MICHAEL CONLEY - Music Director

Michael Conley has earned a notable reputation in the United States and abroad for his multifaceted career as conductor, pianist, organist, singer, and celebrated composer.  In addition to serving as Music Director of the new Hudson Chorale, he served as Music Director of the Choral Arts Society (2006-2010), and is currently in his 11th season as the Music Director of the West Village Chorale, conducting its annual series of concerts at Judson Memorial Church in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan.

Since 2006, Mr. Conley has been the Music Director for Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square South, one of the country’s most historically progressive and unique congregations.  He is the worship pianist, conductor of the Judson Choir, and founder of Judson Arts, a concert series that celebrates an eclectic mix of musical styles and ensembles.  Since 2004, he has been the Director of the High School Chorus at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan, conducting performances not only in New York, but to standing-room-only audiences in venues throughout Europe, including St. Peter’s in Rome, the Duomo in Florence, and venues in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Salzburg, along with Germany and Spain. 

Mr. Conley was Assistant Director of Music to Kent Tritle at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (1996-1999) and Assistant Conductor of the Collegiate Chorale (2000-2005), where he worked with the late Music Director Robert Bass in rehearsal and preparation for over fifteen Carnegie Hall performances. He also helped prepare the Chorale for performances with the EOS Orchestra, the Ulster Philharmonic, at the Caramoor Festival in Katonah, New York, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.

Mr. Conley’s other notable New York City conducting engagements have included a collaboration with the Omega Dance Company at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; an acclaimed performance of the Mozart Requiem at St. Stanislaus Church; and a series of holiday concerts for Sacred Music in a Sacred Space at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.  He also served as Chorus master for the Connecticut Grand Opera’s 2003-04 season, including productions of Gounod’s Faust and Verdi’s Macbeth.

As a singer, Mr. Conley was a founding member of the professional 14-voice choir Manhattan Voices, and in the spring of 2005 was the baritone soloist with the Gregg Smith Singers in the premiere performance and recording of Princeton composer Dmitri Tzmoczko’s  The Agony of Modern Music. He most recently appeared as a soloist with the Dessoff Choirs in their highly regarded performance of Arvo Pärt’s Passio at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, near Times Square.

Mr. Conley holds a bachelor’s degree in composition from James Madison University in Virginia.  He earned a master’s degree in conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, where his principal teacher was Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, and where he was awarded the Mueller Prize in choral composition.  As a member of the famed Westminster Choir, he performed and recorded with many of the great orchestras and conductors of our time in concerts all over the world.

TIM HEAVNER -  Pianist and Assistant Director

Timothy Heavner is active as a performer and educator throughout the New York City Metropolitan and Tri-State areas. Mr. Heavner has worked as an accompanist and assistant conductor for the Anchorage Concert Chorus, the Alaska Chamber Singers, the Alaska Festival Chorus, the Oberlin College Choir, the Oberlin Musical Union, and the University of Alaska’s Jazz Singers and University Singers. He was Music Director of the Anchorage Community Concert Band, and he has served as Music Director and Organist at the Church of the Ascension on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and, in Anchorage, Alaska, at the First United Methodist, Turnagain United Methodist, and St. John United Methodist Churches. As a pianist, Mr. Heavner has been a featured concerto soloist with the UAA Sinfonia, he has organized and performed in numerous chamber music programs, including Anchorage Opera’s Dark Night Series, and he accompanied Jerome Hines in a solo vocal recital.

Mr. Heavner has worked extensively with opera and musical theatre, having been Musical Director for productions with Playhouse on the Green and Bridgeport Theatre Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, JADE Opera and the Allen-Stevenson School in Manhattan, Ars Musica in St. Paul, Minnesota, Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan Players, the Oberlin Musical Theatre Association, Anchorage Opera, Anchorage Opera Guild, Alaska Light Opera Theater, Anchorage Community Theater, TOAST Theater, the Alaska Stage Company, and a memorable production of South Pacific in Nome, Alaska. As a singer, he has sung roles with Anchorage Opera, the Anchorage Opera Guild, and Anchorage Community Theater; he has been a featured soloist with the Alaska Chamber Singers and the Anchorage Concert Chorus, and he is a founding member of the Anchorage Vocal Ensemble (AVE).

As a percussionist, Mr. Heavner has held principal positions with the UAA Percussion Ensemble, Anchorage Light Opera Theatre, the Alaska Chamber Singers and the Anchorage Concert Chorus, and he is the former Principal Timpanist of the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and Anchorage Opera. Mr. Heavner’s arrangements and compositions have been performed by the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the UAA Percussion Ensemble, the Alaska Chamber Singers, and the Anchorage Concert Chorus.

Mr. Heavner has taught courses at the University of Alaska, Ars Musica, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Allen-Stevenson School, and he has worked extensively with Anchorage Opera’s education and outreach program. He has maintained a private studio as an instructor of piano, percussion, and as a vocal coach. He currently teaches at Friends Seminary, a private K-12 school in the East Village of Manhattan.

Mr. Heavner holds a degree in Piano Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he also studied voice, organ, fortepiano, harpsichord, and conducting, and he has pursued graduate studies in Vocal Accompanying at the Manhattan School of Music, where he also taught in the choral program.

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LAURA GREEN - Soprano

Laura Green is an active soloist, choral artist and conductor in the greater New York area.  Westchester solo performances include the Hudson Chorale (Brahms’s Requiem and Rutter’s Requiem), the Bronxville Reformed Church (La Fiesta de la Posada with Dave Brubeck and Messiah Sing-Alongs), and a recital with accompanist, Gary Norden as part of the Hoff-Barthelson Faculty Series at the Greenville Community Church in Scarsdale.  She regularly performs in the Hudson Valley at the Bard Music Festival and Summerscape Operas (Les Huguenots ensemble soloist) and has appeared at the Woodstock Fringe Festival.

Ms. Green has performed under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Alan Gilbert, Xian Zhang, Leon Botstein, Kent Tritle, Judy Clurman, Michael Conley, James Bagwell, Harold Rosenbaum, and Matthew Phelps at Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall.  As a choral artist she has sung with the New York Virtuoso Singers, Manhattan Voices, Musica Sacra, Central Synagogue, St. Bartholomew’s Church and the New York Choral Artists.  With the Trinity Wall Street Choir she performed for President George W. Bush and recorded a part of the collection Haydn: The Complete Masses. Other notable recording projects include On the Transmigration of Souls (Grammy Winner with NY Philharmonic) and the recently-released recording with the West Village Chorale of Michael Conley’s Appalachian Requiem, in solos she debuted.

She is the conductor of the Hoff-Barthelson Chamber Choir.  This growing choir of young women (grades 8-12) has performed with the New York Lyric Opera (Hansel and Gretel) and in the school’s major festivals.  She co-founded Manhattan Voices and also leads the Yuletide Singers, a caroling ensemble which won the 2010 Rachael Ray “Battle of the Carolers.” 

Upcoming performances include another new work by Michael Conley, This Bequest of Wings, to be performed with the West Village Chorale on May 19th.   Memorial Day weekend she will perform the soprano solos of Handel’s Chandos Anthem No. 11, Let God Arise with the Bronxville Reformed Church Choir.  Ms. Green’s Hoff-Barthelson chamber choir will perform in the contemporary festival on May 20th at the Community Unitarian Church in White Plains.  Her choir will also be heard on May 24th at Ardsley’s Atria Woodlands.  Ms. Green thanks the Hudson Chorale for bringing her back to sing this little-known and beautiful work of John Knowles Paine.

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JACQUELINE HORNER-KWIATEK - Alto

Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek is a member of the world-famous vocal quartet Anonymous 4, performing all over the world and recording many award winning CDs, including the Billboard Chart-topping American Angels. She was also a featured soloist on the Grammy awarding-winning album Calling All Dawns.

 In addition to her work with Anonymous 4, she also has a reputation as a versatile and accomplished soloist, performing music from Bach to Babbitt. Solo work has included Bach cantatas with The Washington Bach Consort and the Bach Sinfonia, both of DC, Bach and Handel arias at Carmel Bach Festival with Bruno Weill, and When Musick and Sweet Poetry Agree, a program of Elizabethan song and poetry with the viol consort Parthenia. She was a soloist in the world premieres of Richard Einhorn’s new oratorio about Charles Darwin, The Origin, at SUNY Oswego, The Loathly Lady, a comic opera by Paul Richards and Wendy Steiner at the University of Pennsylvania, and most recently was the mezzo soloist in a Requiem for the Lost Souls of the Titanic at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, a performance broadcast live throughout Ireland.

 Horner-Kwiatek is also a voice teacher. She has a thriving studio in New York City and is a member of the faculty at the annual choral workshop Musica Deo Sacra at the National Cathedral in DC. She gives master classes and ensemble technique workshops in New York City, DC and throughout the US. Her website is jacquelinehorner.com.

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JOHN BELLEMER - Tenor

The American tenor John Bellemer has gained a reputation for his strong portrayals in a very wide repertoire. Possessed of a voice the New York Times calls "clarion-toned," he continues to appear in leading roles at opera houses across North America and Europe.

John Bellemer’s 2011-12 season includes several return engagements: to Boston Lyric Opera as Sandy/Officer One in Davies' The Lighthouse; to Opera Birmingham as Don José in Carmen; and to the New York Choral Society as soloist in Puccini's Messa di Gloria. He also sings Dvorák's Stabat Mater and Filas' "Song of Solomon" with Oratorio Society of New York. His 2012-13 season engagements currently include singing as Sali in Delius' A Village Romeo and Juliet in a return to the Wexford Festival.

In 2010-11 he sang the title role in Faust with Hawaii Opera Theater, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Omaha, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Birmingham, and both Rodolfo in La bohème and Ira Hayes in Johanna Doderer's Der leuchtende Fluss at Theater Erfurt. Recent engagements included Don Jose inCarmen in a return to Boston Lyric Opera, Rodolfo in La bohème with Arizona Opera, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller with Buxton Festival, and appearances as soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Harmoniemesse with New York Choral Society, and Messiah with the New Choral Society.

Recent highlights include the role of Boconnion in The Mines of Sulfur at the Wexford Festival; Ferrando in Così fan tutte with both Madison Opera and Opéra de Rouen in Paris, under Oswald Sallaberger; Toni in Pierre Luigi Pizzi's production of Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers at Teatro Arriaga in Spain; Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia at the Buxton Festival; Don José in Carmen with Michigan Opera Theatre; Messiah with Alabama Symphony; Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail in a return to Teatro Lirico di Cagliari; Herr M in Hindemith's Neues vom Tage with Teatro delle Muse in Ancona; Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri in Paris, France and New York City sponsored by UNESCO; Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra; Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; and Dvorák's Stabat Mater with the Choral Arts Society of Washington DC.

A gifted concert artist, Mr. Bellemer has appeared with the New York Choral Society at Alice Tully Hall performing Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle; Calgary Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, conducted by Hans Graf; American Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven's Missa solemni, conducted by Leon Botstein; Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, under Kent Nagano, in the American premiere of 60th Parallel; Danville Symphony singing Beethoven's Choral Fantasy; and as soloist in Handel's Messiah, with both the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Reno Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Bellemer made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New England Chamber Ensemble performing Mozart's Requiem, and has performed in gala concerts presented by the Richard Tucker Foundation, Arizona Opera, Nevada Opera, and San Jose Symphony.

Mr. Bellemer holds a Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University and a Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois.

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JOREL WILLIAMS - Bass

Praised by the New York Times as “magnificent,” Jorell Williams is pursuing a versatile performing career.  Performances during the 2011 - 2012 season include the world premiere of Anthony Davis's opera Lear on the 2nd Floor with the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and a co-production of Adolphus Hailstork’s Joshua’s Boots with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Missouri and the Amarillo Opera in Amarillo, Texas. In addition, Mr. Williams will be performing in the “Composers & the Voice: First Glimpse 2012” with the American Opera Projects, where he is currently an artist-in-residence, and in the 10th Anniversary Schuyler Career Bridges Gala. He will perform as a guest soloist with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center in the European premiere of Marsalis's Abyssinia Mass at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Previous engagements included a fellowship with the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute under the direction of Brian Zeger. Williams made his Off-Broadway debut as The Villager with the New York City Center Encores! production of Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars. Other notable roles include Captain Corcoran in Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore and Fiesque in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at the Caramoor International Music Festival, guest soloist in The Muir with the Mark Morris Dance Group, a recording of Americana with the Essential Voices USA for National Public Radio, and performing as a guest artist with the Copland House Center of American Music for the 42nd Annual ASCAP awards.   

In addition to being a Lys Symonette Award Winner from the 2011 Kurt Weill Lotte Lenya Competition, Mr. Williams was a finalist in the 2011 and 2012 Liederkranz/Lieder Division and 2010 Giulio Gari vocal competitions.  Williams has also received awards from the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges, the Liberace Foundation, the Sergei Koussevitzky Foundation, the David Adams art song competition, the Civic Morning Musicals Foundation, and the Charles A. Lynam Vocal Competition.  

Mr. Williams is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music.

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