Board of Directors
Joseph Alcorn met his wife Sylvia Wittels in medical school in Arizona and did additional training and work at the U of Missouri and at UCSD before moving to Albuquerque and UNM in 1991. The last 30+ years has been spent as a physician and scientist working in gastroenterology (especially liver disease) both inside and outside of Academics, while raising Ted and Stan and singing with the University Chorus mostly under Brad Ellingboe (plus a few more years with Coro Lux). The family has rescued a few cats and dogs and also The Guild Cinema which we rehabbed and ran for some years but these days, retired from medical practice, we grow fruit as Big Baby Farms near Bernalillo.
Katy Anderson is a seasoned non-profit professional, serving in varying development, programmatic, and leadership roles for the past twenty-three years. She has worked with University School of Nashville, W.O. Smith Music School, ABQ BioPark Society, Make-a-Wish, and Roadrunner Food Bank. She is currently the Chief Programs Officer at Roadrunner Food Bank; her team is responsible for emergency food programming and support across the entire state. She is also recognized as an up-and-coming leader in the hunger-relief space by Feeding America.
Katy started her non-profit career in Nashville, TN, after graduating from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Vocal Performance. She pursued additional music graduate studies at Belmont University and the University of Georgia. Katy has been a featured soloist for and member of a number of choral and performance groups including with Vanderbilt Opera Theatre, Vanderbilt University Choir, Belmont University, University of Georgia Chamber Choir, Opera Southwest, Coro Lux, and many more.
Mike Hart is a founding shareholder/owner of Martinez, Hart, Thompson & Sanchez, P.C. Mike’s prestigious legal career began in 1988, when he received his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. Since then he has dedicated his career to representing children and adults harmed by criminal, reckless and negligent conduct. Mike has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2000, and has twice earned the Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” recognition. In 2018, Mike was honored by the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association for his extraordinary 30-year career working on behalf of children and victims of sexual abuse. Other honor and awards include being recognized as a Southwest Super Lawyer, being named Lawyer of the Year for personal injury in 2014 and being honored by the Albuquerque Bar Association as an Outstanding Lawyer.
Mike has been an active member of this community his entire life. He graduated from the Albuquerque Academy and went on to study fine arts at Harvard University. After graduation from Harvard, Mike worked on public policy in Washington, D.C. He’s also served on many different non-profit boards, including serving as the President of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association and Legal FACS Board of Directors, the UNM Law School Alumni Association, Crossroads for Women, and The Arc of New Mexico.
Keith Hinds has been with Merrill Lynch since 2003, after finishing a career in environmental finance. He is a 1980 graduate of George Washington University, with a BA in Public Affairs, and a native New Mexican, raised in Carlsbad. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Keith worked with companies of all sizes in the environmental industry, helping with project structuring, business expansion, and exit strategies. At Merrill Lynch, Keith works with families in all aspects of wealth management, with a special emphasis on financial planning, considerations relating to special needs, and value added client services. He is a Certified Financial Planner professional, and also holds the Chartered Special Needs Consultant designation.
Outside of work, Keith enjoys fly fishing, golf, travel and spending time with his family, which includes three daughters, their spouses and seven grandchildren. His wife, Bernadette, is a native of France and runs a small landscape design, installation and maintenance company in Albuquerque. Keith joined the Coro Lux board in the summer of 2020, and also sits on the board of the NM Brain Injury Alliance, as well as on the board of the Dominican Ecclesial Institute. He has been selected to serve as President of the Coro Lux board for the upcoming term, and looks forward to working with the community of singers and community at large to sustain, support and supplement this organization which he views as a critical component of the unique New Mexico quality of life.
Ashley Jonkman studied music education at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California, and earned her Masters in Education at the College of Santa Fe. She moved to New Mexico on a whim in 2007 and found she loved it! After taking a break from teaching music to stay at home with three small children, she re-entered the workforce in 2021 as Coro Lux’s first administrative assistant. After a wonderful almost 2 years working for the chorus, she decided to step down and join the Coro Lux board while continuing to teach music at an Albuquerque charter school. She’s excited to bring her knowledge of the inner workings of the chorus to the board and continue to sing with a group she truly loves being a part of!
Vinnessa Martinez Ohle has loved music all her life. She will fondly bring up that her first words were the chirping of “lalala.” She joined her school choir at the age of 12 and used music as an outlet for life, becoming increasingly involved in vocal training and chorus throughout her university career, graduating with a Bachelors in Music Education. Vinnessa remains engaged with a variety of people and skill levels through music. She has taught in Los Lunas Public Schools as an Elementary General Music Teacher for the past 6 years and continues to develop her skills as an educator through frequent attendance at professional conferences. In 2019 she was nominated as Teacher Of The Year for her school.
Vinnessa also spends weekends and holidays as the Music Director for her church. “Singing is good for everyone! And everyone can sing!” she claims. Although Vinnessa focuses on K-6 General Music, she has sung with a wide variety of choruses. She joined Coro Lux in 2016 and has been managing the ads process for the printed programs since 2017. She is excited to be rehearsing and continually developing her talents with Coro Lux and looks forward to the productions to come!
John P. Owen, Ph.D.
John is a psychologist. Prior to his entering private practice in 1986, he worked as a counselor in several different work settings. They included: Albuquerque Job Corps, New Mexico State Penitentiary, a federally funded project for the treatment of incest families, Hospice, Albuquerque Child Guidance Center as an intern, and the Court Clinic doing family divorce evaluations and mediation. In private practice, he has worked with children, adolescents, adults and couples. He also has been the psychologist on a federal grant project that dealt with the homeless population and substance abuse.
Along with his clinical practice, John had the opportunity to teach in a variety of settings. He taught with Metropolitan Court programs for DWI and shoplifting offenders. He was a faculty member in the Psychology Department at the University of Albuquerque for two years before it closed. His longest teaching and advisement position was with Webster University as an adjunct faculty member for 35 years.
His major sources of enjoyment are his wife, four children, their significant others, six grandchildren and a variety of activities with friends.
LaVonne Yazzie – I am an Albuquerque transplant from Arizona and a proud member of the Navajo Nation. My musical journey began early in my youth, when I studied violin as my primary instrument while singing soprano in various school and regional choruses. While at UNM, I double-majored in English Pre-Law and Spanish, and for fun, I sang with the UNM Madrigal Singers. For my profession, I am an Education Specialist at UNM at the Center for Development and Disability. I am also the wife of a devoted husband and the mother of a talented and gifted daughter. In my limited free time, I sing as a soprano in Coro Lux, and I also serve at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church as a member of the School Consultative Council, a cantor for the Roman Rite of Mass, and as a soprano in the church choir under the direction of the esteemed Mark Adrian. As an indigenous female, I am a strong advocate for equality, and I believe that music can branch the divisions amongst socio-economic backgrounds and that it has the power to heal many of the ills of society. I am honored to be a new member of the Board of Directors for this renowned choral organization, and I look forward to embracing this opportunity to continue to serve others.