Tenors

ANDREW DE VALK is in his ninth season with the Chorale. In 2001, he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Choral Music Education from Northern Arizona University. He is currently in his eleventh year teaching choral music in the Tempe Union High School District, and is in his seventh year at Desert Vista High School.

He is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Choral Music Education at ASU. Andrew resides in Ahwatukee with his wife Jenna and their son, Ryne.

KEVIN KRIEGEL is in his fifth season with the Chorale.  Kevin is currently the Director of Choirs at Glendale Community College. He graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in K-12 Vocal Music Education and received his Master of Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Choral Conducting under the supervision of William Hatcher from the University of Iowa.  Kevin has held positions at Paradise Valley Community College, Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois, and Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.  While at each position, Kevin conducted the choirs, and taught studio voice, choral conducting, music theory, and opera workshops.

TIMOTHY LEFFLER is a ten-year veteran of the Phoenix Chorale, and is pleased to be rejoining the Chorale for the Christmas concerts. Timothy studied choral conducting with Dr. Aimee Beckmann-Collier and voice with Dr. Jonathan Retzlaff at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and at ASU he studied voice with tenor Warren Hoffer. Timothy is in his eleventh year as a Staff Singer at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, where he is also the Precentor for Compline and conductor of the Compline Choir. He spent four years with the American Bach Series and will be singing in the choir for the third annual Arizona Bach Festival’s performance of the St. John Passion in January 2012, which marks his third year singing in the festival choir.

KENNY MILLER is in his second season with the Chorale.  He is an active oratorio soloist, as well as recitalist specializing in British and American art song.  He is interested in promoting new works and has premiered compositions of Jody Rockmaker, Gunther Schuller, Kendra D’Ercole and Evan C. Paul. He is co-founder of ArtSong Rising, which aims to continue the tradition of art song throughout the area.  He holds a Master of Music Performance/Pedagogy and a Doctor of Musical Arts ASU. Additionally, Kenny is the coordinator of vocal studies and the director of choirs at Phoenix College.  In 2010, he was awarded a Dale Warland conducting fellowship and has studied performance practice with Siegbert Rampe, Stanly Ritchie and Ian Partridge of London’s Royal Academy of Music.

JOEL M. RINSEMA is in his nineteenth season with the Chorale. Joel has served the Phoenix Chorale in a number of capacities, including his current position as Executive Director for the past twelve years. He earned music degrees from ASU and Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Joel is also Director of Music at Church of the Beatitudes United Church of Christ and is founding chorus master of the Arizona MusicFest Chorus. In addition to his passion for choral music, he is an Arizona Cardinals season ticket holder, loves to golf, camp, and is eagerly anticipating the annual small mouth bass fishing trip to the Black River in May with several other Phoenix Chorale members. He and his wife Dana, a soprano in the Chorale, live in Central Phoenix with their daughter Rachel and son Derek.

ALAN STEVENS is currently studying at the University of Arizona for his DMA in choral conducting. He has appeared as a tenor soloist with many different ensembles on campus and performed in the opera theatre program. Alan also sings with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Tucson Chamber Artists, and he is the Director of Music at The Holy Way Presbyterian Church in Tucson. Alan holds undergraduate degrees in music education and vocal performance from Millikin University. He taught middle and high school choral music for six years while working on his M.M. degree at Northern Illinois University. He then moved to New York City and worked for several years as a freelance performer. While there, he studied voice with the late Shirlee Emmons and sang with a variety of ensembles, including The Young New Yorkers’ Chorus and The Empire City Men’s Chorus.

THOMAS W. STRAWSER is a native of Selinsgrove, PA and a graduate of West Chester University of PA with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Tommy has been a resident artist for Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, College Light Opera Company in Massachusetts, and Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA.  He spent the past three years performing in musicals, operas, and choirs in Philadelphia, most recently with The Philadelphia Singers, the resident chorus of The Philadelphia Orchestra.  In addition, he served as Artistic Associate for Renegade Theatre, a non-profit company with a mission to reinvent classic theatre. Currently, Tommy is working on his Master’s of Music degree at ASU.