Artist Bio’s

Blake Beckemeyer is an Indianapolis-based tenor spacializing in high baroque music. Last season, he sang the Evangelist in Lafayette and was the tenor Virginia Best Adams Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival. He debuted with Washington Bach Consort’s Capitol Hill Cantata Series and has performed Bach’s John Passion with Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, as well as Israel in Egypt with Apollo’s Fire and the NY Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. His solo recordings include Monteverdi Vespers, The Outer Edge of Youth, and works by Bach and Weston. As part of Tonos del Sur, he headlined the Latin American Music Festival at the University of Illinois-Chicago. This summer, he performs Brahms in Brown County and returns to the Bloomington Early Music Festival. He also sings with such ensembles as Seraphic Fire, The Thirteen, True Concord, the Valparaiso Bach Ensemble, Bach Ensemble-Helmuth Rilling, the Weimar Bach Cantata Akademie, the Fort Wayne Bach Collegium, and the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. Outside music, he is a software engineer, serves on arts boards, and explores AI’s role in the music industry.

Soprano Shannon Beckemeyer has interests spanning historical performance, vocology, and choral singing. Most recently, she performed in Bach cantatas 213 and 33 as a concertist and was a soloist in the Das jüngste Gericht program presented by Alchymy Viols and Incantare. This spring, Shannon sang with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra in Bach’s Johannespassion, and multiple programs with Tonos del Sur. As a chorister, she has toured to Hereford Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, St. George’s Chapel-Windsor, Notre Dame de Paris, La Madeleine, and the Thomaskirche (Leipzig), Georgenkirche (Eisenach), and Stadtkirche (Weimar), the latter three with Helmuth Rilling. She holds degrees in voice and a certificate in vocology from Indiana University-Jacobs School of Music and degrees in voice and biochemistry from DePauw University. When not singing, Shannon works in project management for a multinational drug development company and lives with her husband in Brownsburg, Indiana.

Top prize winner ex aequo of the Ninth Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition, Singaporean fortepianist, harpsichordist and pianist Anastasia Chin is praised for her naturally sensitive, elegant and eloquent performances, and for her ability to make the instruments sing. Recent and upcoming engagements include solo fortepiano recitals for the Western Early Keyboard Association and MusicSources, J.S. Bach’s concerti for two and four harpsichords with Seven Hills Baroque, J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University for the Madison Performing Arts Foundation, Handel’s Messiah with the Oregon Symphony, concerts with Tonos del Sur at the University of Illinois Chicago Latin American Music Festival, for the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and guest recitals and lecture-recitals at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. A regular performer with the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project and Tonos del Sur, Anastasia holds a Doctor of Music in Early Music (Keyboard), a Master of Music in Early Music (Fortepiano) and a Performer Diploma in Harpsichord from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore, where she studied with renowned pianist Albert Tiu. Her mentor is eminent harpsichordist and fortepianist Elisabeth Wright, to whom she credits for igniting her passion for early music.

Violinist and Director Sarah Cranor is passionate about the vibrant sonic possibilities found in sharing both historical and contemporary music with live audiences. Sarah is a part of Chaski Quartet, bringing music to incarcerated individuals across Colorado Department of Corrections facilities, as well as public concerts across the West. Sarah can be heard regularly with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, where in 2025, she directed Growing up Baroque, a bi-lingual presentation of music and stories from across the Americas, Sphere Ensemble, Omaha Symphony, Arizona Bach Festival, and Duo Anthracite. Sarah was acting Concertmaster/Principal Second Violin with the West Texas Symphony for four seasons, a member of the Permian Basin String Quartet, and guest concertmaster of the Bloomington and Lafayette Symphony Orchestras, and the Bach Series at Duke University. Sarah holds a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music; her doctoral research focuses on the music of Santiago Billoni, chapelmaster at the Durango Cathedral, Mexico, from 1749-1756. Sarah has presented guest lectures at EAFIT in Colombia, the UNAM in Mexico, University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Indiana University. Sarah is the director of the Bloomington Early Music Immersion, a middle-school-aged historical performance experience for modern string players through the Bloomington Early Music Festival. Sarah runs ultra-marathons, and always looks forward to exploring new trails.

Louisville native Alice Culin-Ellison, violin, is a versatile historical performer with a special interest in late 16th- and early 17th-century repertoire. She is a founding member of Incantare, an ensemble of violins and sackbuts focusing on musical and cultural connections of under-explored musicians. Alice performs around the country with groups including The Newberry Consort, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and Apollo’s Fire, and was the Artistic Director of Bourbon Baroque from 2017-2022. She has led opera productions of Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Purcell’s King Arthur. Alice received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Historical Performance from Case Western Reserve University, studying with Julie Andrijeski. She holds a Masters of Music from the Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University, studying with Stanley Ritchie, and a Bachelors of Music from the University of Michigan.

Applauded for “some of the most spirited, stylish, and nuanced playing” (Chicago Classical Review) as well as her “invigoratingly fresh and perky interpretation” (Bachtrack), Leighann Daihl Ragusa is an accomplished musician on both historical and modern flutes. She has concertized across central Europe as well as the United States as a soloist and collaborator of chamber and orchestral music. In 2007, Leighann was a prizewinner in the National Flute Association’s Baroque Flute Competition and has been fortunate to work under such notable conductors as Jeffrey Thomas, Barthold Kuijken, Jeanne Lamon, Stanley Ritchie, Harry Bickett, and Peter Kooij. She earned degrees in modern flute from DePauw University and Indiana University, and in historical flutes from The Royal Conservatory of the Hague and Indiana University. Leighann is co-director of the Bach + Beethoven Experience, the Managing Director of the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, and the Baroque Flute Competitions Coordinator for the National Flute Association.

Chicago-born cellist Dr. Kevin Flynn is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Greenwood School of Music at Oklahoma State University, Assistant Principal Cello in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Acting Principal Cello in the Oklahoma Baroque Orchestra. He has served as Principal Cellist of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and as the Sajo and Chiqui Fellow of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. He is cellist in the groundbreaking historically-informed chamber ensemble Tonos del Sur and the prize-winning Cercis String Quartet. Kevin holds both Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Violoncello Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he was the Eva Heinitz Memorial Fellow, and he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music and in Philosophy from Grand Valley State University. His primary teachers include Emilio Colón, Pablo Mahave-Veglia, Joanna Blendulf, Helga Winold, and Stanley Ritchie.

Alejandro Gómez Guillén, conductor and violinist, is passionate about making music compelling, uplifting, and educational. Recently appointed Director of Orchestras at Arizona State University, he also serves as Music Director of Sphere Ensemble, where he explores string orchestra repertoire across centuries and genres. Key roles he has held include Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, Artistic Director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, and Associate Conductor of the Fort Worth Symphony, conducting premieres such as Florence Price’s Fourth Symphony and Andy Akiho’s Sculptures. As a guest conductor, Alejandro has collaborated with orchestras across the US and abroad, and looks forward to upcoming engagements with Orlando Philharmonic and Virginia Symphony. As a violinist, he has performed at venues like the Berlin Philharmonie and Rheingau Festival. Alejandro was born in Colombia, and holds advanced degrees in both conducting and violin. Off the podium, he enjoys trail running, singing, and sharing music with his family.

Esteban Hernández Parra is a mestizo musician from Colombia, dedicated to building community around learning, playing, and teaching viola. He is Visiting Assistant Professor of Viola at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music and a candidate in the Doctor of Music program in Viola Performance with a minor in Music Education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Esteban holds a Master of Music and Performance Diploma in Viola Performance from the Jacobs School as well as a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from the Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas in Bogatá, Colombia. His action as a performer and researcher is rooted in decolonial work, and he engages with communities whose musical practices reclaim local identities and ancestral territories in Abya Yala, towards a dignified existence. Through teaching at the University of Arizona, he can learn from and with students and colleagues while sustaining local collaborations with the Q’iru Ensemble, Tucson Son Jarocho, La Peña del Surco, TUSD, and South Tucson Community Organization, as well national and international connections with Bach Collegium Fort Wayne, Bloomington Early Music Festival, and Ensamble Visionaries in Colombia.

An active performer and educator based in Indianapolis, Sara Petokas performs regularly on both modern and historical instruments. Sara holds a Bachelors of Music Education from Mansfield University, a Masters in Horn Performance from the Eastman School of Music and is currently finishing her Doctorate in Horn Performance and Literature at Indiana University. On the baroque horn, Sara has performed with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra, the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra on a project with the South Carolina Bach Society. She recently performed Handel’s Parnasso in Festa and the Telemann Concerto for two horns TWV 52:D2 with the Indiana University Baroque Orchestra. On the modern horn, Sara holds the chair of Fourth Horn with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra and appears regularly with the Danville (IL) Symphony Orchestra, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and the Kokomo Symphony Orchestra. Sara is a founding member of Flower City Brass, a quintet formed at Eastman in 2017 that has since performed around the world, most recently at the Aspen Music Festival.

Howell Petty (they/them) is a historically trained soprano who specializes in the Italian Baroque and the vocal music of Agostino Steffani. Howell earned their master’s degree at IU Bloomington, where they studied with Judith Malafronte and appeared regularly with the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. They have performed at the Bloomington Early Music Festival with various ensembles in recent years, returning this year with Tonos del Sur. Currently based in NYC, Howell is a mentee of the TENET Trailblazer program directed by Jolle Greenleaf, has sung in workshops at Juilliard’s historical performance department, and appears frequently with the Yale Consort under the direction of James O’Donnell.

Dr. Michael Stiles is a Bloomington-based performer and teacher on French horn. He received his Doctor of Music in Performance and Literature in 2021 with minor areas in music history and historical performance. He plays second horn in the Carmel Symphony Orchestra and is a regular substitute member for the orchestras in Columbus, Terre Haute, Evansville, and Lafayette, Indiana. He performs on natural horn with ensembles including Bach Society of Minnesota, Haymarket Opera, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Choral Arts Philadelphia, and has appeared twice as a soloist with the IU Baroque Orchestra. He is currently Adjunct Instructor of Horn at Marian University in Indianapolis. For his doctoral dissertation, Stiles created a performer’s edition of Handel’s complete horn parts which will soon be published by BirdAlone Books and Music. He has previously worked as a Teaching Artist for The Philadelphia Orchestra and the El Sistema-inspired Play On, Philly, and as department coordinator for the Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. His primary teachers are Jeffrey Nelsen, Richard Seraphinoff, Dale Clevenger, Denise Tryon, John David Smith, and William Scharnberg.