Staff
Our Staff
George Arthur, Art Director, has been drawing, painting and sculpting his whole life and graduated from the leading School of Visual Arts in New York. He served for 33 years as Executive Design Director at Consumer Reports where he was responsible for the design of the magazine, website, books, and special publications. He was instrumental in the interior and external design of the Consumer Reports headquarters building in Westchester, NY. Before that he art directed the design of Sport Magazine and designed the content and covers for Life Magazine. George is a prize-winning photographer and a designer of many books, posters and websites.
Since its inception in 2015, George has been Board President of Coro Lux and a singer in the bass section. He is the principal at George Arthur Design, located in Placitas, New Mexico, which specializes in graphic design and wood sculpture.
He has been a volunteer docent and graphic designer at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for 7 years with a special interest in the murals of the native Pueblo artists. George also designed a 12′ mural for the permanent exhibit, “We are of this Place,” celebrating the organization’s 40 th anniversary. George was selected as the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center’s “Volunteer of the Year” in 2017, the first year of the program.
Jonathan Davidson, Associate Conductor, is a tenor in Coro Lux. He is director of choirs at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque as well as a private voice teacher. Jonathan enjoys teaching and performing a variety of styles from opera to popular music. His degrees include a Master of Music from the University of New Mexico in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Eastern Oregon University.
Gabrielle Dietrich, Director of the Children’s Chorus, has been leading youth choirs since 2000, and she finds incredible joy in helping young people find their voice. A graduate of University of the Pacific, University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, Dr. Dietrich has sung, taught, and conducted across the United States and in Ireland, the UK, Hungary, and Austria. From 2012-2021, Gabrielle was an Associate Teaching Professor of Music at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, where she also served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Young People’s Chorus of Erie, northwest Pennsylvania’s only comprehensive youth choral program. Gabrielle is thrilled to call Albuquerque her new home, and she is grateful and excited to be a part of the Coro Lux team.
Ashley Jonkman, Executive Assistant — Ashley began life in a musical home, with an elementary music teacher for a mom and a father who loved to tinker on the guitar. She played piano and clarinet as a child, and has sung in choirs and on church worship teams since a young age. She has her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. She earned her Master’s Degree from College of Santa Fe, and taught choral music and elementary education for 6 years before becoming a stay at home mom to 3 kids. She spends her free time gardening, freelance writing, running, and exploring the outdoors with her husband, Brad and kids Sammy, Josiah, and Phoebe.
Bora Ryu, Youth Chorus Accompanist — A native of South Korea, Bora Ryu is an active solo pianist and collaborative pianist. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music Education from Bob Jones University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University in South Korea.
Mary Ann Ybarra, pianist, enjoys living out her aspirations of being a performing pianist. Her degrees include the Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Texas at Austin, Master of Music from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Bachelor of Music from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Before moving to Albuquerque, she taught piano, pedagogy and theory keyboard classes for 18 years at Indiana University-South Bend, Saint Mary’s College, Bethel College, and in her home teaching studio. However, it is here in Albuquerque that she has pursued her heart’s desire of sharing music with others through performing. Not only does she collaborate on individual instrumental and vocal recitals, playing 5-10 per semester, but she also works with vocal, operatic, and orchestral ensembles. She is thrilled and honored to be working with Coro Lux.
Doing Good While Doing Well
Doing Good While Doing Well
Coro Lux has an unofficial motto that we like “to do good while we do well.” Although we are, of course, a non-profit ourselves, we have often used our concerts as a way to draw attention to other worthy causes in our community and to help raise funds for them, as well. To date our efforts have benefitted:
- The NAACP College Scholarship Fund (JanFest 2021)
- The NM Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind (Fall 2020)
- Paws and Stripes (Fall 2017)
- The Roadrunner Food Bank (JanFest 2020)
- And our own members in need of financial assistance during Covid-19
We look forward to continuing to help when and where we can, as we continue to further our official mission: Coro Lux (“Chorus of Light”) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preparation and performance of great choral music for the enrichment and delight of our audiences and ourselves, and to propagating love of the choral art in the next generation of singers.
Emeritus Members
Emeritus Members
Kate Austin
John Farris
John and Diane Hawley
Jeff and Jane Lawrence
Liz McMaster
Wendy Orley
Ildy Rolfs
Gayle Shipp
Lynn Spray
Thanking Our Donors
Thanking Our Donors
ABQ Coro Lux is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and values your support and investment in great choral music!
We very much appreciate the support given to us any time of year.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS! To see the list of donors, please Click Here.
Bruffy
An Evening with Charles Bruffy
Come sing with multiple GRAMMY® award winning choral conductor Charles Bruffy!
Tuesday, February 18th from 7-9pm
Central United Methodist Church, 201 University Blvd. Albuquerque
Free Admission
One of the most admired choral conductors in the United States, GRAMMY® winner Charles Bruffy began his career as a tenor soloist, performing with Robert Shaw. Shaw encouraged his development as a conductor, and in 1999, The New York Times named him as the late, great conductor’s potential heir.
Bruffy has been artistic director of the Kansas City Chorale since 1988. He has been chorus director for the Kansas City Symphony Chorus since 2008 and was artistic director of the Phoenix Chorale from 1999-2017. He has been director of music at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church since 1994. He conducts workshops and clinics across the U.S., including teaching at the Westminster Choir College Summer Conducting Institute since 2006.
Bruffy’s eclectic discography includes six recordings with Nimbus Records and seven with Chandos Records. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has recognized five of these recordings with a total of 12 GRAMMY® nominations and three GRAMMY® wins, most recently in 2015 for “Best Choral Performance” for his recording of Rachmaninoff’s “All-night Vigil.”
In his spare time, Bruffy breeds and raises Arabian and Saddlebred horses on his ranch just south of Kansas City in Cass County.
REPERTOIRE
Attendees — please download your own copies and bring to the rehearsal.
- AVE VERUM CORPUS – Mozart
- MY LORD, WHAT A MORNIN’ – arr. Burleigh
- LASS DICH NUR NICHTS – Brahms
- LAUDATE JEHOVAM – Telemann
To register, please click here.
JanFest
In the Time of COVID: Singing in a Strange Landwith Rollo Dilworth, James Abbington, and more!
January 16th, 2021 – 9am-5pm (with breaks!) Sing, learn, discuss, grow!
The 3rd Annual MLK JanFest event on January 16, 2021, co-hosted by the United Church of Santa Fe and Coro Lux, will be virtual this year.
Our headliner will be award winning composer, educator, and conductor Dr. Rollo Dilworth. Dr. Dilworth has published more than 200 choral compositions as well as written or co-authored three books on choral technique. A frequent guest conductor, he has led 57 all-state choruses.
Our keynote address will be given by Prof. James Abbington of Emory University, titled “Spirituals and Gospel Songs: Singing in a Strange Time.”
JanFest will be co-led by the Rev. Talitha Arnold and Bradley Ellingboe. The program also features sessions on the voice by Dr. Stevie Springer and updates on COVID-19 by Dr. Joe Alcorn discussing the prospects for live choral events in the coming year.
The seminar will cost $37.50.
Click Here to register for Singing in a Strange Land! You will be redirected to BrownPaperTickets for payment.
View a DRAFT schedule for the January 16th festival here. JanFest 2021 (2)
Contact Us
Contact Us
ABQ Coro Lux P. O. Box 37081 Albuquerque, NM 87176-7081
info@abqcorolux.org Facebook: ABQ Coro Lux
Auditions
Auditions
Thank you for your interest in auditioning with Coro Lux! Here are some details to note before your audition.
- Auditions will be held Monday through Friday, TBD, 2021. It is not necessary to bring an accompanist. Ideally, you will bring a prepared solo, but not having a solo is also acceptable.
- Coro Lux has two groups: the Oratorio Society (60 members) and the Chamber Chorus (16 members). Each group has its own set of concerts. Members of the Chamber Chorus must also sing in the Oratorio Society.
- The first rehearsal is be on Tuesday, September 3rd. Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings from 7 – 9 pm and are held at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1100 Indian School Rd. NE.
- The cost of membership is $85 per “semester” but we have a generous scholarship program. If you are chosen for Coro Lux and cannot afford the tuition, simply let us know.
In regard to the audition process itself:
If you cannot find an audition slot that fits your schedule, contact our conductor, Bradley Ellingboe, at ellingboe@abqcorolux.org to see about setting up a different appointment.
Auditions will be held in the Choir Room of St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1100 Indian School Rd. NE. Please wait in your car outside the choir room until someone comes to get you. (Otherwise you’ll walk straight in on someone else’s audition.)
You will be tested on vocal range, size and timbre of voice, and tonal memory.
Those interested in membership in the Chamber Chorus will be asked to sight-read.
Thanks again for your interest and good luck!
AUDITION SIGNUP
To sign up for an Audition if you are a NEW member (you did not sing in a past season), please click here.
