Ian Aipperspach is in the first year of doctoral studies at Texas Tech University where he is pursuing the Ph.D. in Fine Arts (Music) with an emphasis in Choral Conducting with Dr. John H. Dickson. Presently, he serves as the Assistant Director of the University Choir and on the T.A. Choral Staff.

Music has always been an integral part of his life. At the age of three, Ian declared he wanted to be an organist and thus began his life in music. He began piano lessons at age eight and finally organ lessons at age eleven. Besides pursuing keyboard interests, the choral music bug hit him. He has sung in choirs in churches, schools, and civic organizations.

His education includes: A.A. degrees from Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas in Music Education-Instrumental (Piano) and History; the B.S. in Music Ministries and B.A. in Music (Organ) from John Brown University, Siloam Springs, Arkansas; and the M.M. degree in Conducting and Organ Performance from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

In addition, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the John Brown University Cathedral Choir, the accompanist for the Cathedral Choir, the Del Mar College, Concert Choir, and presently the Madrigals at Texas Tech University.

An experienced church musician, Ian has the desire to help elevate church music and worship besides teaching the next generation about music. He has served churches by playing and leading worship services, funerals, and weddings in Texas, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Currently, Ian serves as the Organist / Choirmaster at Lubbockview Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lubbock, Texas.

He has studied conducting with J. Eugene McKinley, Paul B. Smith, C. David Keith, A. Joe King, Michael Cox, and John Dickson; piano with Joan Allison; and organ with Loyd Lott, Lance A. Massey, Jan H. Wubbena, and Albert L. Travis.

Finally, Ian loves sports (baseball especially), to travel and delve into historical places. His experiences have taken him to Australia, the South Pacific, Ireland, and all over the United States and Canada.

Jourdan Laine Burger is currently in the first year of her Masters degree in Vocal Performance at Texas Tech University. Ms. Burger is studying under Professor Karl Dent and is currently teaching private voice as a TA for the Vocal Department. In addition to Lubbock Chorale, Ms. Burger is also a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church choir.

Prior to her arrival at Texas Tech, Ms. Burger was active in the music community in San Antonio, Texas, teaching private voice and serving as a board member at the Musical Arts Center of San Antonio. Ms. Burger earned her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Texas at San Antonio. During her time at UTSA, she performed Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Florinda in the world premiere of Seymour Barab's Gods of Mischief, Serpina in La Serva Padrona, Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and the title role in Little Red Riding Hood with UTSA's Opera-To-Go. Ms. Burger was also a soloist in Handel's Messiah and recently returned to her alma mater as a guest performer in UTSA's Mozart Gala. Her honors at UTSA include 1st place at the student auditions for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Concerto and Aria winner, 3rd place at the Etude Music Club competition, soloist at the Annual President's Dinner, Kathleen Weir Vocal Excellence Award as well as graduating Cum Laude in December 2005.

Outside of her work at UTSA, Ms. Burger performed with the Lyric Opera of San Antonio in Madame Butterfly and Cosi fan Tutte and also appeared in Suor Angelica and The Devil and Daniel Webster with the Abilene Collegiate Opera. Other roles include Mallory in City of Angels, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Maria in West Side Story .

In addition to her studies at UTSA, Ms. Burger studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and was a soloist with the AIMS Orchestra under Edoardo Müller. She has also had the privilege of participating in master classes with author and pedagog Richard Miller, renowned soprano Mary Jane Johnson, noted author and voice teacher Shirlee Emmons, as well as Janet Bookspan, performance coach for the Young Artists Program of Florida Grand Opera and Alma Thomas, a leading Performance Enhancement Psychologist.

Ms. Burger is extremely excited to begin her work with Dr. Dickson and is looking forward a fantastic season with Lubbock Chorale.

Susan Carter, soprano, has performed as soloist with the Dallas Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, Liederkranz Society of New York, Berkshire Opera, Opera at Wildwood, Rochester Opera, Syracuse Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dallas Symphony and Denver Symphony performing leading roles including "Lucia", "Queen of the Night", "Constanza", "Donna Anna", "Vitellia", "Leonora" (Il trovatore), "Goldentrill", and "Lauretta". Ms. Carter's oratorio includes her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass, the southwest premier of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem, and numerous performances of Orff's Carmina Burana and Handel's Messiah. Ms. Carter is currently on the faculty at Lubbock Christian University and pursuing her DMA in Voice Pedagogy and Research at Texas Tech University where she is a recipient of the AT&T Chancellor Fellowship Award. She is studying in the studio of Texas Tech Voice faculty member Ms. Sue Arnold.

When I was ten years old, God called me to Himself through a friend from the school I attended. Since then I have experienced a variety of church music including a capella music, Western style choral music, traditional Korean folk music, contemporary Christian music, praise and worship song, orchestral music, Handbell music, etc. I believe that God has given me an astonishing Christian life as a privilege under the direction of godly leaders who saw my musical potential. I was involved in various choral groups throughout my high school, college, and seminary years. This involvement has given me several tools as I attempted to develop a good choral tone, especially in the volunteer situation or pay position. Since high school, I have had several opportunities to lead small and large ensembles, both choral and instrumental. I studied church music at the Korea Baptist Theological University in Tae-Jeon, Korea to develop my musical talents and to prepare for music ministry. After graduation from KBTU, I served as a music minister in local churches, a music teacher in middle school, and a conductor.

While I was serving at Central Baptist Church of Suwon, Korea (with approximately 15,000 church members), I was given a special opportunity to study at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Last May, I completed the Master of Church Music degree at SBTS. I served Oratorio Chorus as an assistant conductor in SBTS and The First Korean Baptist Church as the music minister in Louisville until leaving to the Lubbock.

Presently, I began to study in the DMA (Choral Conducting) in Texas Tech University. My purpose is to become a more accomplished choral conductor and music mister. God has called me to be a church musician and choral director. I desire to lead various choirs and ensembles to develop a high-quality choral tone.

After I moved into Lubbock, I have joined several school and community ensembles including the Lubbock Chorale. I will serve the ensembles as a singer, a graduate TA or an assistant conductor.

Rebecca Coberly is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance at Texas Tech University. Her performances at Tech have included TTU Music Theater appearances as Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe and Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, as well as solo performances with the Lubbock Chorale in The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and Handel's Messiah. She has also performed as a soloist with the First Christian Church of Lubbock in their performance of Rutter's Requiem, as Mother Abbess in the Lubbock Moonlight Musicals production of The Sound of Music, and will appear as Susanna in TTU Music Theater's upcoming production of Le Nozze di Figaro.

Before her arrival at Texas Tech, Rebecca studied and worked in Houston, where she performed roles in Suor Angelica, Hansel and Gretel, A Little Night Music, and Into the Woods, appeared as a soloist in Mozart's Requiem, J. S. Bach's Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen, and Saint'Saëns' Oratorio de Noël, and sang with the Houston Grand Opera Chorus for six seasons. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Northwestern University, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Rice University, and is currently a student of Kathy McNeil.

Heinz Fast is a doctoral student in conducting. As part of his duties as a graduate assistant, he sings with The Lubbock Chorale and upon occasion conducts full choral and section rehearsals. He also assists the director and assistant director in attending to details involving the group's rehearsals and concerts.

Heinz was born in Paraguay, South America as the second youngest of seven children. The family lived on a crop and dairy farm where, because there was no electricity, thus no radio or TV, they spent many evenings involved in musical activities. Mom played the guitar and Dad played the violin. Grandfather was a school teacher and choral conductor.

After an education in the small grade school in the village, Heinz later was able to go to a larger private high school. This led to his entering a Mennonite Seminary studying in the school of music. The next logical step for him was entering what is now Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Canada where he earned his Bachelors in Church Music in 1989. He then went home to Paraguay and was Music Minister and Music Promoter in the Mennonite Community in Asuncion. Here he met and married his wife, Marie Luise, who is a fine musician in her own right. (They have two beautiful children, Jennifer and Joel.) Soon, they had the opportunity to go to Louisville, Kentucky where Heinz earned his Masters of Music degree in 1996 at Southern Seminary's School of Church Music.

Heinz feels that choral music is very accessible for developing countries. The human voice is free and parents do not have to invest in musical instruments. The music educational system helps to develop discipline, creativity and social skills. For this reason, the Fast family plans to return to Paraguay, where the Music School of the Evangelical University expects him back as a professor and conductor.

Heinz has already taught and conducted at the college level, including the Asuncion Symphony Orchestra. Many of the major works, such as Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, and Mozart's Requiem, were brought to life under his baton. When he returns to Paraguay, he hopes to begin a community singing group, such as The Lubbock Chorale.

Jonathan Fruge is a senior vocal performance major and is currently entering his fourth year with the Lubbock Chorale as a member and third year as a scholarship recipient. Jonathan is in his fifth year of studies at Texas Tech, and is also enjoying his fifth season with the University Choir and his fourth season with the Texas Tech Madrigal Singers. Jonathan is also the newly elected Vice President-Treasurer of the Lubbock Chorale. A native of Lubbock, Jonathan graduated from Lubbock-Coronado High School in 2003, receiving honors in both academia and choral studies, under director Brett Farr.

Jonathan made his stage debut in December, 2002, as Jean Valjean in the Coronado High School production of Les Miserables. Since then, Jonathan has appeared in West Side Story, Sid: The Serpent Who Wanted to Sing, and The Ballad of Baby Doe. Jonathan has appeared as a soloist in the Texas Tech University Choir and the Texas Tech Madrigal Dinner. Jonathan appeared as Ralph in the Lubbock Chorale's H.M.S. Pinafore in 2005, and appeared as a soloist in Messiah in 2006. Jonathan has performed solos for such choral dignitaries as Eric Whitacre, and appeared at the 2007 American Choral Masterpieces Festival in Austin. Most recently, however, Jonathan performed his first, lead, main-stage role at Texas Tech, as the Teen Angel in the School of Music's Grease. This year, Jonathan will appear in the School of Music's Rita as well as the revival of Texas Tech Music Theatre's Broadway Babies as a special guest.

Jonathan currently serves as the Lubbock-Cooper Choral Department aide under director Mary Lynn Hokett and is also serving as a scholarship singer at Westminster Presbyterian, under director Boyce Wyrick. After graduating, Jonathan will continue his education at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, pursuing a Masters Degree in performance. Jonathan is under the vocal advisement of Karl Dent.

Micah Meixner is a doctoral candidate in vocal performance at Texas Tech University. Micah is currently a student of Dr. Kathryn Barnes-Burroughs and has performed locally as a soloist with the Lubbock Chorale, the First Christian Church Sanctuary Choir of Lubbock, and the First United Methodist Chancel Choir of Lubbock. She most recently appeared with the Lubbock Chorale as a soloist in the performances of Lenten Reflections and Handel's Messiah .

At Texas Tech she is active in the Opera/Music Theatre Department and has most recently been seen in the role of Augusta in Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe. Additional roles include Romeo in Bellini's I Capuletti e i Montecchi, Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, and the Principessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica .

In addition to her studies, Micah teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Wayland Baptist University and serves as a TEACH Program Peer Consultant at Texas Tech's Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center. Micah received a M.M. from Texas Tech University in vocal performance and a B.A. from Austin College in music.

Ms. Nichols is a 2007 graduate of Amarillo College. She holds an Associate's Degree of Science in Music and is currently a junior at Texas Tech University pursuing a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Education. She served as a scholarship student at Polk Street United Methodist Church in Amarillo, TX for four years and is now a scholarship student at St. Paul's on the Plains Episcopal Church. She has been an active member of the Amarillo Opera and has been a chorus member in five Amarillo Opera productions. She also performed on the first annual Opera-tunity concert and was featured this summer at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens "Music in the Gardens" recital series.

She has spent the past three summers as a youth mentor for the Amarillo Opera ARTS: An Alternative program. She was very active on the Amarillo College campus, serving as a college ambassador, founding member and President of the Music Makers club, and a member of the Amarillo Civic Chorus. She was also a member of the Amarillo College Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz Ensemble for the past three years. She received solo awards the past two years at the Greeley Jazz Festival at the University of Northern Colorado. She hopes to earn a Master's degree in Vocal Performance and pursue a career in opera or perhaps musical theatre.

Kevin O'Carroll was born, raised and still lives in Waterford, Ireland. He has been involved in the musical life of Waterford for over thirty years both as a conductor and French Horn player. As a student he was awarded a scholarship to the Schola Cantorum in Mullingar by the Catholic hierarchy to train as a church musician, a training that benefited him well in his fifteen years as Organist and Choirmaster at Waterford's Catholic Cathedral. He also received a scholarship to study French Horn with Victor Malirsh at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

Kevin has worked with many regional based choirs, musical societies and orchestras. He has organised choral workshops with such international names as John Rutter and Nigel Perrin as well as working occasionally as a choral adjudicator. His choirs have broadcast widely on national as well as local radio and were featured in the choral documentary series Heavenly Choirs on RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster. For many years he was a director of the Irish Association of Choirs. He was also founder and conductor of the Waterford Summer Orchestra project. This project brought together professionals, amateurs and students to play orchestral music for fun at a time of the year when all other forms of musical activity had ceased. This project was the topic of a television documentary by RTE.

As a horn player, Kevin has worked at the highest level in Ireland, working many times with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. More recently his horn playing activities have been restricted, through lack of time, to working with a theatre orchestra although he is still occasionally requested to work with touring operas.

He is currently Musical Director of the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera. This competition invites musical societies from Europe and the USA to perform their show in Waterford in September each year. The festival has been running for the last 49 years. Since becoming involved with the festival as a player 26 years ago, this year's festival is the first he will have missed due to his studies in Lubbock.

His favourite musical outlet is working with the choir 'Madrigallery'. He has worked with this choir for many years and has entered many festivals and competitions with much success along the way. Although the name implies a special focus on Madrigals, the choir performs a broad range of music from the 16th Century to modern. Several pieces have been specifically written for the choir and a few years ago they gave the World Premier of Colin Mawby's Shapes and Signs - a setting of a poem by James Clarence Mangan. They also gave the world premier of the complete song cycle Where Birds and Angels Dwell by Marion Ingoldsby. On a larger canvas, he has enjoyed working with the group on such masterpieces as Duruflé Requiem and Fauré Requiem as well as earlier works such as Vivaldi's Gloria and Messe de Minuit by Charpentier.

He has just commenced studies with Dr. John Dickson at Texas Tech University with a view to attaining a Masters Degree in Choral Conducting.

Kevin holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Music as well as a Dip ABRSM in Choral Direction. He also holds a Degree in Business Management as well as a number of Diplomas related to his day job as a Bank Manager.

Jason Daniel Pearce is currently in the first year of his Masters degree in vocal performance program at Texas Tech University, studying under studies under Professor Karl Dent. Also in Lubbock, Jason sings as a scholarship member of St. John's United Methodist Church.

Before moving to Lubbock, Jason earned his Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. While working on his bachelors degree, Jason performed the role of Joe in the premiere of Larkspur, the Tree of Life in the premier of the children's opera Sibanda, and also appeared in The Mikkado with Hardin-Simmons University. He performed the title role of Alfred in Die Fledermaus with the Abilene Tri-Collegiate Opera. Jason sang the role of Joe in La Fanciulla del West and Jukes in Peter Pan with the Abilene Opera Association, and with the Paramount theatre, Jason sang the title role of Frankie Epps and the young soldier in Jason Robert Brown's Parade. Jason also sang as the tenor soloist in Dubois' The Seven Last Words of Christ .

Jason is very excited for the opportunity to sing with the Lubbock Chorale and further his musical education and training at Texas Tech University.

Alexa Vogelzang leads an active musical life in Lubbock. During the past year, she has appeared with the Lubbock Chorale as soloist in Messiah (Handel) and Requiem (Faure). In November she will appear as the Countess in the Texas Tech Graduate Opera Project's production of Marriage of Figaro (Mozart). In addition to concert and opera performances, Alexa can be heard on air regularly on KOHM-FM (89.1), where she hosts The Composer's Quorum and Dinner Classics (Monday through Friday).

Alexa brings a substantial and varied musical experience to her pursuit of the D.M.A. (Choral Conducting) degree at Texas Tech, where she studies with Dr. John Dickson. Before coming to Lubbock in 2006, she worked in the Boston (Massachusetts) area for a number of years. The body of her work ranges over a broad spectrum of music education, church music, performance, and musical theater production.

Alexa taught Music Theory as a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School and taught classroom and choral music in public schools at every grade level, from elementary through high school. For six years, she served as Director of Music for the Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church in Winchester, Massachusetts. Alexa has worked as conductor, music director, and choral director at numerous community and children's theater venues in the Boston area and in New Hampshire, as well as at Boston College.

Alexa sang for twelve seasons as a chorister with the Boston Lyric Opera Company. She has appeared as soloist with the Lexington Masterworks Chorale, the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra, the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra and Choral Society, and Boston's Longwood Opera Company. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Calvin College Oratorio Society (Grand Rapids, Michigan).