Our Artists

Andrea Gore

Andrea Gore began playing the piano at 4, and the violin at 9 years old. She trained at the Manhattan School of Music youth division, and was selected for the New York All-State Orchestra and the All-Eastern Orchestra. In college and graduate school, Andrea played in the Princeton University Orchestra, sang in the Princeton Glee Club, and was a member of the University of Wisconsin Madrigal Singers. Currently a professor of pharmacology & toxicology at the University of Texas at Austin, Andrea continues to be an active musician, playing in the Balcones Community Orchestra and the Balcones String Quartet. She performs on the last violin made by David Carón. Her other passions include managing a turtle and tortoise sanctuary, and spending time with her rescue dogs and husband.

Kenna Tuggle

KENNA TUGGLE is a Musician, Writer, and Embodiment Coach. She is passionate about each and every person embodying their full essence, sharing their gifts, and living this wild and precious life to the fullest. A writer since the age of 7 and musician since the age of 9, Kenna has been in deep relationship with creativity the majority of her life. With a background in classical music, Kenna also sings and plays violin in rock and folk bands in Taos, New Mexico. She believes our greatest gift and resource is each other and can’t wait to share music and community with all of you!

Elyse Fretz

Elyse Fretz is a life-long musician, having studied piano and violin before discovering the joys of the viola. She has played with orchestral ensembles and chamber music groups in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco before arriving in New Mexico. Her current favorite piece of chamber music is the Dvořák Piano Quintet #2.

Mark Jackson

Mark Jackson studied at The Boston Conservatory of Music. He has sung with many opera companies in the United States, and his career has taken him to several places in the world where he has given concerts and opera performances. He has sung with Taos Community Chorus, performed with the “Taos Chamber Music Group”, given many recitals at the Harwood Museum and sang in Andrea Clearfield’s “Transformed by Fire” sponsored by the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He teaches at the Taos Youth Music School and privately out of his “Taos Institute of Vocal Arts” studio. This is his second season singing The Schubertiade with Claire Detels.

Ari Le

Ari Le began playing the violin and viola while growing up in New York and continued to play in orchestras and chamber ensembles in Providence, Paris, Boston, and San Diego. He has studied violin with Hisako Resnick, Charles Sherba, Rictor Noren, and Calvin Wiersma. Ari serves as concertmaster of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra (SFCO) and has performed as a soloist with the SFCO, the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, and eSSO in Santa Fe. He works as a plasma physicist at Los Alamos National Lab.

Claire Detels

Claire Detels was born in Seattle and received her MA and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington, including keyboard studies with Randolph Hokanson, Neil O’Doan, Carole Terry,Margaret Gries, and later withAlan Chow and jazz pianist Claudia Burson. She is now a retired Professor Emerita from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she specialized in 19th-c. opera, feminist aesthetics, and piano music of womenand African-American composers. Since her move to Taos in 2014, she has served as pianist and AssistantDirector of the Taos Community Chorus (TCC), performed with the Taos Opera Institute,Taos Soundscapes, PianoTaos, the Taos Arts in Schools program; and has organized annual “Schubertiad” concerts and celebrationsof Black History Month and Women’s History month.

She also enjoys playing violin and viola in chamber music and orchestras, and is currently violinist with the Santa Fe-based Turquoise Trail Baroque Band, and violinist and Board member of the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra. Detels is currently Music Director at El Pueblito Methodist Church of El Prado and Sangre de Cristo Lutheran Church of Taos.

Rebecca Carón

Rebecca Caron, Co-Artistic Director of Soundscapes, was born in Seattle, Washington, where she began her musical studies. Her primary teachers were Terry King and Charles Wendt at Grinnell College, Lev Aronson at SMU, and Joanna de Keyser at UNM. She received a Hill Burton Music Award, Presser Scholarship, and Meadows Artistic Merit Scholarship. She has performed as a soloist with various regional orchestras. She served as cellist for the Caron Quartet, Oncydium Chamber Baroque, Moveable Music, Music from Angel Fire, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. She has also performed with Preston Hollow Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra and currently performs with the San Juan Symphony. She has taught at New Mexico Highlands University and Armand Hammer United World College and Taos Arts Advisory Council, teaches with Taos Elementary Arts Visiting Artist Program and teaches out of her home studio. She lives in Valle Escondido with her husband David and cats Max and Ophelia. Ms. Carón gratefully performs on Cello #165, made for her in 2003 by her husband, David Carón.

Barbara Sudweeks

Barbara Sudweeks, violist, is the former Associate Principal Viola of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She recently retired after 42 years of service with the orchestra. Ms. Sudweeks has been a concerto soloist with the Dallas Symphony, the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian Chamber Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in Durango, Colorado and the New Philharmonic of Irving, Texas. She is a member of the contemporary music ensemble, Voices of Change. She is a former member of the Walden Piano Quartet, the original Dallas String Quartet and An die Musik (New York). She has recorded and concertized extensively throughout the US and Europe, as well as Australia and China. Ms. Sudweeks has participated in summer festivals such as the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival and Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado. She has also given master classes at The Cleveland Institute of Music and Texas Christian University. Before coming to Dallas, Ms. Sudweeks was Principal Viola of the Hamilton Philharmonic (Ontario, Canada) and a member of the Utah Symphony. She continues to teach viola, chamber music and orchestral repertoire at Southern Methodist University. She has been on the faculty since 1983.

In addition to playing the viola, Ms. Sudweeks loves Chinese music and enjoys playing the Chinese erhu. She has been an erhu soloist with the Kaohsiung City Chinese Orchestra in Taiwan, the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Jiangsu Province Symphony Orchestra in Nanjing, China, the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra in Durango, Colorado, the Dallas Symphony, and the New Philharmonic Orchestra of Irving, Texas. She has also been a recitalist in Shenyang, China.

Her non-musical activities include spending as much time as possible with her five exceptional grandchildren. 😉 She also enjoys hanging out with her sweet rescue Chihuahua. She loves travel and she and some friends go on an interesting, and often exotic, trip every year. She enjoys cooking and canning and when she has time to sit down, she relaxes with her knitting.

Thomas K Webber

Thomas K. Weber began violin lessons at the age of seven years. He studied privately with several teachers in the Chicago area, notably among these were Henri Hayza (a pupil of Sevick), and Paul Stassevitch (a student of Leopold Auer).

Music was always an important part of Tom’s life. His mother was a professional cellist. His great uncle Bohomir Kryl was a world renowned coronet soloist in the early part of the 20th century. The musical influence was obvious, and he decided to continue with music as a life long profession.

Tom chose the Eastman School of Music for his education. He majored in public music education, and minored in violin performance. He graduated in 1959 and began a teaching and playing career that continues to this day. Teaching experiences include public schools in Duluth, Minnesota; Tucson, Arizona; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Performing in orchestras has always been a priority and Tom has played in many, including as a charter member of the Eastman Philharmonia. Symphony orchestra include the Rochester Philharmonic, Duluth Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Orchestra of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Symphony, Durango, Colorado Orchestra, Taos Symphony, and Hobbs Symphony. Tom has been Concertmaster of the Roswell Symphony Orchestra for 15 years.

Tom and his wife Charmaine live in Los Alamos, and have two grown children. Hobbies include hunting, fishing and spoiling the grandchildren.

Lee Harvey

Lee Harvey is originally from New England. Lee studied violin at New England Conservatory, Lawrence University and University of CO at Boulder. She shares her love of music with the Santa Fe youth through her private studio, Acequia Madre Elementary Public School, Santa Fe Waldorf School, Performance Santa Fe mentoring project and Santa Fe Youth Symphony coach. When not teaching, she squeezes in her passion for playing with local chamber groups and symphonies.

Rebecca Glass

Born in Dallas, Texas, violist Rebecca Glass is currently a first year doctorate student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her BM and MM degrees. As well as performing in the CIM orchestra, CIM chamber music, and collaborating in summer music programs, she has also performed numerous solo recitals at the institute. Ms. Glass has given recitals in Steinway Hall in Dallas, Texas, and performed for the National Federation of Music Clubs convention in Denver, Colorado, in addition to her appearance as a soloist with the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra. Prior to attending CIM she was a finalist in the Lennox Competition, Lynn Harrell Competition, and the Lewisville Lake Symphony Competition; she placed in the Dallas Symphonic Competition, Collin County Young Artist’s Competition, and the Juanita Miller Competition.

Ms. Glass is currently a student of Mark Jackobs of The Cleveland Orchestra. Former teachers include Barbara Sudweeks and Jeffrey Irvine. Ms. Glass has been invited to perform in master classes given by Roberto Diaz, Heidi Castleman, Geraldine Walther, and Erika Eckert. Her chamber music ensembles have been instructed by Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet, Charles Castleman, David Updegraff, Virginia Weckstrom, Anita Pontremoli, Kathryn Brown, Erika Eckert and members of the Cavani String Quartet.

In addition to her viola studies, Ms. Glass also enjoys playing both the piano and the Chinese erhu. She has won many awards on the keyboard, and has performed as a soloist on the erhu during the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra’s China tour in 2007. Ms. Glass’s interests outside music include international travel, archeology, and knitting.

Roberta Rast Smith

Roberta Rast Smith is a 6-time national and 2-time world champion fiddle player from Dallas, Texas. Originally from Boise, Idaho she grew up in a fiddling family falling right in line behind three older sisters who also played the instrument, and by the time she was five years old she was begging for her own fiddle to play. Coming from such a strong family dedicated to fiddling, Roberta was immediately hooked, and she never looked back. In her early years, Roberta travelled around the United States with her family competing on the prestigious fiddle competition circuit and soon began winning numerous awards, ultimately ending up each year at the National Oldtime Fiddle Competition in Weiser, Idaho. By the time she was in 3rd grade she joined the school orchestra and continued throughout high school. She learned early on that her blended style of both fiddle and classical violin was not only unique in style and presentation, but it also helped plant the seeds for her love of teaching as she became the resident fiddle tune teacher for all her fellow orchestra friends. A practice she has grown and nurtured to this day while as a full-time fiddle and violin instructor.

While attending Boise State University she would continue her musical journey as concert mistress and winning state and national-level awards with her college quintet groups all the while completing her music degree. Roberta credits her violin professor Craig Purdy for fostering her classical musical skills while also supporting her pursuit of fiddling. Something she will always cherish. After graduating with a B.A. in Music Business, Roberta heard the music capital of the world calling and would find herself moving to Austin, Texas to pursue her dream of taking her fiddle music beyond the competition scene to the stage.

In the summer of 2002 while playing in a few folk & bluegrass bands and working at the Texas Commission of the Arts, Roberta decided to answer an ad in the Austin Chronicle for a Dallas-based band searching for a fiddle player, a decision that would change her life forever. And so…Roberta soon joined the internationally renowned Celtic Rock band The Killdares, adding yet another dimension to her already incredible style and versatility. Together with the drummer/lead singer/founding member (and her eventual husband), Roberta and her fiddling became a driving force behind the band’s success and for 15-plus years would help elevate the band’s sound throughout multiple albums and tours, up until the band’s retirement in 2016.

Today Roberta continues her love of music as a full-time private and group instructor, while also serving as a principal member for the fiddle duo June Blount. She also runs the advanced Live Oak Fiddle Camp retreat now in its 12th year in Hallettsville, Texas and currently sits on the board of the Texas Old Time Fiddlers Association (TOTFA).

Awards & Accomplishments:
2022 & 2004: 1st Place – World Fiddle Championships (Crockett, TX)
Multiple Years: Six-time National Fiddle Champion (Weiser, ID)
2005 & 1992: 1st Place – Grand Masters Fiddle Championship (Nashville, TN)
2005: Performed on stage at the world-famous Grand Ole Opry (Nashville, TN)
1992: Performed on stage at the world-famous Grand Ole Opry (Nashville, TN)
2006: Head Judge of the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship (Nashville, TN)
1993: Head Judge of the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship (Nashville, TN)
1998-2000: Concert mistress for BSU Symphony Orchestra (Boise, ID)
1999: National Collegiate Chamber Music Competition – 2nd Place
BSU Piano Quintet (Nashville, TN)

Teaching Experience:
1990 – Present: Private Violin and Fiddle Instructor
2018 – Present: Fiddle Instructor, Elmore Fiddle Camp (Glenrose, TX)
2017: Acoustic Music Camp (Dallas, TX)
2001: Fiddle Instructor, Hartz Fiddle Camp (Boise, ID)
2000 – 2001: Fiddle Instructor, Ludiker Fiddle Camp (Spokane, WA)
1998-2000: Adjunct Violin Instructor, Boise State University

Education:
2000: B.A. in Music Business, Boise State University

Recordings:
2014: The Killdares “Steal The Sky”
2011: The Killdares “Up Against The Lights: Live in Concert”
2008: The Killdares “Secrets Of The Day”
2005: The Killdares “Any Given Element”

Elizabeth Calvert

Elizabeth Calvert, Soprano, grew up in Essex Junction, Vermont and was a founding member of The Essex Children’s Choir under the direction of Constance Jackson Price, with whom she appeared on A Prairie Home Companion. She graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in Music in 1995 and studied voice with Carol Christensen and Beth Thompson Kaiser. In 2000 she premiered the role of “The Angel of Depression” in Vermont Opera Theater’s production of A Fleeting Animal: An Opera From Judevine. Since moving to New Mexico in 2002 she has performed with Theaterwork, Taos Opera Institute, St. James Episcopal Church Choir, and Taos Community Chorus (TCC), for which she has also served as President of the Board of Directors and as soprano soloist for Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass and Vaughan-Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and in the annual TCC Schubertiade.

Ferdi Serim

Ferdi Serim is a multi-instrumentalist (alto flute, wind synth and drums), composer and jazz educator who began teaching at the age of 11. His fifth grade teacher, Margot Ely, let him into her classroom one hour before school, and let him teach classmates to play his arrangements, including “Maria” from West Side Story, which had just come out. The methods he discovered then formed the basis for his work as a Jazz Artist in Education for the National Endowment for the Arts, which is when he met Dizzy Gillespie, who became his mentor.

Dizzy allowed Ferdi to take his big band arrangements to high schools throughout the Delaware Valley region, rehearsing for several months until students could play them well enough to play them with Dizzy in community concerts. During this time, Ferdi recruited many other jazz legends to participate in artist in residence activities including Frank Foster, Wild Bill Davis, Arnie Lawrence, Steve Nelson, Earl May, Gerald Veasley and Rachelle Farrell.

Since moving to New Mexico in 1999, Ferdi has applied creative lessons of improvisation to education and digital equity. Ferdi is author of four books on educational technology, and is working on his latest – “Playing the Changes – a guide for harnessing creativity in times of change to daily life. He has served three tours of duty at the New Mexico Public Education Department, most recently leading a datacasting pilot that connected him with the vibrant family of visiting artists in Taos who produced “La Tormenta de Taos” which is the foundation of a new project to increase community and family engagement – New Mexico FaCES.

Elizabeth Calvert

Elizabeth Calvert, Soprano, grew up in Essex Junction, Vermont and was a founding member of The Essex Children’s Choir under the direction of Constance Jackson Price, with whom she appeared on A Prairie Home Companion. She graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in Music in 1995 and studied voice with Carol Christensen and Beth Thompson Kaiser. In 2000 she premiered the role of “The Angel of Depression” in Vermont Opera Theater’s production of A Fleeting Animal: An Opera From Judevine. Since moving to New Mexico in 2002 she has performed with Theaterwork, Taos Opera Institute, St. James Episcopal Church Choir, and Taos Community Chorus (TCC), for which she has also served as President of the Board of Directors and as soprano soloist for Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass and Vaughan-Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, and in the annual TCC Schubertiade.

Ferdi Serim

Ferdi Serim is a multi-instrumentalist (alto flute, wind synth and drums), composer and jazz educator who began teaching at the age of 11. His fifth grade teacher, Margot Ely, let him into her classroom one hour before school, and let him teach classmates to play his arrangements, including “Maria” from West Side Story, which had just come out. The methods he discovered then formed the basis for his work as a Jazz Artist in Education for the National Endowment for the Arts, which is when he met Dizzy Gillespie, who became his mentor.

Dizzy allowed Ferdi to take his big band arrangements to high schools throughout the Delaware Valley region, rehearsing for several months until students could play them well enough to play them with Dizzy in community concerts. During this time, Ferdi recruited many other jazz legends to participate in artist in residence activities including Frank Foster, Wild Bill Davis, Arnie Lawrence, Steve Nelson, Earl May, Gerald Veasley and Rachelle Farrell.

Since moving to New Mexico in 1999, Ferdi has applied creative lessons of improvisation to education and digital equity. Ferdi is author of four books on educational technology, and is working on his latest – “Playing the Changes – a guide for harnessing creativity in times of change to daily life. He has served three tours of duty at the New Mexico Public Education Department, most recently leading a datacasting pilot that connected him with the vibrant family of visiting artists in Taos who produced “La Tormenta de Taos” which is the foundation of a new project to increase community and family engagement – New Mexico FaCES.

Genevieve Leitner

With “elegant virtuosity”* guitarist Genevieve Leitner plays music from around the world and across time periods. She has performed in Chile, Germany, Mexico, Austria, Italy, Argentina and throughout the US. For six years, Genevieve lived in Santiago, Chile, where she delved into the music of Latin America, focusing on the composers and traditional rhythms from this region’s eclectic cultures. Her solo album, “Enamorada”, features Latin American dances and love songs.

In addition to her work as a soloist, Genevieve has a passion for collaborative music. She has performed guitar and sitar in ensembles with a wide range of instruments and singers. She has also collaborated in opera, theatre, dance and film music.

Genevieve has taught students of all ages in the United States, Mexico and Chile. Currently, she teaches guitar at Albuquerque Academy and directs the Albuquerque chapter of the Kithara Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of young people worldwide through the classical guitar. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied with Gerald Klickstein. She performed in masterclasses for Manuel Barrueco, Roland Dyens, Scott Tenant, Antigoni Goni, Carlos Pérez, Jason Vieaux, and other distinguished guitarists. As a student, she won 1st prize in the following competitions: Greensboro Music Teachers Assoc. Young Artists Competition; Columbus State University Guitar Competition, junior div.; Deborah Beene Memorial Competition. Genevieve was born in Chimayó, New Mexico, to a musical and artistic family.

*Landshuter Zeitung, 2015

David Goldflies

David Goldflies currently travels between Taos, NM, and Panama City Beach, FL, to perform with various musical ensembles. Mr. Goldflies recorded and toured with the Allman Brothers Band (78-82), where he was given the name Rook (for Rookie) on the day he joined the band. Rook was also the bassist on the recording of the hit single, Black Betty (toured by the group Ram Jam). In 2004, Mr. Goldlfies took up double bass. Since then, he has performed for over fifteen years with the Panama City Symphony Orchestra where he currently serves as the principal bassist, as well as with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Downbeat Big Band (Fort Walton Beach, FL). Mr. Goldflies is excited to perform the Bolling Suite for Cello and Jazz Trio and looks forward to participating in Taos, NM’s creative musical arts scene.

Renée Hemsing

Violinist & violist Renée Hemsing is a passionate chamber musician with a particular devotion to both early music and music by living composers. She enjoys traveling to perform in diverse capacities throughout the US and abroad, most recently as guest principal baroque violist of the Handel + Haydn Society in Boston, and studied baroque viola at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto and at International Baroque Masterclasses in Gaming, Austria.

As a violinist and founding member of Ajax Quartet, former graduate Quartet-in-Residence under Takacs Quartet, she enjoyed successes in tours and competitions, including recitals in the United Kingdom and in Finland, and won the silver medal at the Coltman National Chamber Music Competition. She is a native of New Mexico, where she earned her undergraduate degree in violin. Renée earned her masters degree in violin at the University of North Texas where she studied both baroque & modern violin. She is principal viola of Boulder Bach Ensemble, the violinist of Boulder Altitude Directive, and a doctoral candidate in violin performance at CU Boulder.