Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

Matthew Charles Dean, tenor, is an early and world music specialist, ranging from Bach to the Transbaikal. As artist in residence at Rockefeller Chapel since 2005, he has been noted for his “reverent and beautiful” tone in the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, Christmas Oratorio (as Evangelist), and Messiah, and has sung in contemporary masterpieces from Ariel Ramirez through Sven-David Sandström. As a founding member of Golosa Russian Choir, Dean has sung in Siberia; and at Ravinia, Old Town School, and Symphony Center.

In his 2012-13 season, Dean will perform with Bella Voce, Cantate, Baroque Band, King Solomon’s Singers, Ensemble Hypapante, and the Schola Antiqua of Chicago. He has an academic grounding in medieval Spanish art and liturgy, and conducts early polyphony in liturgical context with the Ensemble Hypapante, he is delighted to narrate the Newberry Consort’s Cantigas program at the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival. His voice appears on recordings by GIA and World Library Publications, Discantus, and a 2012 release of the rediscovered songs of William Carey Wright. An ensemble and nonprofit development leader, Dean heads the Sounds of Faith initiative for Harran Productions Foundation, and is the founder of The Rookery men’s choir.

Lon Ellenberger, alto, has been an artist in residence at Rockefeller Chapel since 2005. He trained with the Kantorei Boys Choir of Rockford, earned a B.A. in German from Beloit College, an M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University, and his D.M. from Northwestern University. Ellenberger teaches singing technique and styling at the Center for Voice in the Fine Arts Building and at Columbia College Chicago.

Credits include extensive concert and oratorio work at Rockefeller Chapel, Wisconsin Public Radio, Bella Voce, Schola Antiqua, Chicago Choral Artists, WFMT, the Ecclesia Choir, and liturgical service for many religious institutions in Chicago. He sang solo premières of art song and concerted music for contemporary composers Michael Gustav Miller, John Giles, Mike Forbes and Leo Schwartz. Ellenberger also performed an “uncanny impersonation” (Chicago Sun Times) of Marlene Dietrich for Sweetback Productions’ Queen of the Roundup. Opera credits include the role of the “Spirit” in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Chicago Opera Theater, netting strong reviews from the Chicago Tribune (von Rhein), Opera News (Ketterson), and the Chicago Free Press (Bommer).

Kaitlin Foley, performing soprano and music educator, is an artist in residence in her first season with Rockefeller Chapel Choir. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in voice performance at DePaul University, where she studies with Elizabeth Byrne. She completed her undergraduate work in music education at the University of Missouri under the tutelage of Ann Harrell and the baton of Paul Crabb. Foley is a supremely versatile performer with a passionate ear for early music. She has also displayed her talents in the genres of oratorio, opera, choral music, and musical theatre. Among her favorite performances have been the Arioso in Bach’s Cantata BWV 106 with the Bach Collegium Choir, Logainne Schwarzandgrubenierre in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the University of Missouri Summer Repertory Theatre, and Papagena in MU Show-Me Opera’s The Magic Flute. She has also been heard as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Eurydice in Orphée aux Enfers, Susannah in Le nozze di Figaro, Amore in L’Incoronazione Di Poppea, and Harry in Albert Herring in MU’s annual Show-Me Opera Scenes. Foley discovered her love of sacred music during her four years as soloist, chorister, and children’s choir director at Sacred Heart Church under the direction of Emily Edgington. She also taught elementary music in Ashland, MO before moving to Chicago, and has taught piano and voice since 2008.

Andrew Schultze, bass-baritone, is well known as an interpreter of the standard opera/oratorio repertoire and as a specialist in the performance of early music. His cast of characters includes villains, heroes and buffoons in operas by Pergolesi, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Gounod, Humperdinck and Puccini and concert works spanning from the medieval Carmina Burana to Orff ’s 20th century masterwork. As an early music specialist, he has been a longtime member of Vienna’s Clemencic Consort and Innsbruck’s Affetti Musicali.

He has sung throughout the U.S. and Europe and has numerous recordings to his credit, including the trailblazing Joshua Rifkin recording of the Bach B Minor Mass, the Medieval Play of Daniel and Sartorio’s baroque opera L’Orfeo. Schultze is the founder and artistic director of Chicago Syntagma Musicum. He serves on the voice faculty of Columbia College and as vocal instructor at the International Seminar for Early Music at Zell an der Pram in Austria. Recent engagements include performances of Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion, Cantatas 39, 120, 80, and Magnificat, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Brahms’ Requiem, Bloch’s Sacred Service, concerts of Russian songs by Mussorgsky and Stravinsky, sacred music by the Bach family, Jewish music from Baroque Italy, and Schubert opera arias.