Staff Bios
Learn more about the artistic and administrative staff of the Minnesota Chorale.
Administrative Staff
Alyssa K. Breece
Executive Director
Alyssa Breece brings more than 18 years of senior leadership experience in administration, operations, and project management to the Chorale. With a background in market research, Alyssa is uniquely qualified to use her community relations skills, strategic planning and research expertise to navigate the seas of fiscal management and development, while supporting our organization’s vision to provide opportunities for personal and collective growth, and for exploring our shared humanity in partnership with our community. Alyssa proudly sings with the Chorale in the core ensemble as well as with the treble ensemble, Woven Voices, led by the Chorale's Artistic Advisor and Collaborative Pianist, Barb Brooks. As the mom of a middle and high schooler, she is always on the go. When not enjoying the arts, you may find her binging true crime podcasts, gardening, traveling, reading, puzzling or chasing her two dachshunds, Moose & Ollie. For the fellow nerds in the know, Ollie's full name is Oliphaunt, named after Tolkien's war elephants in Lord of the Rings.
Jenny Kisner
Operations Director
Jenny's passion for singing and involvement with choral communities blossomed in early elementary school and has continued to grow ever since. Jenny credits some of her fondest memories to her time with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs, Iowa State Cantamus Women's Choir, and the VocalEssence Chorus. After receiving a Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University, Jenny worked for many years in residential design before pivoting to management in non-profit animal welfare work. Her combined employment and musical experiences culminated in her joining the Chorale as Operations Director in July 2023. In her free time you will find Jenny snuggling her dogs, drinking coffee, doing a crossword, planning her next travel adventure, and of course singing along to the radio.
Barbara Lundervold
Special Projects Coordinator
Barb served as the chorus personnel manager from 1987-2019. She began singing with the Chorale in 1978. Barb has moved into her new role as Special Events Coordinator. She is working with our singers to organize our outreach program with the Holiday Heralds carolers, Naturalization Ceremonies and National Anthem opportunities. Barb also works in the finance and wellness industries. She lives in Woodbury where she raised her three children and lives with her dog. She has sung with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, the Louisville Bach Society, the Woodbury Chorale, the Mississippi Valley Chorale, the Edina Chorale, and groups at Mankato State University. She holds degrees in Physical Education, Health and Music. When she’s not busy singing and selling, she enjoys traveling and cheering on the Vikings and Twins.
Linda Neuman
Librarian and Office Assistant
Linda has many years experience as an office manager and was Operations Manager for Minnesota Chorale from 2010 - 2013. After retiring, she continued to volunteer and is now happy to be back as part time office assistant. Linda has been a member of the Chorale's symphonic chorus since 1999 and has sung in many other choirs in the Twin Cities, including Woven Voices, The Summer Singers, First Unitarian Society Chorus, and Two Rivers Chorale. Linda lives in St. Anthony Village and enjoys reading, sewing, and attending concerts and performances. She looks forward to traveling again, especially to visit her son in Boston and daughter in Madison, WI.
Karen Wasiluk
Volunteer Manager
Karen Wasiluk brings many years of professional experience managing both personnel and projects, in both academic and industry settings, to this new position. She also has decades of volunteer and singing experience in choirs, including the Minnesota Chorale, which has always held a special place in her heart.
Karen is proud to be the first second-generation singer in the Chorale, beginning in 2003. She began her work as a volunteer at a very young age by helping her parents with many different administrative tasks during the first years of the Chorale. They even had a dedicated Chorale phoneline in their house; like the Batphone! She would monitor all the singer auditions, take telephone messages relating to attendance, and went through many Art Gum erasers and liquid paper to remove all singers’ markings before the scores could be returned to the MN Orchestra library.
With her parents involvement with choirs across the Twin Cities and her father's time as a choir director and accompanist, music has been in Karen's life for as long as she can remember. Formally, Karen began sing in church choirs at North Como and now sings with the Westminster Choir. She has also sung with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, the Westminster Chamber Choir, and the Minnesota Boychoir Adult Choir.
When not singing, Karen enjoys playing her flute, reading books, getting together with her family, volunteering, and knitting.
Artistic Staff
Artistic Director Kathy Saltzman Romey is artistic director of the 200-voice Minnesota Chorale, which serves as the Minnesota Orchestra’s principal choir. Romey is also Professor Emerita of Music and former Director of Choral Activities at the University of Minnesota, where she oversaw the graduate program in choral conducting and conducted choirs for thirty years. Known for her meticulous training of choirs, Romey has conducted the Chorale in local, national and international forums. She has prepared the Chorale for performances with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Music Directors Osmo Vänskä, Eiji Oue and Edo de Waart, Sommerfest Artistic Directors Andrew Litton, Leonard Slatkin and David Zinman, and acclaimed guest conductors as Roberto Abbado, James Conlon, Nicholas Kraemer, Roger Norrington, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Juraj Valčuha and Thomas Wilkins. Romey has conducted the Chorale in national and international forums and in performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and The Metropolitan Symphony. Romey also coordinates and presents the Bridges series, the nationally acclaimed community-engagement program of the Minnesota Chorale. Begun in 1994 to build musical and social connections between diverse populations, Bridges is an annual initiative that harnesses the richness of choral repertoire to partner with the greater community, expand the Western choral canon, and raise awareness of pressing social needs. A passionate advocate of choral civic engagement, Romey documented the Bridges program in a co-authored chapter with two University of Minnesota conducting students for the 2009 book Wisdom, Wit and Will: Women Choral Conductors on Their Art published by GIA Publications. Outside of the Minnesota Chorale, Romey has been on the staff of the Oregon Bach Festival since 1984 and is principal chorus master of the festival’s 54-voice professional choir, which she prepares for annual concerts, commissions and recording projects. Festival programs have included American and world premiere performances of major works by Tan Dun, Arvo Pärt, Krzysztof Penderecki and Sven-David Sandström, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart reconstructions by Robert Levin. She has assisted with twelve recordings, including the Oregon Bach Festival’s 2001 Grammy Award-winning CD of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Credo under Helmuth Rilling, Minnesota Orchestra’s Grammy-nominated disc of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the recent recordings of Mahler Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, and 8 with Osmo Vänskä leading the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorale. Active as a guest conductor, chorus master and clinician throughout the United States and Europe, Romey has regularly prepared ensembles with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart for special programs and tours in Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States. Currently, she oversees the chorus of the Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble (Young Stuttgart Bach Ensemble) in collaboration with artistic director Hans-Christoph Rademann. From 2013 to 2018, she also served on the faculty of the Weimar Bach Cantata Academy, focusing on the study and presentation of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach under the direction of Bach scholar and conductor Helmuth Rilling. In addition to her work with Bach Academies, Romey has prepared programs with the Berkshire Choral International, Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus, Grant Park Music Festival, Netherlands Radio Choir, Teatro del Lago Festival, and Westminster Symphonic Choir. Romey earned an Artistic Degree in Choral Conducting under Helmuth Rilling from the Frankfurt Musikhochschule in 1984. From 1985-1992, she served as Director of Choral Activities at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and in 1992, joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota. She was honored by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association with the 2002 Conductor of the Year award and in 2006, the University recognized her work with the Arthur Motley award for exemplary teaching. Romey co-authored a book chapter in 2012 with university colleague Matthew Mehaffey on choral music in the United States for the Cambridge Companion to Choral Music. She also collaborated with Helmuth Rilling in 2014 on his book MESSIAH: Understanding and Performing Handel’s Masterpiece. Romey was the recipient of Chorus America’s 2021 Distinguished Service award and recognized as one of four Minnesota choral luminaries at the 2021 Minnesota State Conference of the American Choral Directors Association. She retired from her position at the University of Minnesota in spring 2023.
Kathy Saltzman Romey
Barbara Brooks
Chorale Accompanist and Artistic Advisor
Barbara is an active vocal coach and music director in the Twin Cities area. She has worked with various opera companies including Canadian Opera, Minnesota Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Banff, Berkshire Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Kentucky Opera, as well as the University of Minnesota Opera and University of North Texas Opera programs. She has served as a vocal coach for the Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist program and currently is on the music staff of the Wesley Balk Institute. She has also collaborated as music director in the highly imaginative productions of Mozart's operas at Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis. She holds a master's degree in piano performance from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Heather Hood
Assistant Director, Symphonic Chorus
Heather is the Director of Traditional Worship at Christ Presbyterian Church (Edina, MN), where she has led choirs of all ages, has had a primary role in the planning of weekly worship services, and has served on a team of ministry leaders since 1985. Heather also serves as adjunct faculty and a collaborative pianist at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, in Minnesota. As Assistant Conductor with the Chorale, Heather has prepared the singers for performances with Osmo Vänskä and Paul McCreesh, and has assisted Kathy Romey with numerous Chorale projects. Heather has been singing with the Minnesota Chorale since 1986, and has soloed in various performances with the Chorale, as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, the Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Bach Society of Minnesota. She is a featured soloist on the Chorale’s recording of “Adventures of the Black Dot: The Island of Music” by Janika Vandervelde. For over 45 years, Heather has had an active role in the annual Conference for Church Musicians in Green Lake, Wisconsin, serving on the conference board, planning worship, leading workshops, and accompanying many of the choirs. She is currently on the board of directors for Music in World Cultures, an international mission organization that uses music training to strengthen worshipping communities around the world. Heather has music degrees from Judson University (B.A., Elgin, IL)) and Northern Illinois University (M.M., DeKalb, IL), and a doctoral degree in worship studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (D.W.S., Jacksonville, FL). She is a published writer and composer, and has served as a conductor, soloist, accompanist, and workshop leader for national and international conferences and seminars.
Jerry Rubino
Director of Voices of Experience & Special Projects Conductor
Jerry is known throughout the U.S. for his work as a conductor, pianist, choral clinician, and arranger. He worked for twenty-three seasons with the Dale Warland Singers, as associate conductor, director of special projects and music education, pianist, singer and arranger. Rubino's conducting and teaching credits include honors choirs in Australia, Taiwan, Hawaii, and Europe; the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the California State Summer Arts Workshops; and Northwestern, Augsburg and Carleton colleges in Minnesota. His music editing credits include extensive work with Hal Leonard Corp. and Oxford University Press. An active member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and ASCAP, he serves as Minister of Music at Spirit of Hope United Methodist Church in Golden Valley. Rubino holds degrees in piano, music education, and conducting from Temple University and the University of Minnesota.
Shekela Wanyama
Co-Director of Youth Choirs
Shekela (she/her/hers) builds community through crafting innovative and meaningful choral experiences. A freelance conductor-educator based in Minneapolis, Wanyama serves on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, and the music staff at Unity Church-Unitarian. Recent conducting engagements have included programs with the Minnesota Chorale, Singers in Accord, and Vocalpoint. A passionate educator, Wanyama taught middle and high school choir for over ten years in public, charter, and independent schools. She serves on the faculty for the Seattle Kodaly Levels Program and has a certification in Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy. Wanyama presents at choral and education conferences on repertoire for developing voices, building community in choir, contemporary repertoire by composers of the Global Majority, and holistic chorus preparation. She holds a DMA in conducting from the University of Minnesota, an MM in choral conducting from Temple University, a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Minnesota, and is a proud graduate of the Minneapolis Public Schools. She lives and gardens on Dakota land.
Eugene Sandel
Co-Director of Youth Choirs
Eugene (he/they) is a Minneapolis based music educator, performer, and composer. Born and raised in New Jersey, Eugene studied Vocal Music Education at St. Olaf College and graduated Cum Laude. Upon graduating, he moved to Minneapolis and has since taught 6-12 Vocal Music and Music Theory at Richfield Public Schools. Eugene joined the Minnesota Chorale for the 2023-24 season and also sings at Westminster Presbyterian Church as the baritone section leader. This upcoming summer, they will be a part of The Summer Singers, a professional vocal ensemble based in the Twin Cities. Eugene has performed works such as the Brahms Requiem, Jocelyn Hagen's Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, and Carol Barnett's Bluegrass Mass. Eugene is eager and excited to work with MYC and Prelude and looks forward to their journey with the choirs.
Becky Sun
Youth Choirs Pianist
Becky Sun has been a choral accompanist and collaborative pianist since age 10. Currently, she is the staff pianist and worship leader at Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church and Grace University Lutheran Church, and the accompanist for South High School’s music department. She also collaborates with singers and instrumentalists for recitals, and gives private lessons. When not at the piano, Becky is a freelance content writer, editor, and French-English translator.