Performers

Emily Nelson, soprano (founding member)

Emily Nelson holds degrees in voice, music history, and early music performance from Indiana University and the University of Utah and is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in vocal performance. Her enjoyment of a wide variety of musical styles has led her down diverse musical paths, from the ars subtilior to Milton Babbitt, Appalachian ballads, jazz, and the second Viennese school. In 2009, she co-founded Utopia Early Music, which has so far enjoyed four diverse concert seasons and increasing popular success. Emily advanced to regional auditions for the 2012 National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award and last summer appeared as Blonde in a production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Oper im Park, St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria. Last winter, Emily was hailed as "stunning" for her performance as the Queen of the Night in Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble's production of Die Zauberflöte.






Christopher LeCluyse, tenor (founding member)

Christopher LeCluyse discovered early music in seventh grade, when an inspired music teacher played Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame for his class. He studied voice and English at the Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College and has since continued pursuing both vocations as a singer and a teacher. While completing a PhD in English at the University of Texas at Austin, he sang with Conspirare, the Texas Early Music Project, La Follia Austin Baroque, and the Schola Cantorum at St. Mary’s Cathedral and appeared as a guest artist with the Houston-based groups Ars Lyrica and Canzonetta. In the San Francisco area, Chris has performed with Magnificat, the San Francisco Early Music Society, and Voices of Music.   Most recently he joined Magnificat for performances of Lutheran Christmas Vespers from 1660 and of late Renaissance choral works for forty to sixty voices. Closer to home Chris has performed with the Utah Symphony and the Salt Lake Choral Artists. Chris is an associate professor of English and writing center director at Westminster College. His recordings include Threshold of Night, a CD with Conspirare of choral works by Tarik O'Regan, nominated in 2009 for two Grammy awards: “Best Classical Album” and “Best Choral Performance.”


Rebecca Blackner, violin

Rebekah Blackner has toured in orchestra, chamber, and solo performances across the United States, Europe and Asia. Having had the opportunity to study with some of the most sought-after and distinguished violin faculty, Rebekah is a passionate violin teacher committed to excellence and maintains a violin studio in Salt Lake City and Logan, Utah.

Lisa Chaufty, recorder


Lisa began her musical studies as a flutist in Rhode Island and discovered early music and the recorder while an undergraduate at Wellesley College. After graduating with a degree in music and medieval/renaissance studies, Lisa studied musicology at the University of California, Berkeley. Praised for her "remarkably vibrant" playing, Lisa has performed as a soloist and with groups such as the University of Utah Singers, the Choir of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, as well as with Utopia Early Music. Lisa has played for masterclasses with the Dutch recordists Marion Verbruggen, and Saskia Coolen, with whom she currently studies. By day Lisa manages the university's digital repository, USpace, at the Marriott Library.


Leslie Henrie, violin

Leslie Henrie is a Salt Lake-based professional violinist, violist, and teacher.  She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance at the University of Utah and her Masters of Music degree in Violin Performance at the University of Kansas.  She completed her Artist’s Diploma in 2008 at Park University’s International Center for Music, and while living in Kansas City she was the associate concertmaster for the St. Joseph Symphony.  She is currently completing her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in violin and viola performance and pedagogy at the University of Utah, where she was a teaching assistant to Dr. Hasse Borup.  While there she also served as concertmaster of the Utah Philharmonia and was a member of the Graduate String Quartet.   Ms. Henrie performs and records extensively with many local professional organizations, including the Utah Symphony, Vivaldi Virtuosi, Utah Chamber Artists, and the LDS Church.  She was most recently featured as a soloist on Covenant Communications’ album release, “This Is The Christ,” where she premiered a new solo work written by local LDS composer and artist Marshall McDonald.  She has performed in masterclasses given by Joseph Silverstein, Cho-Liang Lin, and Eric Rosenblith among others, and past teachers include Gerald Elias, Mikhail Boguslavsky, Ben Sayevich, Martin Storey, and Eric Rosenblith.  She is currently on the faculty at Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University, where she teaches violin, viola, and various other music courses.  She also maintains her own private studio.  Ms. Henrie resides in Murray, UT with her husband Mike, son Connor, and daughter Georgia.


Josh Lee, viola da gamba


Josh Lee performs on viols, double bass and cello with some of the world’s leaders in early music. Founder of acclaimed trio Ostraka, Josh is a member of Les Délices, Musica Pacifica and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and he has performed with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Carmel Bach Festival, Wiener Akademie and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as a “master of the score’s wandering and acrobatic itinerary,” Josh’s performances have been heard on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and Harmonia. A dedicated educator, Josh has taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the San Francisco Conservatory, as well as workshops across the nation. 



Valerie Hart Nelson, contralto

Valerie Hart Nelson enjoys performing a wide variety of operatic, musical theater, and concert work. This past season, Valerie performed the role of Berta from Il barbiere di Siviglia, Madame Armfeldt from A Little Night Music and performed the alto solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with The Castleton Festival, under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel. In Castleton’s 2011 season, Valerie performed the role of La tasse chinoise, from L’enfant et les sortileges and covered Zita in Gianni Schicchi and Frugola in Il Tabarro. Along with performing with The Castleton Festival, Valerie recently performed Mozart’s Requiem Mass under the direction of Dr. Reed Criddle, and the Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Lyceum Philharmonic under the direction of Kayson Brown. Other favorites that Valerie has performed include Second Lady in The mini magic Flute with Utah Opera, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor with Central City Opera, Quickly in Falstaff, Katisha in The Mikado, Dihah in Trouble in Tahiti, Oberon in Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas. Valerie also enjoyed performing two seasons with Ohio Light Opera, where she performed such roles as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Ida in Die Fledermaus, The Dutchess in The Gondoliers, and the Nanny in Robert Ward’s A Friend of Napoleon.

This December, Valerie will perform the alto solo in In the Beginning from Aaron Copland with the UVU Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Reed Criddle, selections of Handel’s Messiah with Utah Lyric Opera, and perform with the Utopia Baroque Ensemble.  In the spring, Valerie will perform the alto solo of Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Salt Lake Choral Artists under the direction of Dr. Brady Allred.

Tyler Nelson, tenor



Tyler Nelson is one of America’s most promising young tenors.  Already enjoying success in a wide variety of concert repertoire, his recent engagements have included Carmina Burana with Utah Valley University, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Saginaw Bay Symphony, the Mozart Requiem with Utah Chamber Artists.  Recent seasons have included operatic debuts with Chicago Opera Theater, in the role of Delfa for their production of Giasone, NCPA in Beijing China, in the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.  Tyler currently serves as the director of Vocal Studies at Utah Valley University.





Jonathan Rhodes Lee, organ

Jonathan Rhodes Lee regularly performs as soloist, chamber musician, and in orchestras in the United States and abroad. He is also a founding member of the baroque ensemble Les Grâces (www.lesgraces.com), which has recently released its first full-length CD on the MSR label. Jonathan holds degrees from Colgate University, the San Francisco Conservatory, and UC Berkeley, and was a Fulbright scholar at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. He currently holds the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann fellowship at UC Berkeley, where he is writing a Ph.D. on Handel’s oratorios and eighteenth-century sentimentalism. When he is not onstage performing, Jonathan is generally there tuning and maintaining harpsichords, organs, and fortepianos.


Christopher Wootton, organ


Christopher Wootton began his organ studies with Douglas Bush in Provo, and received his Master's in Church Music with emphasis in organ from the University of Kansas, where he studied with James Higdon and Michael Bauer.  His studies included a year abroad in Mainz, Germany, where he studied organ with Susanne Rohn and improvisation with Alfred Müller-Kranich.  He has served as church organist in various parishes in Salt Lake City, Kansas, Missouri and Germany, and is presently assistant organist at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark.
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