ABOUT
KAIROS: A CONSORT OF SINGERS
Kairos: A Consort of Singers is a collaborative vocal chamber ensemble.
For over 30 years, we've kept to our original mission:
providing high-quality performances of a wide range of a cappella choral works, spanning from the Medieval period to the present.
Sopranos
Soprano
AMY PENDER
Amy began her musical career as a pianist and earned a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance and music education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After teaching vocal and general music in the public schools for several years, she returned to full-time music study and earned a Master’s and Doctorate in voice from the University of Cincinnati’s esteemed College-Conservatory of Music. In addition to singing locally and in New York City, Amy served for more than a decade as Director of Arts in Education at the New York State Council on the Arts, where she worked to improve teaching and learning by integrating the arts across the curriculum. She is currently a Financial Advisor with First Affirmative Financial Network, where she specializes in environmentally and socially responsible investing and serving the financial planning needs of families of children with special needs. She lives in Hopewell Junction with her husband, Terry, and their two children, Katie and Matt.
Soprano
CALLIE HERSHEY
Callie started singing in church in Paoli, Pennsylvania. Over the years, she has sung in many select choirs and arranged music for singing groups at Phillips Academy Andover and Vassar College. She was a member of the six-voice women’s contemporary a cappella group Harmonytryx, which won the Boston regional contest upon which the TV show “The Sing Off” is based. She is passionate about reaching young children with music, having been a Music Together teacher for years, and is now a visiting music teacher to area preschools. She teaches piano and is the leader of the children’s and family music band, Fuzzy Lollipop. She sang with Kairos at the very beginning and is delighted and honored to be back again.
Soprano
FERN ASHWORTH
Fern is a graduate of SUNY Binghamton and has been actively involved in music making in Orange County for the past 30 years. Fern is employed at Educational Music Service, recently assisting its European office. She has been a member of the choir at Grace Episcopal Church Middletown since 2004 and currently studies voice with Eileen Mackintosh. She resides in Greenville with her family (Paul and Alyssa), eight cats and four fish. When not singing, Fern enjoys reading, tap dancing, nature walks and cross country skiing.
Altos
Alto
TRISHA LEWIS AGAR
Tricia has performed extensively throughout the Hudson Valley as vocalist, cellist, and music director. She is a founding member and past President of Kairos. She is also a member of the Kartuli Ensemble, a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of the music of the nation of Georgia, and she is a vocalist for The Big Band Sound. She has performed leading and supporting roles with GSMTC, County Players, Ninety Miles off Broadway, and New Paltz Summer Repertory Theatre, including the title role in Hello, Dolly! and Mama Rose in Gypsy. An accomplished cellist, Tricia has played in various chamber ensembles and pit orchestras in venues throughout the Hudson Valley. She has also performed with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. On the other end of the baton she has served as Music Director for County Players' productions of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Evita, and La Cage aux Folles.
Alto
MEGAN ANDERSON
Megan has been singing in choirs for the past 30 years, starting with her elementary school choir in Fairfax County, Virginia. Since then she has sung with various school choirs, independent arts groups, and chamber chorales, such as the Alexandria Choral Society and Pro Coro Alexandria in Virginia, and the Masterworks Chorale and Serenade Chamber Choir in the San Francisco Bay Area. While in California, she also had the privilege of singing the mezzo-soprano role of Lura, one of the witchy Trementina daughters, in the debut performance of Bless Me, Ultima: A Mexican American Opera by Hector Armienta (based on the novel by Rudolfo Anaya). Megan has a Bachelor’s degree in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia where she studied with Judith Cline. She recently moved to New Paltz with her husband, where she currently sings with the SUNY New Paltz College Community Chorale and now has the honor of singing with Kairos! When she’s not singing, she loves to bake, write, and walk the many trails in and around the Shawangunks.
Alto
KATHRYN STEWART
Kathryn is absolutely thrilled to be singing with Kairos and serves as its Vice President. She holds a B.A. in philosophy from Carleton College and a M.A. in math education from Rutgers University. Kathryn began her singing career at the age of 3 as a member of The Stewart Family Troubadours and has loved singing ever since. She has sung with Seattle Pro Musica, the Canby Singers in NYC, the SUNY-New Paltz College Community Chorale, and at Lincoln Center in Bang On A Can’s performance of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports. As a modern dancer, she has toured nationally and internationally with the Pat Graney Company, based in Seattle. Currently, she dances and sings around the classroom as she teaches math at New Paltz High School.
Tenors
Tenor
CRAIG FRYER
Craig holds his B.S. degree in Music Ed. from West Chester University where he majored in French horn and voice. He holds his M.Mus. degree in Composition from SUNY-Binghamton where he studied with Gundaris Pone. He is director of bands and the jazz ensemble at Millbrook H.S. Craig was the recipient of a 2013 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching from SUNY-New Paltz and is adjunct clinical professor at the college. His compositions have been performed by Cappella Festiva in Poughkeepsie, NY, the First Presbyterian Church of Poughkeepsie Chancel Choir, Basically Brass of Philadelphia, and members of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, among other groups. He has been musical director for the Hudson Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Musical Theater Company and guest conductor several times for Cappella Festiva. Craig is also a member of the American Composer's Forum.
Tenor
GLENN KNICKERBOCKER
Glenn holds his B.Mus. in vocal performance from Rice University, where he studied with Frances Bible. He is a Software Engineer with IBM Corporation in Poughkeepsie. Glenn is a frequent soloist in the Hudson Valley and appeared as Hamor in Handel's Jephtha, as Marco in The Gondoliers, as Strephon in Iolanthe, as Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, as Mr. Erlanson in A Little Night Music, as Pooh-Bah in The Mikado and as the Governor in Gilbert & Sullican Musical Theater Company's production of Candide. Glenn is also Director of the Kartuli Ensemble, a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of the folk songs of the nation of Georgia.
Tenor
ISAIAH RICKS
Isaiah Decarlos Ricks is a passionate and accomplished vocal performer specializing in opera and musical theater. A four-time winner of the prestigious National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition in both the men's opera and musical theater categories, Isaiah is building a dynamic professional career marked by skill and artistry.
He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Valdosta State University. An active performer in New York's vibrant music scene, Isaiah is a dedicated member of several ensembles, including Kairos: A Consort of Singers, the SUNY New Paltz Community Chorale, and the Westchester Oratorio Society. He also recently joined the community of performers at The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.
With over eight years of performance experience, Isaiah continues to hone his craft under the guidance of vocal coach MunTzung Wong. He is driven by a mission to become a world-renowned artist who makes a profound difference by sharing the joy and love inherent in music with audiences everywhere.
Tenor
SCOTT BORDEN
Scott has been singing choral music for more than sixty years. Born in Vermont and raised in Averill Park NY, making music has always been part of his life. Over the years he has performed with choruses in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg WV to Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. A Cappella choral music has always been his greatest love. In 2001 Scott entered Holy Cross Monastery in West Park and shortly thereafter he joined Kairos. The life of the monastery is shaped by plainsong which makes a great compliment to the a cappella music of Kairos.
Basses
Baritone
MICHAEL SAUNDERS
Michael is an avid singer who has performed, both as chorus member and soloist, with most of the choral groups of the mid-Hudson valley at one time or another over the last two decades. In addition to Kairos, Mike has sung with Cappella Festiva, the Halcyon Singers, the Kartuli Ensemble, the Orange County Classic Choral Society, the SUNY New Paltz College-Community Chorale, the Warwick Valley Chorale, the Bard Music Festival, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Hudson Valley Bach Festival, and the Warwick Music Festival. He is also a veteran of ten light opera productions with Gilbert & Sullican Musical Theater Company. When he isn't singing, Mike is pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He is Music Director at Grace Episcopal Church in Middletown, NY where he directs the Adult Choir.
Bass
JAMES ULRICH
James begasn his musical odyssey at about age 5 when relatives always asked him to yodel. His training has consisted of singing for choral directors and song-leaders in school and college, the Chautauqua Opera and amphitheater choruses, Church choirs, Ars Choralis, Bard Community Chorus, his own local Sacred Harp singing fellowship, and Kairos. Barbara Pickhardt, the Ars Choralis director, has been his singing teacher and mentor for several decades. During the pandemic some singing friends formed a small men’s group, The Quarantinis. Since his retirement as a public school history teacher, he feels privileged to have been singing a few seasons with Kairos.