Meet the Musicians

Amanda Balestrieri

is widely recognized as “a musician’s singer.” She took her rigorous instrumental training in orchestral and chamber music. Combining this with her love of language and the stage, she crafted an unusually versatile soprano voice in the classical music community. Born in England, she won two scholarships to Oxford University where she received her BA/MA in German and French, and studied voice in London with Marjorie Thomas of the Royal Academy of Music and Milan with Maria Luisa Cioni. She sang with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner for the soundtrack of the movie Amadeus and was a regular soloist in contemporary music with James Wood’s New London Chamber Choir. 

After moving to the United States, Balestrieri made several notable appearances with the National Symphony under Leonard Slatkin and Christopher Hogwood, and with the Smithsonian Chamber Players under Kenneth Slowik. Renowned for her “radiant intelligence” and her “unusually versatile” voice with its “luminous warmth” (Washington Post, Santa Fe New Mexican), she is in high demand for her musicianship and skills in baroque repertoire. Her teachers included Martha Ellison and Mary Ann Stabile. She has appeared with the major period instrument ensembles throughout the U.S., including New York Collegium, Concert Royal and New York Baroque Dance Company, Opera Lafayette, Washington Bach Consort, and American Bach Soloists.

In the Denver area, Balestrieri has been a guest soloist with area symphony orchestras and ensembles, including the Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Chamber Players, and with period instrument ensembles including Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Boulder Bach Festival, and Parish House Baroque. Formerly on the Voice Faculty at the University of Virginia, she taught Voice Performance at Regis University in Denver for several years. Balestrieri was appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of the Seicento Baroque Ensemble in 2018, is Artistic Director of the chamber ensemble Cadmus, and has recorded with the Dorian, Koch, and Virginia Arts labels.

Updated 2023

Keith Barnhart

has a love of music that spans cultures and time. His musical exposure at an early age
was a mixture of mid 20th century rock, classical symphonic hits, and whatever his brothers
bought through the Columbia House CD club. He began teaching himself rock guitar at age 13
but soon fell in love with classical guitar.

Keith received his Bachelors in Classical Guitar Performance in 2006 from the Lamont School of
Music where he studied with Ricardo Iznaola and Jonathan Leathwood. He received his
Masters of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory in 2015 with an emphasis in Historical
Performance, studying under Richard Savino and Marc Teicholz. Keith graduated in 2018 from
the University of Colorado with a Doctorate of Musical Arts focused on the modern 10-string
guitar, studying under Nicolò Spera. His dissertation work included researching and recording
the music of Albert Harris.

Utilizing the lute, Baroque guitar, theorbo and modern instruments, Keith has played with the
Boulder Bach Festival, Pro Musica Colorado, CCU School of Music, Seicento Baroque
Ensemble, CU Early Music Ensemble, Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Happy Hour
Chamber Concerts, UNC’s Ursa Consort and Parish House Baroque. Additionally, he has had
the pleasure of playing basso continuo for opera productions with the University of Colorado
Boulder, the San Francisco Conservatory, The American Bach Soloists Academy, the Amherst
Early Music Academy and the University of Northern Colorado.

Parallel to his performances, Keith works part time as a Certified Music Practitioner. Trained
through the Music for Healing and Transition Program, he provides customized, live therapeutic
music at the bedside to create a healing environment for hospitals, hospice and nursing care
patients.

As an educator, Keith teaches classical guitar in public schools as a Teaching Artist with the
Non-profit organization Lead Guitar. He is the Educational Coordinator for Boulder Bach Festival
and presents educational concerts and discussions in K-12 schools across the front range of
Colorado. During the Summer you can find him teaching guitar, mandolin and ukulele at Rocky
Mountain Fiddle Camp!

Updated 2024

Sarah Biber

is equally at home with contemporary repertoire and Early Music. She has played viol as well as Baroque and modern cellos across the United States, Australia, and China. Based in Colorado since 2015, she performs with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the mountain states. An active collaborator with artists in other disciplines, Sarah recently appeared with the Paul Taylor Dance Company playing Bach’s solo cello suites for the company’s first period instrument performance. Her Early Music activities include regular performances with the Baroque Orchestra of Colorado, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Colorado Chamber Players and her viol consort, Byrd on a Wire.

Sarah studied cello at the Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Rejto followed by studies in Australia at the Sydney Conservatorium with Georg Pederson. In addition to her degree from Oberlin, Sarah holds the DMA in Cello Performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she studied with the renowned cellist Colin Carr. In Australia, she performed in the Opera House with the Sydney Symphony and as a member of the Sydney Sinfonia, the training orchestra of the Symphony. An active teacher, Sarah has founded training programs and taught as a Suzuki Instructor in Washington DC, Colorado and elsewhere. In 2010 – 2011, she was Assistant Professor of Cello Performance & Pedagogy at Montana State University, where she taught cello, music theory and string pedagogy.

Updated 2024

Samuel Breene

is a scholar and performer whose activities and interests span the range of the Baroque violin’s history and repertoire. Following his conservatory degree, Sam pursued advanced violin studies in Mainz, Germany. In graduate school at Duke University, he specialized in Baroque violin and led the Duke Collegium Musicum. Since then, Sam has maintained a performing career that balances work on both early and modern violins. He has performed across this country and made international appearances in Germany, Canada, Israel and Haiti. A member of the newly formed Providence Baroque Orchestra, Sam also played for a decade across New England with the Proteus String Quartet and has appeared regularly with modern orchestras, including the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Opera Company of North Carolina. Sam is a co-founder of the Hope Collective for Early Music and appears with this ensemble across New England.

In addition to his performing work, Sam is a musicologist whose research focuses on Mozart’s chamber music and performance practices of the Baroque and Classical eras. He has also researched and written about American fiddling. Over the years, Sam has received a number of prestigious research awards including a Javits Fellowship and two Mellon Fellowships. He has delivered conference papers to the American Musicological Society and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies as well as at international conferences in England and France. Sam has written about Mozart, science, and aesthetics in the eighteenth century for the journal Early Music and has published reviews for Early Music and the Journal of Musicological Research.

Sam holds a B.Mus. in violin performance from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and two degrees from Duke University, the M.M. in Performance Practice and the Ph.D. in Musicology. He has taught at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. Sam currently serves as Professor of Music at Rhode Island College where he directs the Music History Program and leads the RIC Early Music Ensemble.

Updated 2024

Jennifer Carpenter

is a recorder player and music historian who performs regularly throughout the Southwest, including performing with the local ensemble Parish House Baroque. In addition to teaching private lessons, both in person and online, Jennifer has been on the faculty of a number of early music workshops including the San Francisco Early Music Society, Amherst Early Music Online, and the Texas Toot. She is a frequent guest presenter with recorder societies throughout the US and Canada. Her enthusiasm for working with amateur recorder players led her to serve on the Board of Directors of the American Recorder Society where she now works as their marketing director. Currently, she is the music director of the Denver Recorder Society. 

Updated 2024

Sarah Graf

is an avid chamber musician, soloist, and teacher, performing on modern and baroque cello and viola da gamba. Since moving to Colorado in 2007, Sarah has performed extensively on concert series and with ensembles across the region including the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Ensemble Basso, as a soloist with the High Country Sinfonia, and as principal cellist with the Aspen Choral Society, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and Messiah Choral Society. Sarah has also organized chamber music series focusing on baroque repertoire throughout western Colorado. Sarah earned her undergraduate degree, Performer’s Certificate and a certificate in German language and culture from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Alan Harris and Steven Doane and taking part in the Collegium Musicum under the direction of Christel Thielmann. Sarah has attended music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute and Freiburg Baroque Academie. As a teacher Sarah has a private studio, has completed Suzuki teacher training, and coaches students of the Roaring Fork Youth Orchestra, of which she is Executive Director and Co-Music Director. Now based in western Colorado, Sarah grew up in Frederick, Maryland.

Updated 2023

Barbara Hamilton

is currently Artistic Director and Violist with the Colorado Chamber Players, a position she has held for 30 years. She served as principal violist with the Eastern Music Festival from 1990-2005. Barbara has played as principal violist and soloist with the Colorado Symphony, the Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, and the Orquesta de Valencia (Spain). She was a member of the New York Philharmonic for one season. Dr. Hamilton received the DMA from Yale School of Music in 1992, where she completed a dissertation on the Alexander Technique and studied with Jesse Levine. She was a prize winner in the Fischoff, Aspen Festival and Woolsey Hall Competitions, as well as the Young Artists of YM-YWHA (New Jersey).

While living in Spain, she played with the acclaimed “Cuarteto Martin y Soler”, including tours of Mexico, Scandinavia, and Europe. The quartet played on numerous occasions for the Royal Family of Spain. Dr. Hamilton has performed frequently as a soloist, including the Valencia premiere of Penderecki’s Viola Concerto, with Maestro Penderecki conducting.

For the past nine years, Barbara has explored the study and performance of the Baroque, including performances at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute and at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. She is fascinated by period instruments. Barbara has studied Baroque Violin/Viola, Viola d’Amore and performance practice with Thomas Georgi, Brandon Chui, Stefano Marcocchi, Marilyn McDonald, Peter Harvey, Jeanne Lamon, Ivars Taurins, Robert Mealy and Cynthia Roberts. Barbara plays on a 2012 Martin Biller Viola d’Amore and a 1720 Carlo Tononi baroque violin.

Updated 2023

Wesley Leffingwell

is a keyboardist based in Denver, Colorado. Recent performances have included appearances with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Greeley Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, Breckenridge Music Festival, Bravo Vail, Ainomae Ensemble, Playground Ensemble, The Spirituals Project, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Boulder Bach Festival, Pro Musica Colorado, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Cadmus, Rocky Mountain Consort, Evan’s Choir and concertos with the Aurora Symphony Orchestra. As a Jazz musician, he has performed at Dazzle Jazz, Porgy and Bess Vienna, Summit Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Festival, and Evergreen Jazz Festival. Wesley has held staff positions at the University of Denver and Regis University. He leads the choir at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church as Music Director. He was a Fellowship Artist in Continuo with the Boulder Bach Festival in 2019-2020. He attended The Emmanuel Bach Institute in Boston and the American Bach Soloists Summer Academy in 2023. Wesley is pursuing his DMA in Harpsichord at CU Boulder.

Updated 2023

Brune Macary

is a native of Paris, France, and has been an active performer in the Boulder area for the past ten years. Specializing in Baroque music, she is a member of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado as well as the Boulder Bach Festival. She regularly performs with the Seicento Baroque Ensemble, the Colorado Chamber Players, and Parish House Baroque. Besides her playing on period instrument, she is the Principal Second with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and a member of Sphere Ensemble and the Steamboat Symphony orchestra. She maintains an active studio of violin and viola students in Nederland where she lives with her husband and four year old daughter. Her baroque violin is a 1781 Lippard.

Updated 2023

Ann Marie Morgan

is praised by the Baltimore Sun for her “beguiling musicality.” She is a frequent guest artist on viola da gamba with major orchestras and ensembles with highly acclaimed ensembles including The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Minnesota Orchestra (viol soloist in the Bach St. John and St. Matthew Passions). She has toured internationally in Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Central America and Canada.  She has appeared as soloist at Bach Festivals including Oregon, Bethlehem and Boulder. In March 2024 she will perform the St John Passion with the University of Iowa’s Kantorei.

Ann Marie can be heard playing baroque cello and viol on a dozen of the recordings by Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque orchestra, of which she was a founding member.  Other notable recordings include Joshua Smith’s Delos release of the “Sonatas for Flute and continuo; the Sonata from the Musical Offering” (JS Bach); Nicholas Phan’s Avie release “A Painted Tale”; “Among Rosebud” on Centaur (her viol solo recording).

An Artist Diploma recipient from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music where she studied with Catharina Meints, Ms Morgan has served on the early music faculties of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, the Interlochen Center for the Arts and as Interim Director of the CU College of Music’s Early Music Ensemble. In 2020 she served as a Panel Judge for the Indianapolis International Baroque Competition.

In Broomfield she maintains a vibrant studio of violists da gamba and baroque cellists.

As a local choral professional Ann Marie holds a position as a staff alto at Holy Ghost Church in Denver and sings regularly with St. Martins Chamber Choir, Gaudium Verum and the Archdiocesan Schola.

To see a list of recordings, watch and listen to videos, and to stay informed of upcoming news and events, please visit her website.

Updated 2023

Sarah Moyer

is a soprano known for her “purity and flawless range” (South Florida Classical Review). Her most recent and upcoming work as a concert artist includes Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions with Colorado Bach Ensemble, Handel’s Messiah with Bourbon Baroque, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, as well as countless Bach cantatas with Emmanuel Music, and Monteverdi’s Lamento della Nympha with Skylark Vocal Ensemble. She has also performed as a soloist with the Cape Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Chamber Symphony, Lost Dog New Music Ensemble, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project, among others. She has performed world premieres by Harbison, Kallembach, Theofanidis, Runestad, Cohen, and Grant, and American premieres by Melani, and Nørgård.

As a choral artist, she appears with GRAMMY® nominated groups Skylark, Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, Clarion Music Society, True Concord, as well as Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Variant 6, Spire, and Artefact. She is featured as a soloist on Skylark’s newest albums La Vie en Rose and A Christmas Carol, and GRAMMY® nominated albums Seven Words from the Cross and Once Upon a Time.

In her spare time, Sarah enjoys hiking and being outdoors with her husband, son, and catahoula leopard. She is also an amateur ukulele player and has devoted the last few years to reviving music from the Tin Pan Alley genre. You can check out her early-twentieth century covers with ukulele on her YouTube channel by clicking here.

Updated 2023

John Murgel

is a Colorado native and is celebrating 25 years as a professional collaborative musician in 2023.  Captivated by renaissance and baroque music from a young age, John studied organ under Joel Bacon at Colorado State University while completing graduate studies in horticulture. He has served as organist at several metro area churches and through this work became connected with Ann Marie Morgan and her studio. 

Recently, John was invited to become a staff organist at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. 

While his “day job” is plants, he hopes always to be found making music

Updated 2023

Jeffrey Noonan

is the founder and Director of Early Music Missouri, and has played early plucked instruments across the Midwest for over forty years. Based in St. Louis, he has performed regionally with various ensembles including Shakespear’s Bande, Early Music St. Louis, Bourbon Baroque (Louisville), Madison Early Music Festival (Wisconsin), Ars Antigua (Chicago), and Musik Ekklesia (Indianapolis.) Jeff has performed for a decade with Baroque violinist Samuel Breene as the duo Musicke’s Cordes. In addition, Jeff directed Such Sweete Melodie, a quintet specializing in seventeenth-century vocal repertoire and was a founding member of La petite brise, a trio featuring music for the Baroque flute. As accompanist and continuo player, he performs repertoire ranging from sixteenth-century chanson with solo voice to Handel’s Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony. A scholar of the early guitar, Jeff has written two books and articles for Grove on the subject and published an edition of eighteenth-century violin sonatas by Giovanni Bononcini. Jeff has received funding and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Newberry Library. In 2016, the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission recognized him for his work as a performer, teacher and scholar with a RAC Artist Fellowship.

Jeff holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (A.B.), the Hartt School of Music (B.Mus.) and Washington University in St. Louis (M.Mus., Ph.D.) He taught as adjunct faculty at St. Mary’s College, Indiana/Purdue Universities in Fort Wayne, Andrews University and Washington University in St. Louis. He served as full-time music faculty at Southeast Missouri State University where he taught upper-level music literature and history courses and directed the classical guitar program before retiring as a Professor of Music in 2015.

Updated 2023

Paul Primus

is a vioilist and harpsichordist who grew up in the Chicago and Cleveland areas, before attending Indiana University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in music from UWM. Paul won an audition with the Denver Symphony in 1984, and was promoted to Principal Second Violinist in 1985, the position he still holds. He coordinated the chamber music program at Denver School of the Arts from 2013-2018. Paul is a founding member of the Colorado Chamber Players, which he and his wife Barbara Hamilton began in 1993. He performs approximately 30 concerts a year with the CCP, and can be heard frequently on Colorado Public Radio. Mr. Primus has performed numerous unaccompanied violin recitals over the years, most memorably one of the complete Paganini Caprices in 1986. Paul is an active teacher in the Denver area and has also taught and performed at Eastern Music Festival, Rocky Ridge, and the Lamont Pre-College Academy at DU. He is a frequent coach for the DYAO.  As a harpsichordist, Paul has attended the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Oberlin Baroque Institute, and has studied with Charlotte Neidiger, Frank Nowell, Joe Gascho, and currently studies with Robert Hill at CU/Boulder School of Music. He performs on a single manual Roland harpsichord and a German baroque violin from the Hopf studio, circa 1800 (Kligenthal).

Updated 2023

Karl Reque

is very active in the local Denver classical musician scene.  Playing in baroque and classical orchestral settings alike, he brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to the Colorado Chamber Players. Karl received his BA in Music Education and Viola Performance from Arizona State University and studied Early Music Performance at Windham College. He maintains a large studio of violin and viola students.  Karl performs with Byrd on a Wire viol consort, Seicento Baroque Ensemble, and previously performed with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. He plays on a Michael Blaurock baroque viola.

Updated 2023

Hannah Robbins

cellist and viola da gambist, lives in Evergreen Colorado.  As a freelance musician, she has performed with many local ensembles throughout the Denver area including the Colorado Sympohny, Colorado Chamber Players, and Colorado Bach Ensemble.  Hannah is a also a cello and strings ensemble instructor at the Evergreen Conservatory of Music.

Hannah received her Masters of Music from Indiana University where she was an Associate Instructor and student of Wendy Gillespie. Taking part in the IU Early Music Institute, Hannah is a full time member of the Concentus ensemble, under the direction of Nigel North, as well as performs in various ensembles throughout the Bloomington area.

In the spring of 2011, Hannah graduated from the University of Michigan where she received a Bachelor of Music in cello performance. There she was a student of Richard Aaron and member of the University Symphony Orchestra and the University Baroque Orchestra. She also studied viola da gamba with Enid Sutherland and discovered her passion for early music.

Hannah has been active throughout the country participating in numerous summer festivals and orchestras. During the summer of 2010, she attended the Oberlin Early music where she studied with Catharina Meints. In 2009, Hannah won a position to play in the National Repertory Orchestra performing nearly 30 concerts throughout Colorado in just a short eight weeks. She spent the previous three summers in Washington, D.C. as part of the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute where she was the recipient of the Levine award and placed 1st in the 2008 concerto competition, receiving the honor to perform on the concert hall stage at the Kennedy Center.

Updated 2023

Louis Saxton

hails from Bemidji, MN, and is currently completing his senior year as a cello performance major (studying with David Requiro) at CU College of Music.  Recipient of a merit-based scholarship, Louis has been loaned a cello of Italian origin from the 1880s, donated to CU by Dean and Ellen Boal (both graduates of the College of Music themselves). In April 2023, he began exploring the world of baroque cello with Ann Marie Morgan, adding a historical dimension to his musical journey. He is studying on a baroque cello piccolo, on loan to him from the Morgan Studio, as well as with a baroque bow owned by CU.

In 2019 Louis won first prize at the Anchorage Festival Competition and in 2023 received an honorable mention at CU Boulder Honors Competition. This past summer he was selected by audition to participate in the Madeline Island String Quartet Intensive.

Passionate about chamber music, Louis cherishes collaborative performances with friends and mentors alike. He has been fortunate to study under the guidance of respected performer/teachers including Betsy Husby, David Requiro, and Ann Marie Morgan.

Louis envisions pursuing a graduate degree in both solo performance and string quartet performance. He also plans to continue his baroque cello studies. His commitment to musical excellence and his love for collaborative music promise an exciting future for this young artist.

Updated 2023

Zoe Weiss

is an Assistant Professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. Both a musicologist and performer, she believes passionately in music’s ability to forge human connections which she explores in both her scholarly and performance work. She completed her Ph.D. at Cornell University where she wrote a dissertation on musical and material networks in the Elizabethan In Nomine tradition. Her scholarly interests range from the history of music theory and 16th-century polyphony, to performance practice and music cognition, and she has published work on Haydn string quartets and the consort music of John Jenkins.

An active performer on the viola da gamba and Baroque cello, Zoe is a founding member of LeStrange Viols, Science Ficta, and the Folk Baroque Trio. She has also performed with the Oberlin Consort of Viols, the Smithsonian Consort of Viols, the Folger Consort, and ACRONYM. Zoe has taught viol at workshops for the Amherst Early Music Festival and the Viola da Gamba Society of America and served on the Board of Directors for the VdGSA as well as serving as an editor for the Journal of the VdGSA. Her recordings with LeStrange Viols and ACRONYM can be heard on the New Focus label, including the album Æternum which emerged from her research into the Elizabethan table-book GB-Lbl Add. MS 31390. Science Ficta’s recording of new works by composer Molly Herron, Through Lines, was released by New Amsterdam Records in 2021. Zoe has previously taught at Harvard University, Ithaca College, the Cornell Prison Education Program, and Cornell University, where she received a Don M. Randel teaching fellowship.

Updated 2023