Biographies

Biographies

Current KEMP member biographies are displayed below:

J. Ashley Burell (harpsichord, organ, tenor)
Amy Kraabel Porter (soprano vocals)
Maria Magdalena Rist (soprano vocals)
Ilia Steinschneider (violin)
Ann Stierli (viola da gamba, flutes, recorders, crumhorns)
Thomas Tallant (lute, theorbo, early guitar)

J. Ashley Burell (harpsichord, organ, tenor)

Ashley Burell is the Organist-Choirmaster of First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, Tennessee. At First Presbyterian Church, Mr. Burell leads an active music ministry of vocal choirs and handbells, and administers a regionally acclaimed concert series, which includes three to four major choral works with orchestra each year. Under his direction, the Chancel Choir has participated in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and the Knoxville Rossini festival since its inception. Ashley has been the Instructor of Organ and Harpsichord at Maryville College (Tennessee) since 1993. His educational training in organ, harpsichord, and choral studies includes work with Betty Louise Lumby, David Craighead, and Donald Neuen at the University of Montevallo (Alabama) and Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York. As a member of the American Guild of Organists, Ashley has been a recitalist for local and regional American Guild of Organist conventions and meetings. He has also been a featured recitalist at the national convention for the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. Ashley is a member of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers and is regional representative for the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. He has been a member of KEMP since 2003.

Besides her work with KEMP, Amy Porter is well versed in both opera and musical theater. While earning her B.M. and M.M. in Vocal Performance, she sang several diverse roles at the Opera Theaters of Northwestern and Indiana University, respectively, in works ranging from Dido and Aeneas, South Pacific, and Candide, to Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel. With the Baroque Ensemble of the Indiana University Early Music Institute, she sang both Bach’s B Minor Mass, and his St. Johannes-Passion. Additionally, she has been a featured artist with the Ohio Light Opera, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The American Cabaret Theater, and for the Brevard Festival’s televised 60th Anniversary Concert. As a proficient interpreter of 20th Century music, she has been featured in several concerts, including those of Poulenc, Berg, and Cage. Now living in Knoxville, Tennessee, Ms. Porter is the Director of Vocal Programs for Knoxville’s Community School of the Arts, teaches voice for Pellissippi State Community College, and is a frequent guest artist throughout the Southeast.

Soprano Maria Magdalena Rist’s interest in classical music started to develop when she began studying the violin at age 5. Although she has always appreciated sacred vocal music, it was not until adulthood that she pursued vocal training.

She has performed as a soloist in such works as Bernstein’s Chichester’s Psalms, Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Handel’s Gloria and Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Rutter’s Magnificat, A. Scarlatti’s Salve Regina, and Vivaldi’s Magnificat. Ms. Rist studies under Amy Porter, and her focus is on sacred early music through the Baroque period.

Ms. Rist lives in Knoxville, Tenn. with her husband, Bo, and her daughter, Elena, and is expecting a second daughter in August of 2008. She is a founding member of Harmonia Vocal Quartet and also performs with the Knoxville Choral Society, the Knoxville Chamber Chorale, and the Knoxville Early Music Project. She sings regularly at several area churches, including St. John Neumann, Sacred Heart Cathedral, and First Presbyterian.

For more information, visit www.harmoniavocalquartet.com.

Ilia Steinschneider received a Master's Degree in Music from Boston University and studied violin at the Preparatory Division of the Moscow State Conservatory (with Ludmilla Granova), the Moscow State Conservatory (with Marina Yashvili), and the Oberlin Conservatory (with Taras Gabora). He has performed extensively throughout the United States and Russia, including serving as a member of the Symphony Pro-Musica Orchestra (Boston), Civic Symphony Orchestra of Boston, Boston Virtuosi chamber orchestra, and the Vetvitsky Chamber Orchestra of Moscow. Along with KEMP, Mr. Steinschneider currently performs with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra as a core member.

Ann Stierli received her B.M. in flute performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She is a former member of the Miami Philharmonic Orchestra, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, and the Early Music Consort of Miami. Ms. Stierli is currently director of the Knoxville Chapter of the American Recorder Society (ARS) and the Silver Winds Flute Ensemble. She teaches flute, recorder, and viol privately in the Knoxville area.

Thomas Tallant studied classical guitar at the University of South Carolina with Rodney Stucky and Charles Rock. He began his studies on the lute in 1980 and has studied with Patrick O'Brien (New York City). Mr. Tallant has performed many concerts in the southeastern United States, including performances in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. He co-founded the Knoxville Early Music Project in 1991.