PERFORMING artists

  • Victoria Brianna Floyd is a talented young soprano actively enriching the vibrant music and arts scene in the Atlanta metro area. A passionate performer, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from The University of Georgia and a Master’s degree from the University of Miami. Known for her dynamic vocal range and expressive artistry, Victoria has captivated audiences in various local collaborations. Her dedication to her craft and commitment to sharing the beauty of classical music make her a rising star in the cultural landscape of Atlanta.

  • Described by the New York Times as having a “clear, bright soprano,” and hailed as “the most versatile performer in the Baltimore-Washington area” (The Baltimore City Paper), soprano, Rebecca Duren is often praised for the ability to incorporate her multi-faceted background with the operatic stage. Highlights in her performing career include engagements with Ente Concerti in Sardinia, Italy performing Purcell’s Dido and Aneas; numerous appearances with American Opera Theater, including the role of Jonathas in M.A. Charpentier’s David et Jonathas (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and as Galatea in Acis + Galatea: A Circus Opera. A versatile performer, Ms. Duren has premiered many cutting edge concept-operas, most notably Songspiel - a production of Kurt Weill's music starring Sylvia McNair, premiered in Baltimore and Washington DC. As a concert soloist, Ms. Duren has appeared with the Firebird Orchestra, The Grand Tour Orchestra in New York City, Barefoot Baroque, The Miami Bach Society, The Miami Symphony, Musica Nova, and has appeared as a guest artist with the Indiana University New Music Ensemble. Major works include Mozart Requiem, Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, and Bach’s St Matthew Passion. An avid recitalist, Ms. Duren has been featured on the American Composers Association Festival Concert Series at Symphony Space in New York City, premiering Lansing McLoskey’s song cycle, Sudden Music; and featured with Musica Nova in Dallas premiering Robert Xavier Rodriguez’ Six Songs of E. E. Cummings. Rebecca has performed as a professional choral singer with Simon Carrington Chamber Singers, Tucson Chamber Artists, Spire, Skylark and was a member of Seraphic Fire for 6 seasons.
    Ms. Duren can be heard on numerous professionally recorded albums with Seraphic Fire, True Concord, Simon Carringon Chamber Singers, and premiering new music of Lansing McClosky on Albany Records and Robert Xavier Rodriguez on The OPERA America Songbook.
    Ms. Duren is Director of Choral Activities and on the voice faculty at Agnes Scott College.

  • Caroline LeGrand, is a soprano from Atlanta, Georgia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Furman University and a Master of Divinity from Mercer University. She is a PhD candidate in Theology at the International Baptist Theological Studies Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

    Caroline is passionate about ensemble singing and has been honored to be frequently featured as a soloist in various spaces. She has been featured often at All Saints Episcopal in Atlanta, most notably in their performance of Bach Cantata BWV 61, where she was the soprano soloist. Caroline was selected as a choral scholar for the 2022-2023 US VOCES8 Scholars program, in which she was honored to perform the world premiere of Christopher Tin’s The Lost Birds with the VOCES8 ensemble. She was also featured as a soloist in recordings of "Veni, Dilecte Mi" and "Coventry Carol" produced by Minnesota Public Radio. Caroline has also gained considerable training at the programs of Duke Chapel, including the Chorworks Early Music program and the Duke Bach Cantata Series, where she appeared as a soloist in their performance of BWV 192 in November of 2021.

    Other professional vocal ensembles she has enjoyed performing with are Coro Vocati, Chicora Voices, SC Bach Chorale, and Servire Chorus. Caroline has been a member of the service ensemble, Servire Chorus, since its inception in 2019, performing benefit concerts around the east coast and featured multiple times as a soloist. Servire recently released its very first recorded single in 2024, “Only in Sleep”, where Caroline is the featured soloist. Caroline also sings at several churches in the Atlanta area, including First Baptist Church of Decatur, All Saints Episcopal Church, Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, and Fayetteville First United Methodist Church.

  • Wanda Yang Temko is a respected singer, voice teacher, and arts advocate. She holds a doctorate in voice performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana along with degrees from Georgia State University and Emory University. She is featured on New Trinity Baroque's recording of Christmas Cantatas and Concertos on Édition Lilac. She also performs and records with the Meridian Chorale and the Grammy-Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Choruses. Dr. Yang Temko maintains an active private voice studio in Atlanta and serves on the Board of Directors of Atlanta Early Music Alliance, ATL Symphony Musicians Foundation, and Kinnara.

  • Los Angeles native Samantha Frischling is a soloist, ensemble singer, and educator currently based in Atlanta. Some of her recent performance engagements include the title role in Adriana Lecouvreur, serving as the soprano soloist for Verdi’s Requiem, and the role of Almera in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters. She has been a young artist at festivals around the country and abroad, and was a member of the inaugural cohort of Vocal Fellows at Spoleto Festival USA. She can also regularly be seen on the competition stage, most recently competing alongside singers from 13 countries as a quarter-finalist for the Elizabeth Connell Prize in London. She regularly sings with the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus, Atlanta Master Chorale, and other ensembles, and is thrilled to be making her debut with Kinnara.

    Samantha is an alumna of Emory University, where she graduated summa cum laude with degrees in music and psychology, and of the Mannes School of Music, where she received her Master of Music. She serves as an adjunct faculty member at Kennesaw State University and Georgia College & State University, and is the manager for the Emory University Chorus and Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. In her free time, you can find her checking out museums, binge watching sci-fi shows, or visiting her family and her labradoodle, Charlie, back in LA.

  • Ana Baida, a displaced Texan, resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she enjoys simultaneous careers as a professional singer, an intermittent career consultant to vocal artists, and as a Talent Intelligence Consultant with Visa. In her role at Visa, she convenes various Visa teams to learn about and help to solve talent strategy problems. When not fulfilling her full-time responsibilities, Ana is delighted to sing regularly with Conspirare and the Kinnara Ensemble, and recently as part of the American Soloists Ensemble, who completed a tour through South Korea. She has served for the past 14 years as staff soloist and section leader at the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, and sings intermittently with various other groups in the region. Ana holds a Bachelors from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, a Masters from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and a Doctorate from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

  • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called mezzo-soprano Heather Witt “the kind of singer you hope to hear - talented, alert... a singer with a future.” Ms. Witt is known for her portrayal of a wide array of opera’s most notable mezzo-soprano characters, including: Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette, Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann (FIO, Brazil), Dryad in Ariadne Auf Naxos, Principessa in Suor Angelica, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Second Lady and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Elmire in Tartuffe, Mauya in Riders to the Sea, Mrs. Nolan in The Medium, Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring, Meg in Falstaff, Sally in Hand of Bridge, and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, among many others.Heather Witt is also an esteemed oratorio and concert soloist, and is a staff soloist at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Ms. Witt completed her undergraduate studies in Music at Millikin University (Decatur, IL), and received a Masters in Voice from Georgia State University (Atlanta, GA).

    www.heatherwittmezzo.com

  • With a voice described as “beautiful, ringing, and agile” (Boston Classical Review), countertenor Doug Dodson is known throughout the country as a sought-after soloist and ensemble singer. Doug’s solo appearances include performances with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, the Aspen Music Festival, Boston Baroque, the Oregon Bach Festival, Seattle’s Pacific MusicWorks, Chicago Opera Theater, Boston’s Guerilla Opera, and the Charlotte, South Dakota, and Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestras. Equally comfortable in early and contemporary repertoire, Doug has been featured as a soloist in modern premieres by Baroque composers Giacomo Perti and Alessandro Melani, and in world and American premieres of pieces by living composers Jonathan Dove, Tod Machover, Paul Crabtree, Per Bloland, and Ken Ueno, and world-premiere recordings of pieces by Nicholas Vines and James Kallembach.

    Doug appears regularly with many of the nation’s premier choral groups, including the Handel & Haydn Society, Seraphic Fire, Skylark, TENET Vocal Artists, South Dakota Chorale, and Kinnara. Originally from Spearfish, SD, he has earned degrees in anthropology from the University of South Dakota and in vocal performance from the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and was a proud member of the prestigious Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in conjunction with Aldeburgh Music in Aldeburgh, UK.

  • Atlanta-based mezzo-soprano, Sandy Sharis, is an arranger of vocal music and an active performer of oratorio, early music, and choral music. As a soloist, Sandy has performed in venues such as the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Peace Center, Duke Chapel, the Arsht Center, Woolsey Hall, and other venues in the US and Europe. She has recently performed the mezzo-soprano/alto solos in J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Weihnachtsoratorium, and Magnificat; Handel’s Messiah and l’Allegro; and Amy Beach’s Canticle of the Sun, which was recorded by Hyperion Records in 2023.

    In addition to her solo work, Sandy has enjoyed performing with choral ensembles such as Servire, Seraphic Fire, the VOCES8 US Scholars, Chicora Voices, Audivi, and others. She has also performed with early music groups such as The Sebastians and the Mallarmé Players.

    While studying under Dr. Scott McCoy at The Ohio State University, Sandy was selected winner of their Concerto Competition, the Wilson Vocal Competition, the Graduate Vocal Achievement award, and the regional NATS Artist Awards competition (Great Lakes). At OSU, she was a soloist with the Men's Glee Club (Dr. Robert Ward) at the 2020 OMEA Conference and also performed the operatic roles of Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Le Prince Charmant in Viardot's Cendrillon. 

  • Theodora Anne Schramm is a recent graduate from the University of Georgia, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. During her time at the University of Georgia, she was an avid member of the many choirs at the University and various Episcopal Churches in the Atlanta area. Most recently, she performed her first operatic role, Podesta, with the University of Georgia during their 2025 production La finta Giardiniera. This will be her first production with Kinnara.

  • Ryan Koter, tenor, is a neurologic physical therapist with a long-standing passion for choral singing. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA and treats individuals primarily with brain and spinal cord injury at Shepherd Center. In addition to singing with Kinnara, Ryan sings regularly with Early Bird and Atlanta Master Chorale. He formerly sang with several early and sacred music ensembles affiliated with Duke Capel. Ryan received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Notre Dame and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Duke University School of Medicine.

  • With singing described as “poignant...with sincerity and unforced beauty” (The Times, London), “elegant” (Cape Cod Times), and “emotionally devastating” (Boston Music Intelligencer), Cory Klose is a sought-after soloist and ensemble singer in the United States. Cory’s recent solo engagements feature appearances with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Dekalb Symphony Orchestra, Colorado's Music in the Mountains Festival, and Washington DC's Orchestra of the Hills, performing works such as J.S. Bach’s Magnificat and St. John Passion, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Schubert’s Mass in Eb, Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae solennes de confessore, and Handel’s Messiah. As a professional choral artist, Cory has appeared with many noted ensembles across the U.S., such as Kinnara, The Crossing, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Handel & Haydn Society, Bach Collegium San Diego, True Concord, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and The Thirteen. He can also be heard on many acclaimed choral recordings, including the GRAMMY® Award-winning “Songs of Ascension” with Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble and as a soloist on Skylark’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated album “Seven Words from the Cross.”

  • Born and raised in Mexico City, José Montañez studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Singing at the National Conservatory of Music, and got a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.

    He has devoted almost all his career to singing opera, lied, french song, mexican music and lieder, and has sung in cities like Mexico City, Atlanta and Kansas (USA), Madrid and Torrevieja (Spain), Istanbul (Turkey) and Prague, (Czech Republic).

    He has sung roles like “Nadir” from “Les pêcheurs de perles” (Bizet), “Felipe”, from “Aura” (Mexican opera by Mario Lavista), "Aeneas" from “Dido and Aeneas” (Purcell), "George Gibbs" from "Our Town” (Ned Rorem), "Remendado" from "Carmen" (Bizet) and Basilio from “Marriage of Figaro” (Mozart). He has also sung as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, and Verdi's Requiem, all of them with orchestra and choir.

    Currently, he is part of the Atlanta Opera Chorus, with five productions so far (Rigoletto, Boheme, Magic Flute, Macbeth, etc) and he has been a Voice Teaching Artist at Atlanta Music Project - AMP, since September 2023.

  • John Arnold is an Atlanta-based singer, actor, writer, podcast host, and multi-instrumentalist. John has performed to great acclaim with opera companies across the United States including the Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Concert Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Des Moines Metro Opera, Detroit Opera, Kentucky Opera, Knoxville Opera, Lone Star Lyric (Houston, Texas), Madison Opera, the Merola Opera Program, and Opera New Jersey. He is also in demand as a concert and oratorio soloist and has built a reputation for delivering performances imbued with a unique combination of vocal clarity, elegant musicality, and dramatic sophistication.

  • Charlie Wentz has been performing with professional choirs across the US for over a decade, and is thrilled to make his Kinnara debut. Charlie previously served as Associate Artistic Director of the Keystone State Boychoir, where he honed his conducting skills and choral expertise. Charlie can also be seen performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Chorus, The Atlanta Opera, and The Quintave Singers, a small chamber group which he co-founded in 2018. His notable solo performances include Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Mass, Schumann's Liederkreis, and Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel.

  • Andrew is a freelance musician and educator based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently on faculty at Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University. He is also the founder and artistic director of both Voces Altum, a sixteen voice treble ensemble, and EarlyBird, a professional ensemble specializing in early music and the adoption of new ideas and techniques. Andrew also directs the Summer Singers of Atlanta and is the Director of Music at St. James United Methodist Church. In Fall 20204, he received his PhD in Music Education at Georgia State University where his research centered on the intersection of choral and vocal pedagogy.

    www.andrewphillipschmidt.com

  • Joel Terning, bass-baritone, enjoys an active participation in the Atlanta choral scene where he has sung with the Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus, Coro Vocati, EarlyBird, Johns Creek Chorale, Kinnara Ensemble, Meridian Chorale, Michael O’Neal Singers, Orpheus Men’s Ensemble, and choirs of the Cathedral of St. Philip. Solo appearances include Bach’s Magnificat in D, BWV 3 and BWV 78 cantatas, Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, and recitals through the Macon Concert Association in 2023 and 2025. Joel teaches chorus, instrumental music, drumline, and musical theater at King’s Ridge Christian School, and serves on the music staff at Johns Creek Baptist Church.