BIOS
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John Bradley, Artistic Director, was born and educated in the Midwest, holding
degrees from Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University and Case Western
Reserve University. He also spent one post-graduate year at Mannes College of
Music. He has worked in many roles in the world of historically informed
performance, from directing and costuming to dance, and of course singing. He has
been involved with fully staged productions of Carl Heinrich Graun's Montezuma
with the Arcadia Players, Purcell's King Arthur with the Boston Early Music
Festival, G.F. Handel's Alcina with Ex-Machina in Minneapolis and Handel's
Dueling Sopranos with Julianne Baird and Beverly Hoch with the Philadelphia
Classical Orchestra. As a singer his credits have included Monteverdi's 1610
Vespers with Artek and Bach's Saint John Passion with Artek and New Jersey
Bach Festival. One of John's favorite gigs was as a baroque "chorus boy" in a tour
of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Amherst Early Music, in which he was a singer
as well as a featured dancer. John has enjoyed learning from some of the greatest
artists in the field of early music most recently as a student of Drew Minter. His first
and last love is small ensemble singing combined with research into the synthesis of
music and liturgy. He has assembled several liturgical reconstructions including
masses and vespers from pre-reformation England, 16th-century Spain and imperial
Germany. Since 2000, John has been actively researching and creating original
editions of Renaissance choral masterworks for Polyhymnia, focusing on composers
Clemens non Papa and Jacob Vaet. In 2005 John's new edition of Vaet's Missa
Ego flos campi was performed in Boston as a Boston Early Music Festival fringe
event. He has also completed a new edition of Nicholas Gombert's Missa Quam
pulchra es et quam decora as well as Gombert's lavish 12-voice Regina Caeli
which was performed in New York and Boston in June 2007. John has also edited
some twenty Franco-Flemish, German and Italian motets for the ensemble. John
and his partner Charles live in a 19th Century building "with a lot of potential" in
Jersey City, NJ with their two over-fed cats, Moses and Abraham.
Natasha Badillo - Soprano
Rachel Bazaz - Soprano, has had the pleasure of singing with Polyhymnia for
almost three years. She attended Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers
University, where she performed with the Collegium Musicum under the direction of
Andrew Kirkman. Rachel also performs regularly with the Riverside Choral Society
and the St. Joseph Singers, with whom she had the honor of performing for Pope
Benedict XVI during his April 2008 visit to New York City. She has performed as
a section leader and soloist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Westfield NJ, All
Souls Episcopal Church in Park Slope, and St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in
Brooklyn Heights. This summer, Rachel performed in the ensembles of La Boheme
and Die Fledermaus with The Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to
Performance program.
Ann, Berkhausen - Alto, has sung with many of the avocational vocal ensembles
in New York that include or specialize in early music – among them Music Divine,
the New York Continuo Collective, the Renaissance Street Singers, Sacrum
Convivium, and the Amor Artis Chamber Choir; highlights of performances with the
latter group include an a cappella Renaissance mass at Notre Dame in Paris, and
Mozart works with the first period instrument ensemble in Russia. In earlier years
she sang with the New York Choral Society and the Dessoff Choirs; recently, just
to mix it up a little, she performed Mahler’s 8th Symphony with Lorin Maazel, the
New York Philharmonic, and the Dessoff Symphonic Choir. She has also
substituted in the professional choirs of St. Bartholomew’s, Church of the Holy
Apostles, and St. Ignatius of Antioch. By day she is a editor at a medical advertising
and communications agency.
Richard Bränström - Tenor got his musical training at Stockholm´s Music
Gymnasium, Sweden. He has been singing with a variety of chamber choirs and
vocal groups in Sweden e.g. St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir, St. George’s Chamber
Choir and Adolf Fredrik vocal ensemble, performing a cappella works from a wide
range of national styles and periods, as well as larger works for choir and orchestra.
In 2007, he relocated to the US and has been singing with several vocal ensembles
devoted to early music such as the San Francisco Renaissance voices, Music
Devine, and since January 2010 with Polyhymnia.
Johanna Sassona Bronk - mezzo-soprano, is a 23 year old graduate of Oberlin
Conservatory in Vocal Performance where she studied with Kendra Colton. She is
a passionate performer of early and new music, as well as an interpreter of song
from a sprinkling of ages in between. Recent performance credits include the role of
“Architecture” in Marc Antoine Charpentier's Les Arts Florissants, performed at the
Boston Early Music Festival, and an interpretive performance of Osvaldo Golijov's
Ayre at Oberlin Conservatory. Johanna's radio credits include a performance on
NPR's From the Top, and Israeli Public Radio's Israel Pro Musica. When not on
stage performing with choirs, chamber groups, and collaborative puppet artists,
Johanna can be found organizing cooperatives, baking challah, whittling, gardening,
and cycling around New York.
Brianne Brunick - Alto
Dan Cook - Bass, is in his second year with Polyhymnia. He holds a Bachelor's
Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa, where he discovered his
love for ensemble singing. He is currently singing in six ensembles in New York,
ranging from a barbershop quartet to the 180-voice New York Choral Society. He
is also a founding member and Assistant Director of the newest New York
barbershop chorus, Voices of Gotham. Dan has a special affection for singing
triplets against two quarter notes.
Kristin Luchtman - Soprano, holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from
Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While there she studied
voice with Tania Kataja and was an active member of the Kirkpatrick Choir,
Rutgers Opera Company (Die Zauberflöte, Romeo and Juliet, La Traviata), and
Orphansporks a cappella ensemble. Kristin was a member and conductor of St.
John the Evangelist church choir in New Brunswick, NJ for 2 years and now sings
frequently at St. James in Red Bank. Kristin is currently teaching vocal and general
music for kindergarten through sixth grade in West New York, NJ. She is glad to be
returning for her second season with Polyhymnia.
James Middleton - Bass, has written and lectured extensively in both the U.S.
and Mexico on Baroque Stagecraft and the arts of Colonial Latin America. As
founder and Artistic Director of the baroque opera ensemble Ex Machina he
directed and designed numerous early opera productions including the U.S.
professional premiere of the first New World Opera, La Purpura de la Rosa, and
the critically acclaimed Prohibited by Order of the King, presented at the Boston
and San Antonio (TX) Early Music Festivals. He has directed and/or designed
productions in cities all over the U.S. and has directed and led workshops at
Harvard, Dartmouth, Indiana University, Case Western Reserve University, Mexico’
s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Centro Nacional de Investigación,
Documentación y Información Musical (CENIDIM) among many other institutions,
and toured Mexico in 2003 with the ensemble Louis Louis in a production entitled
Mujeres Locas (Mad Women). He has written program notes and translations for
the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Music and Arts at St. Luke’s and Concerts at
Trinity, as well as for Polyhymnia. Among the many hats James wears are that of
graphic designer ( he designed Polyhymnia’s 2009~10 season brochure) and
fundraiser. He also serves on Polyhymnia’s board of directors, which he chaired
from 2006-2008. He recently went back to school at NYU where he is working on
an MA in the Arts of Colonial Latin America. He likes to cook.
Paul Nelson - Tenor, is thrilled to be back with Polyhymnia for the 2009-10
season. In addition to performing with Polyhymnia, Paul sings at Church of the
Ascension on Manhattan's Upper West Side. When Paul is not singing, he works
for the City of New York to help community-based organizations throughout the
five boroughs create vibrant and healthy commercial districts. Paul holds a BA from
Brown University and a MPA from New York University.
Michael Peppard - Bass has performance experience in diverse forms of choral
music, from Gregorian chant to recent commissions. As a graduate student at Yale
University and the Institute of Sacred Music, he sang and studied under Simon
Carrington and Marguerite Brooks in Yale Camerata, Pro Musica, and Schola
Cantorum. Previously Michael was a student conductor at the University of Notre
Dame (men’s Glee Club) under Daniel Stowe, where he was also a founding
member of the Collegium Musicum early music ensemble. In his home town of
Denver, Colorado, he sang with Kantorei and conducted a boy’s choir at Regis
Jesuit High School. He has worked in various roles as a music minister in the Roman
Catholic tradition. Currently Michael is assistant professor of theology at Fordham
University.
John Shumway -Tenor, a native of Northern California, is happy to be back in his
second year with Polyhymnia. He began his career singing alto under Robert Geary
in the Piedmont Children's Choir with tours to Eastern Russia and China. During an
extended college career he sang in the Brigham Young University Men's Chorus
under Mack Wilberg, and under Jameson Marvin in the Harvard Radcliffe Chorus
before finally settling down at the University of California at Berkeley. While
studying music there, he sang with the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus under Marika
Kuzma, with highlight performances such as King Arthur with the Mark Morris
Dancers and a performance of the traditional setting of the Carmina Burana. He
also performed and toured with student-run groups such as the Harvard Din &
Tonics and the UC Berkeley Men's Octet. He is currently also in the NY-based
vocal jazz quintet West Side 5, way at the other end of the stylistic spectrum. He
lives on the Upper West Side with his girlfriend, an accomplished opera soprano
with a penchant for cupcakes and a voice too large for their 1-bedroom apartment.
Nancy Temple - Soprano, is a multifaceted talent who has been active in opera,
theatre and of course early music. She was a founding member of the Light Opera
of Manhattan (LOOM), an Off-Broadway repertory company with whom she
performed some twenty leading roles. She was featured with that company on
NBC's Today program as well as several times on WQXR's The Listening Room.
Nancy is a charter member of The Open Book, New York's first professional
reader's theatre company, portraying hundreds of characters created by writers such
as William Shakespeare, Conrad Aiken, Edna Ferber, Bertrand Russell, Mario
Fratti, Daniel Mannes Pinkwater, J.M. Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles
Dickens, and many others. Nancy has performed and recorded works by
contemporary composers Charles Wuorinen, Stefan Wolpe, Morton Feldman,
Vincent Persichetti, Iain Hamilton, Theodore Duffy, McNeil Robinson and Paul
Michael Levy, among others. Nancy also sang in the choir of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch, with whom she made three recordings. She plays the piano, organ and
French horn and her resume also includes work in summer stock, dinner theatre,
opera, synagogue choirs, big band singing and spoken word recording. In
December she will be performing Off-Off-Broadway in The Open Book's
adaptation of Marvin Kaye's novel, The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge. An
alumna of Duke University and Manhattan School of Music, she has been a member
of Polyhymnia since 2003.
Wayne Wright - Tenor, joined Polyhymnia in March of 2008. Wayne has over 25
years of choral singing experience, including stints with the Grace Church Choral
Society, the Renaissance Street Singers and the Dessoff Choirs. Wayne has
performed with both Robert Shaw and the Tallis Scholars in both the United States
and England. Wayne has a bachelor’s degree in piano from SUNY Potsdam, and
master’s degrees in piano and piano pedagogy from Teachers College, Columbia
University. Wayne worked as a piano teacher in Manhattan for many years before
shifting gears to become a software engineer. His other music experiences include
work as a studio keyboard player, and playing and singing in rock bands. Though
not formally trained as a singer, Wayne fits right in with Polyhymnia where his
penchant for polyphony and solid sight-reading skills are put to very good use.
Wayne's other interests include bicycling, piano playing, the great outdoors and
NFL football.
degrees from Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University and Case Western
Reserve University. He also spent one post-graduate year at Mannes College of
Music. He has worked in many roles in the world of historically informed
performance, from directing and costuming to dance, and of course singing. He has
been involved with fully staged productions of Carl Heinrich Graun's Montezuma
with the Arcadia Players, Purcell's King Arthur with the Boston Early Music
Festival, G.F. Handel's Alcina with Ex-Machina in Minneapolis and Handel's
Dueling Sopranos with Julianne Baird and Beverly Hoch with the Philadelphia
Classical Orchestra. As a singer his credits have included Monteverdi's 1610
Vespers with Artek and Bach's Saint John Passion with Artek and New Jersey
Bach Festival. One of John's favorite gigs was as a baroque "chorus boy" in a tour
of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Amherst Early Music, in which he was a singer
as well as a featured dancer. John has enjoyed learning from some of the greatest
artists in the field of early music most recently as a student of Drew Minter. His first
and last love is small ensemble singing combined with research into the synthesis of
music and liturgy. He has assembled several liturgical reconstructions including
masses and vespers from pre-reformation England, 16th-century Spain and imperial
Germany. Since 2000, John has been actively researching and creating original
editions of Renaissance choral masterworks for Polyhymnia, focusing on composers
Clemens non Papa and Jacob Vaet. In 2005 John's new edition of Vaet's Missa
Ego flos campi was performed in Boston as a Boston Early Music Festival fringe
event. He has also completed a new edition of Nicholas Gombert's Missa Quam
pulchra es et quam decora as well as Gombert's lavish 12-voice Regina Caeli
which was performed in New York and Boston in June 2007. John has also edited
some twenty Franco-Flemish, German and Italian motets for the ensemble. John
and his partner Charles live in a 19th Century building "with a lot of potential" in
Jersey City, NJ with their two over-fed cats, Moses and Abraham.
Natasha Badillo - Soprano
Rachel Bazaz - Soprano, has had the pleasure of singing with Polyhymnia for
almost three years. She attended Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers
University, where she performed with the Collegium Musicum under the direction of
Andrew Kirkman. Rachel also performs regularly with the Riverside Choral Society
and the St. Joseph Singers, with whom she had the honor of performing for Pope
Benedict XVI during his April 2008 visit to New York City. She has performed as
a section leader and soloist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Westfield NJ, All
Souls Episcopal Church in Park Slope, and St. Ann and the Holy Trinity in
Brooklyn Heights. This summer, Rachel performed in the ensembles of La Boheme
and Die Fledermaus with The Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to
Performance program.
Ann, Berkhausen - Alto, has sung with many of the avocational vocal ensembles
in New York that include or specialize in early music – among them Music Divine,
the New York Continuo Collective, the Renaissance Street Singers, Sacrum
Convivium, and the Amor Artis Chamber Choir; highlights of performances with the
latter group include an a cappella Renaissance mass at Notre Dame in Paris, and
Mozart works with the first period instrument ensemble in Russia. In earlier years
she sang with the New York Choral Society and the Dessoff Choirs; recently, just
to mix it up a little, she performed Mahler’s 8th Symphony with Lorin Maazel, the
New York Philharmonic, and the Dessoff Symphonic Choir. She has also
substituted in the professional choirs of St. Bartholomew’s, Church of the Holy
Apostles, and St. Ignatius of Antioch. By day she is a editor at a medical advertising
and communications agency.
Richard Bränström - Tenor got his musical training at Stockholm´s Music
Gymnasium, Sweden. He has been singing with a variety of chamber choirs and
vocal groups in Sweden e.g. St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir, St. George’s Chamber
Choir and Adolf Fredrik vocal ensemble, performing a cappella works from a wide
range of national styles and periods, as well as larger works for choir and orchestra.
In 2007, he relocated to the US and has been singing with several vocal ensembles
devoted to early music such as the San Francisco Renaissance voices, Music
Devine, and since January 2010 with Polyhymnia.
Johanna Sassona Bronk - mezzo-soprano, is a 23 year old graduate of Oberlin
Conservatory in Vocal Performance where she studied with Kendra Colton. She is
a passionate performer of early and new music, as well as an interpreter of song
from a sprinkling of ages in between. Recent performance credits include the role of
“Architecture” in Marc Antoine Charpentier's Les Arts Florissants, performed at the
Boston Early Music Festival, and an interpretive performance of Osvaldo Golijov's
Ayre at Oberlin Conservatory. Johanna's radio credits include a performance on
NPR's From the Top, and Israeli Public Radio's Israel Pro Musica. When not on
stage performing with choirs, chamber groups, and collaborative puppet artists,
Johanna can be found organizing cooperatives, baking challah, whittling, gardening,
and cycling around New York.
Brianne Brunick - Alto
Dan Cook - Bass, is in his second year with Polyhymnia. He holds a Bachelor's
Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa, where he discovered his
love for ensemble singing. He is currently singing in six ensembles in New York,
ranging from a barbershop quartet to the 180-voice New York Choral Society. He
is also a founding member and Assistant Director of the newest New York
barbershop chorus, Voices of Gotham. Dan has a special affection for singing
triplets against two quarter notes.
Kristin Luchtman - Soprano, holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from
Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While there she studied
voice with Tania Kataja and was an active member of the Kirkpatrick Choir,
Rutgers Opera Company (Die Zauberflöte, Romeo and Juliet, La Traviata), and
Orphansporks a cappella ensemble. Kristin was a member and conductor of St.
John the Evangelist church choir in New Brunswick, NJ for 2 years and now sings
frequently at St. James in Red Bank. Kristin is currently teaching vocal and general
music for kindergarten through sixth grade in West New York, NJ. She is glad to be
returning for her second season with Polyhymnia.
James Middleton - Bass, has written and lectured extensively in both the U.S.
and Mexico on Baroque Stagecraft and the arts of Colonial Latin America. As
founder and Artistic Director of the baroque opera ensemble Ex Machina he
directed and designed numerous early opera productions including the U.S.
professional premiere of the first New World Opera, La Purpura de la Rosa, and
the critically acclaimed Prohibited by Order of the King, presented at the Boston
and San Antonio (TX) Early Music Festivals. He has directed and/or designed
productions in cities all over the U.S. and has directed and led workshops at
Harvard, Dartmouth, Indiana University, Case Western Reserve University, Mexico’
s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Centro Nacional de Investigación,
Documentación y Información Musical (CENIDIM) among many other institutions,
and toured Mexico in 2003 with the ensemble Louis Louis in a production entitled
Mujeres Locas (Mad Women). He has written program notes and translations for
the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Music and Arts at St. Luke’s and Concerts at
Trinity, as well as for Polyhymnia. Among the many hats James wears are that of
graphic designer ( he designed Polyhymnia’s 2009~10 season brochure) and
fundraiser. He also serves on Polyhymnia’s board of directors, which he chaired
from 2006-2008. He recently went back to school at NYU where he is working on
an MA in the Arts of Colonial Latin America. He likes to cook.
Paul Nelson - Tenor, is thrilled to be back with Polyhymnia for the 2009-10
season. In addition to performing with Polyhymnia, Paul sings at Church of the
Ascension on Manhattan's Upper West Side. When Paul is not singing, he works
for the City of New York to help community-based organizations throughout the
five boroughs create vibrant and healthy commercial districts. Paul holds a BA from
Brown University and a MPA from New York University.
Michael Peppard - Bass has performance experience in diverse forms of choral
music, from Gregorian chant to recent commissions. As a graduate student at Yale
University and the Institute of Sacred Music, he sang and studied under Simon
Carrington and Marguerite Brooks in Yale Camerata, Pro Musica, and Schola
Cantorum. Previously Michael was a student conductor at the University of Notre
Dame (men’s Glee Club) under Daniel Stowe, where he was also a founding
member of the Collegium Musicum early music ensemble. In his home town of
Denver, Colorado, he sang with Kantorei and conducted a boy’s choir at Regis
Jesuit High School. He has worked in various roles as a music minister in the Roman
Catholic tradition. Currently Michael is assistant professor of theology at Fordham
University.
John Shumway -Tenor, a native of Northern California, is happy to be back in his
second year with Polyhymnia. He began his career singing alto under Robert Geary
in the Piedmont Children's Choir with tours to Eastern Russia and China. During an
extended college career he sang in the Brigham Young University Men's Chorus
under Mack Wilberg, and under Jameson Marvin in the Harvard Radcliffe Chorus
before finally settling down at the University of California at Berkeley. While
studying music there, he sang with the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus under Marika
Kuzma, with highlight performances such as King Arthur with the Mark Morris
Dancers and a performance of the traditional setting of the Carmina Burana. He
also performed and toured with student-run groups such as the Harvard Din &
Tonics and the UC Berkeley Men's Octet. He is currently also in the NY-based
vocal jazz quintet West Side 5, way at the other end of the stylistic spectrum. He
lives on the Upper West Side with his girlfriend, an accomplished opera soprano
with a penchant for cupcakes and a voice too large for their 1-bedroom apartment.
Nancy Temple - Soprano, is a multifaceted talent who has been active in opera,
theatre and of course early music. She was a founding member of the Light Opera
of Manhattan (LOOM), an Off-Broadway repertory company with whom she
performed some twenty leading roles. She was featured with that company on
NBC's Today program as well as several times on WQXR's The Listening Room.
Nancy is a charter member of The Open Book, New York's first professional
reader's theatre company, portraying hundreds of characters created by writers such
as William Shakespeare, Conrad Aiken, Edna Ferber, Bertrand Russell, Mario
Fratti, Daniel Mannes Pinkwater, J.M. Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles
Dickens, and many others. Nancy has performed and recorded works by
contemporary composers Charles Wuorinen, Stefan Wolpe, Morton Feldman,
Vincent Persichetti, Iain Hamilton, Theodore Duffy, McNeil Robinson and Paul
Michael Levy, among others. Nancy also sang in the choir of Saint Ignatius of
Antioch, with whom she made three recordings. She plays the piano, organ and
French horn and her resume also includes work in summer stock, dinner theatre,
opera, synagogue choirs, big band singing and spoken word recording. In
December she will be performing Off-Off-Broadway in The Open Book's
adaptation of Marvin Kaye's novel, The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge. An
alumna of Duke University and Manhattan School of Music, she has been a member
of Polyhymnia since 2003.
Wayne Wright - Tenor, joined Polyhymnia in March of 2008. Wayne has over 25
years of choral singing experience, including stints with the Grace Church Choral
Society, the Renaissance Street Singers and the Dessoff Choirs. Wayne has
performed with both Robert Shaw and the Tallis Scholars in both the United States
and England. Wayne has a bachelor’s degree in piano from SUNY Potsdam, and
master’s degrees in piano and piano pedagogy from Teachers College, Columbia
University. Wayne worked as a piano teacher in Manhattan for many years before
shifting gears to become a software engineer. His other music experiences include
work as a studio keyboard player, and playing and singing in rock bands. Though
not formally trained as a singer, Wayne fits right in with Polyhymnia where his
penchant for polyphony and solid sight-reading skills are put to very good use.
Wayne's other interests include bicycling, piano playing, the great outdoors and
NFL football.