied, and he has provided musical support as the ensemble’s occasional rehearsal coach since 2005.
“ An impeccable musician, ...well practically anyway” says microtonal composer John Eaton of tenor Harold “ Hoss” Brock, who has given two world premieres of Eaton's fiendishly difficult operas. The “firm, warm tenor” (Chicago Tribune) appeared in Der Rosenkavalier at San Francisco Opera and made his Carnegie Hall debut in Handel's Messiah. Other credits include The Magic Flute at Chamber Opera Chicago, Falstaff at Chautauqua Opera, and La Cenerentola with San Francisco Opera's prestigious Merola Opera Program, during which he was “ ...a little strained, but he shaped his melodies with ardent grace” (San Francisco Chronicle). Hoss competed in the Francisco Vinas International Vocal Competition in Barcelona, Spain, from which he was promptly eliminated, and subsequently enjoyed a fabulous week of shopping, sightseeing, and sangria. (Notice the stylish “ zapates” which Hoss purchased in Barcelona and wears almost exclusively for Chicago a cappella.) He has performed with Pine Mountain Music Festival, Tulsa Opera, Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, and Bach Week Evanston. Recent performances include a third Barber for L'Opera Piccola, and a reprise of Eaton’s Golk. (It wasn't much easier the second time.) Hoss also performs with “ the BUZZ,” a tribute to classic and current pop music which appears in the Chicago area.
Baritone Matt Greenberg has appeared frequently on Chicago’s concert and theater stages, singing everything from Bach to Broadway. His solo appearances include Mozart’s Requiem (Elgin Symphony), an evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein (Waukegan Symphony), and Mozart’s Orphanage Mass (Woodstock Mozart Festival). He is featured as Pontius Pilate on the William Ferris Chorale’s recording of Leo Sowerby's oratorio Forsaken of Man, and sang the same role in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Peter Schreier. Matt is a longtime member of the Grant Park Chorus and sang for over 20 years with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, where he made over a dozen solo or small ensemble appearances at Orchestra Hall, at the Ravinia Festival, and on tour in Berlin. A founding member of Chicago a cappella, he has also performed with Music of the Baroque and the Harwood Early Music Ensemble. Matt’s work in musical theater includes the Jeff-award winning Sylvia's Real Good Advice at Pegasus Players and the Organic Theater, Drury Lane Theatre’s Hot Mikado, and appearances at Light Opera Works and Wisdom Bridge. He has also appeared with the pop quintet Table For Five. Combining his performing with a career in arts administration, Matt is Chicago a cappella’s Executive Director.
Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Grizzell has performed as chorister and soloist in groups both in Chicago and abroad. She has appeared as soloist with the Tunbridge Wells Opera, the Marlow Choral Society, and the Wooburn Singers of Bourne End, England. As a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, she has recorded the role of Apprentice with the late Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. She has been a Symphony Chorus section leader and is a founding member of both its Resident Ensemble and the Chicago Symphony Singers. Especially fond of oratorio, her recent performances have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Dvorak’s Mass in D. Betsy records regularly for both GIA Publications and Hinshaw Music, and is a soloist with GIA’s Cathedral Singers. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a vocal emphasis from DePaul University. Of special note is her Musikgarten program, a musical education experience designed for children ages 16 months to 6 years old. Her studio in Naperville currently introduces more than 100 children to the fun and beauty of music. This is Betsy’s ninth season with Chicago a cappella.
Margaret Harden is a native of Green Bay, WI, and earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She has enjoyed an active performing career in a variety of genres. In the area of oratorio, Margaret has been a soloist for such works as Handel’s Messiah, the Vivaldi Gloria, the Rutter Gloria, the Mozart Requiem, the Faure Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, and Laud to the Nativity. Additionally she has performed with the Orlando Opera Company as both a chorus member and a soloist. Music publishers regularly employ Margaret for demo recordings of new choral works. Locally, she sings with both the Grant Park Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Symphony Chorus, where she was recently featured as a soloist in Verdi’s Te Deum. Margaret is thrilled to be joining Chicago a cappella this season, bringing her back to her roots where she began her professional career as a soprano in Disney’s premier a cappella ensemble, The Voices of Liberty.
Kathryn Kamp, a native Iowan, enjoys making music in various settings: opera, operetta, and musical theater productions as well as oratorio and concert engagements. She has appeared recently with the Peninsula Music Festival, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, North Shore Choral Society and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in works such as Haydn’s Dixit Dominus, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Requiem and Missa Brevis. Among Kathryn’s favorite opera roles are Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Frasquita (Carmen), Rosina (The Barber of Seville) and Despina (Cosi fan tutte), which was praised as “a display of immense charm and humor…she bounced about the stage with a lightness and relish that seemed the incarnation of mischievous delight…a fine soprano voice.” Operetta and musical theater credits include Kathie in The Student Prince, Gilbert and Sullivan heroines Patience and Rose Maybud, and both Anne Egerman and Mrs. Segstrom of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Kathryn has enjoyed solo engagements in venues such as Light Opera Works, the Ravinia Festival, Orchestra Hall at Chicago Symphony Center, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Grant Park Music Festival.
A veteran of the musical-theater stage, Cary’s Chicago appearances include the roles of Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof at Candlelight Dinner Theater, Lieutenant Cable in South Pacific at Drury Lane South, and Toby in The Human Comedy at Candlelight. For over a year he was a member of the third national tour of Les Misérables, where he understudied the role of Jean Valjean. Most recently, Cary sang the role of Alexis in the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Sorcerer with the Evanston-based Savoyaires. He has also sung with the Grant Park Chorus and Music of the Baroque, and was a founding member of Chicago a cappella. Cary is much in demand as a singer for recording sessions, recording regularly with The Cathedral Singers and for music publishers nationwide.
Best known for his work in oratorio and early music, Trevor Mitchell sings a wide range of classical, popular, and spiritual repertoire. He has been acclaimed as having "simply the most uniquely beautiful and easily produced tenor instrument most people will ever hear." A native and current resident of Chicago, Trevor's career has taken him across the United States as well as to Austria, Italy, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and other destinations in Europe. He divides his time between Chicago a cappella, solo engagements and numerous recital events on an annual basis. This past season, audiences heard him in Bach's B-Minor Mass, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and Mozart's Requiem, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Kern’s Showboat, as well as a debut performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine at the First Annual Ukrainian-American Music Festival in Kiev. Upcoming performances include several recitals, one being a benefit recital with honored guest Paul, Duke of Oldenburg from Germany, Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium, B-Minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir.
Mezzo soprano Amy Pickering has blended a career of opera, operetta, musical theater and concert work, and has performed leading roles with such companies as Central City Opera and the Colorado Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival, Light Opera Works, L’Opera Piccola, Muddy River Opera Company, the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Favorite roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Phoebe in Yeomen of the Guard, the title role in Iolanthe, Lucy Harris in Jekyll and Hyde, Molly Gray in Girl Crazy, among others. For her performance as Princess Rosemarie in the U.S. premiere of Kalman’s Duchess of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune declared, “Amy Joan Pickering not only displayed an appealing voice, she turned the stick-figure character into a person.” Concert work includes concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and Handel’s Messiah, Ezio, Saul, and Israel in Egypt. Amy holds a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University and a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. She is on the voice faculties of Elmhurst College and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is thrilled to be singing once again with Chicago a cappella.
Chicago native Cari Plachy is enjoying splitting her time between choral and opera singing. She has been seen throughout the Midwest with Opera for the Young, singing the roles of Harp in Orpheus Returns, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance. Throughout the Chicago area she has sung with DuPage Opera Theater, Light Opera Works and Bowen Park Opera. Roles include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Soprano in Trouble in Tahiti, Mercedes in Carmen and Lola in Gallantry where her “lovely singing was charming…and always lyrical.” Her choral work includes singing with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus and Trinity Episcopal Chorus in Highland Park. Cari received her Bachelor’s degree in music education from DePaul University. Since then, she has been working with the education department of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, bringing music to children all over Chicago. In addition to her work in Chicago, Cari is fortunate to bring her love of music to deaf children at Child’s Voice School in Wood Dale.
Bass-baritone Benjamin Rivera appears often as a concert and oratorio soloist. Recent appearances include performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mozart's Vespers. He is a longtime member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, where he served in the position of section leader for several seasons. Benjamin also sings with the Grant Park Chorus during the summer. He recently completed his eighth season as conductor of the Chicago-area chamber choir Cantate, with whom he performs a wide range of mainly a cappella music. Benjamin holds the Master of Music degree in Music Theory from Roosevelt University and is on faculty at St. Xavier University.
Susan Schober is a founding member of Chicago a cappella. A native Chicagoan, she sang for nine years with the Chicago Children's Choir, and has performed a wide variety of solo and choral music with Chicago-area ensembles. Most recently, she was a soloist at the 23rd International Kodály Festival in Kecskemét, Hungary. In addition to solo and choral music, Susan has performed leading roles in several theatrical productions, including Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Britten's Albert Herring, Herman's La Cage Aux Folles, and Sullivan's Utopia Limited. Susan received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master's degree in Music Education from Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. She is an accomplished music educator, specializing in the Kodály Method. She has taught students at every level, from preschool to graduate level teacher training. Susan loves both singing and teaching, but her favorite job is being a new mom to twins Katherine and Andrew.
A lover of choral music, Brian Streem has been a member of some of Chicago’s finest choral ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Bella Voce, the William Ferris Chorale, and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. His theatrical credits have included Pippin (Pippin), Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar), Sky Masterson (Guys and Dolls), Jack (Into the Woods), Philip (Lion in Winter) and the star of the one-man show All in the Timing. His recent work with Chicago a cappella was praised by critic Cathryn Wilkinson, who noted that he "pattered out a better maraca ostinato with his mouth than many drummers can with two hands." Brian is a graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, studying music theory with Dr. Rudy Marcozzi, and the Managing Editor for GIA Publications.
Soprano Sherry Veal has been associated with Lyric Opera of Chicago for ten seasons. Her solo debut was as A Woman in Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge (world premiere). She has also been heard in Jenufa, Street Scene, as Pepik in The Cunning Little Vixen, and as the first soprano solo madrigalist in Manon Lescaut under the baton of Maestro Bruno Bartoletti. She has also been on the roster of Chicago’s Intimate Opera Company, where she has portrayed Nedda in Pagliacci and has appeared in two of the company’s gala concerts. Other operatic roles include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, and First Lady in Die Zauberflote with DuPage Opera. Sherry is a frequent soloist with Lakeshore Symphony Orchestra and at Ascension Church under the direction of Thomas Wikman. She has also been singing with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus for 6 years. In 2004 Sherry sang the National Anthem for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, in which she also ran her first marathon.
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