Kristen Buhler (Artistic Director) |
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Kristen is a native of Oregon and lover of music of all genres. Her versatility of tone and timbre allow her to regularly perform, record and tour with many diverse professional ensembles around Portland, including Cappella Romana, Resonance Ensemble, Trinity Consort, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Portland Vocal Consort. She has been a guest artist with In Mulieribus on several concerts and a tour. Kristen is a frequent recording artist with Oregon Catholic Press and was recently featured on the recording of Robert Kyr's 8 voice work, A Time For Life with Cappella Romana. She has performed in concert with local talent Bryan Free, Rachel Taylor Brown, Nick Jaina, and Portland Cello Project. She recently recorded vocals on Rachel Taylor Brown’s new album, World So Sweet. In December 2011, Kristen performed the alto solos from The Messiah in Newberg, OR. She earned Bachelor of Arts degrees (magna cum laude) from George Fox University in Newberg, OR in both Vocal Music Performance and Writing/Literature. She went on to Portland State University as an Oregon Graduate Laurels Scholar where she studied conducting with Dr. Bruce Browne and voice with Nancy Olson-Chatalas and garnered a Master's of Music in Conducting degree with honors. She also holds a Master's of Science in Special Education (vision emphasis) degree and by day, is an itinerant Teacher of Visually Impaired Students in Washington County. She recently co-authored a national braille curriculum entitled, Building on Patterns. She is the alto soloist/section leader and Young Musicians' Choir director at First Presbyterian Church in Portland, OR. This summer and fall, Kristen lent her voice to Satellite Ballet’s collaborative tour and recording project to Michigan featuring composer Nick Jaina and dancers from New York City Ballet. She also toured Greece and recorded an album with Cappella Romana in September. Kristen is thrilled to be a founding member of The Julians and enjoys arranging music for them from artists as varied as Alanis Morissette, Florence + the Machine, Cat Stevens, and Regina Spektor to name a few. She is grateful to be a part of this rich and diverse Portland music community.
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Liz Bacon |
Liz's career as a singer has been defined by an unwillingness to separate her enthusiasm for music from her passion for telling a story and entertaining her audience. Liz’s ties to the Portland music scene have offered her tremendous opportunities. When not performing with The Julians, Liz is an accomplished solo artist. She was most recently seen playing the role of Marguerite for Opera Theater Oregon's "Five Minute Faust" at Portland Opera’s ‘Big Night’ Gala. In February 2011 she produced and performed her own solo show for the Celebration Works Music Series with her beloved pianist and friend, Jon Stuber. The show was such a success, she has been invited to create another show for the series in 2011, and so she will ("Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me", A Cabaret with Liz Bacon and Jon Stuber, Sunday, March 18, 2012 ). Liz is a performing member of Resonance Ensemble under the direction of Katherine Fitzgibbon and also performs regularly with Portland Vocal Consort under the direction of Ryan Heller. Portland has seen Liz perform on many of its professional theater stages, and she has been a featured vocalist on several premiere recording projects. Liz studies with Nancy Olson-Chatalas and received her music education from Portland State University. She is thankful to be one of the founding members of The Julians and loves all of her talented J ladies so much. |
Maria Karlin |
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A soprano with very ecclectic tastes in music, Maria Karlin has sung for a variety of sacred and secular choral and opera ensembles such as Cappella Romana, Portland Baroque Orchestra, David York Ensemble, Trinity Consort, Portland Symphonic Choir, Resonance Ensemble, Portland Opera Chorus, and Opera Theater Oregon just to name a few. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Oregon where she studied under Dr. Anne Tedards. Maria is also a seasoned recording artist, lending her talents to Oregon Catholic Press and Revolver Records as a soloist and ensemble singer. As of late, Ms. Karlin has been expanding her experience by crossing genres recording and/or performing with such local talent as Rachel Taylor Brown, Bryan Free, Portland Cello Project, and "Portland's loudest" psych-rock band: The Pink Snowflakes. She is a member of the Portland based Spaghetti-Western band, Federale which toured west coast several times in 2010 promoting their second album, "Devil in a Boot", playing such historic venues as the Fillmore in San Francisco and the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. They are currently recording their third album, due out in Fall 2011. A founding member of Portland's newest ensemble The Julians, she not only shows off her genre-crossing vocal abilities at every show, but she also contributes original arrangements of songs by such artists as Lykke Li, Lily Allen, and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. Ms. Karlin was also the featured soprano soloist in Resonance Ensemble's performance of Igor Stravinsky's ballet, "Les Noces" in April 2011. Look for Ms. Karlin when she performs with Federale and their first collaboration with Filmusik at the Hollywood Theater July 2011. Maria is ecstatic to lend her talents to further expand Portland's amazing and indescribable musical scene.
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Vakarė Petroliūnaitė |
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A native of Chicago, IL, Vakarė Petroliūnaitė holds her Master’s degree in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. At Westminster, Vakarė enjoyed the privilege of performing as a soloist with Symphonic and Westminster Choirs, as Soeur Alice in Westminster Opera Theatre production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites, and as soloist in Westminster’s Art Song Festival: Heine and the Lied. Since her relocation to Portland in August 2010, Vakarė has fully immersed herself in Portland’s diverse music scene. She sings regularly with the Portland Vocal Consort under the direction of Ryan Heller, and has appeared as soloist with Portland’s Bach Cantata Choir and Portland Symphonic Choir. Vakarė is especially proud to be a founding member of the brother-sister folk duo Amber Coast. Other credits include working as a solo singer in the 2009 world premier of American composer Laurie Altman’s In Another Time with the Princeton Sinfonia and Jazz Ensemble, as well as in Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s (The Gorillaz) Monkey: Journey to the West under the direction of Jonathan Stockhammer. Vakare appeared as Fiametta in The Gondoliers with the Princeton Musical Amateur Society, Papagena in Die Zauberflote under the baton of Joseph Walsh at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and explores a wide range of recital repertoire, with recent performances including works by Paul Hindemith, Cathy Berberian, Joseph Schwantner, and Darius Lapinskas.
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