Soprano

Master Sergeant Martha Canipe

MSG Canipe served as choral director and assistant band director at Bassett High School in Virginia, and attended the Brevard Music Center Opera Workshop. MSG Canipe received a M.M. and B.M. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Master Sergeant Janet Hjelmgren

MSG Hjelmgren is a soloist and vocal clinician with the Soldiers' Chorus. She is also a member of the Vocal Arts Ensemble. MSG Hjelmgren earned a M.Ed. at Bowie State University and a B.A. at The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Sergeant First Class Laura Lesche

SFC Lesche is a soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus. She has earned a B.M. at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. SFC Dause has performed at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater.

Sergeant First Class Rose Ryon

SFC Ryon earned a B.A. at West Virginia University. She served as a broadcast journalist with the 10th Mountain Division and as featured soloist with the 10th Mountain Division Band. SSG Ryon's teachers include Augusto Paglialunga, James Benner, Robert Thieme, and Louise Urban.

Staff Sergeant Charis Strange

SSG Strange earned bachelor's and master's degrees in Voice Performance from the University of Kentucky. She is a winner of the Palmetto Opera Competition in 2005 and the Metropolitan Opera District Encouragement Award in 2003.

Staff Sergeant Meghan Whittier

SSG Whittier earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from George Mason University. SSG Whittier has been a soloist with the Washington Women's Chorus and the Georgetown Chorale, and a member of the Shrine Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine. Prior to joining the Field Band, she taught in private high schools for several years.

Alto

Sergeant Major Joan Mercer**

SGM Mercer is a soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus, and is a member of the Vocal Arts Ensemble. She has served as percussion instructor and vocalist at the U.S. Army Element School of Music, and percussion section leader and vocalist of the 214th Army and 2nd Infantry Division Bands. She has sung with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers. MSG Mercer earned a B.M.E. in Voice and Percussion at South Dakota State University and attended Belmont University.

Sergeant First Class Judith Norton

SFC Norton is a soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus and a member and the producer of Bel Canto. SFC Norton earned a M.M. at Indiana University and a B.M. at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Sergeant First Class Erica Russo

SFC Russo earned a M.A. in Musicology at The Ohio State University and a B.A. in Music and Russian at Florida State University. She taught vocal music at the Columbus School for Girls, and performed with the Columbus Symphony Chorus and Chamber Chorus for three years. SFC Russo is a member of the Vocal Arts Ensemble.

Staff Sergeant Elizabeth Garcia

SSG Garcia earned a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. SSG Garcia has performed various opera and musical theater roles, including "Cherubino" in The Marriage of Figaro and "The Mother Abbess" in The Sound of Music. She also created and performed in an original cabaret production in New York.

Staff Sergeant Teresa Harris

SSG Harris has served as a featured vocalist with the United States Air Force Band of Liberty. She performed leading roles in The Old Maid and the Thief, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and The Crucible. SSG Harris earned a B.M. at Westminster Choir College and pursued graduate studies at Temple University.

Staff Sergeant Jessica Medina

SSG Medina earned a bachelor’s degree at Shepherd University and a master’s degree from the Peabody Conservatory. She has studied voice with Steven Rainbolt and Barbara B. Stenger. SSG Medina has performed with several opera companies, including Opera North, Baltimore Opera, Opera Vivente, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

Staff Sergeant Pamela Terry

SSG Terry earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Communications from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Master of Music from The Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Carol Webber. She has performed lead roles in various opera productions, including Amahl and the Night Visitors, L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Cendrillon. Prior to joining the Soldiers’ Chorus in 2007, SSG Terry taught at the Nazareth College of Rochester’s Community Music School.

Tenor

Sergeant Major Douglas Cox**

SGM Cox is assistant director of the Soldiers' Chorus and director of the Vocal Arts Ensemble. He has served as a vocal music educator in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. SGM Cox earned a M.M.E. and B.M.E. at Wichita State University, and is pursuing a M.A. in Arts Administration at Goucher College.

Sergeant Major Joel Dulyea (NCOIC)

SGM Dulyea is tour coordinator for the Concert Band and Soldiers' Chorus and tenor section leader. SGM Dulyea earned a M.M. and B.M. at the University of Michigan, and a M.A. at Bowie State University.

Master Sergeant William Gabbard

MSG William Gabbard is vocalist with the Soldiers' Chorus, and also serves as Concert Band Narrator and Drum Major. He received his Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he studied voice with Dr. John Van Cura. He was also a soloist with the UI Kantorei, led by Dr. Don Moses, and sang lead roles with the UI Opera Theater, led by James Dixon and Beaumont Glass. MSG Gabbard graduated cum laude from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where he was a double major in Vocal Performance and American History. Prior to joining the Soldiers’ chorus, MSG Gabbard served on the voice faculty of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he taught applied voice and diction, and performed as an oratorio soloist throughout the Midwestern and Southern United States.

Sergeant First Class Mario Garcia

SFC Garcia has performed with the Ohio Light Opera and as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra. He taught voice at the University of Kentucky. SFC Garcia is pursuing a D.M.A. at the University of Kentucky, and has earned a M.M. and B.M. at the University of Colorado.

Sergeant First Class Robert McIver Jr.

SFC McIver has served as apprentice artist at Des Moines Metro Opera. He is a soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus and a member of Bel Canto. SFC McIver earned a B.M. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Bass

Master Sergeant Class Allen Bishop

MSG Bishop is a soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus and member of Bel Canto. He received a B.M. from Ithaca College and attended the Chautauqua Institute.

Master Sergeant Victor Cenales

MSG Cenales is soloist with the Soldiers' Chorus and member of VocalEase. He has participated in the U.S. Army Soldier Show. Sergeant Cenales has attended Loyola University, Southeastern University, and the University of Maryland.

Master Sergeant Robert Jefferson

MSG Jefferson served as pianist for the Pacific Air Forces Band in Tokyo, Japan, vocalist with Houston Grand Opera, and has authored piano method books titled How to Play Black Gospel. He earned a M.M at the University of Houston and a B.S. at Grand Canyon University. MSG Jefferson is the director of VocalEase.

Sergeant First Samuel Chung

SFC Chung earned a B.M. at the University of Southern California and Shenandoah University. SFC Chung has performed with The Washington Opera, Front Royal Choral Society, and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society.

Staff Sergeant Brendan Curran

SSG Curran earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Northern Colorado and a master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory. His teachers include Thomas Poole and Stanley Cornett. SSG Curran has performed as a member of the Men's Choir at the Washington National Cathedral and as a soloist with Concert Artists of Baltimore, Annapolis Opera, Maryland Concert Opera, San Diego Opera, and Portland Opera.

Staff Sergeant Mark Huseth

SSG Huseth earned an M.M. from the Kansas City Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a B.A. from Benedictine College. He has performed as an Artist-in-Residence at the Utah Opera and an Opera Apprentice with Kansas City Lyric Opera and Opera Omaha. Currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Kentucky, SSG Huseth is a native of Topeka, Kansas.

Piano

Master Sergeant Sammy Marshall

MSG Marshall earned a masters degree in Vocal Accompanying at the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M.E. at James Madison University. He has served as Staff Accompanist at the Music Academy of the West, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Manhattan School of Music.

Audio Engineer

Sergeant First Class John Lamirande

SFC John Lamirande served in the 10th Mountain Division Band, 18th Army Band, 77th Army Band, and 1st Armored Division Band. SFC Lamirande attended the Armed Forces School of Music and Cameron University.

NCOIC = non-commissioned officer in charge
** = section leader