Sons of Orpheus Members

The Director and Accompanist

Grayson Hirst, Artistic Director

Grayson Hirst, professor of voice at the University of Arizona, has devoted himself to the evolution of Sons of Orpheus since founding the organization in the fall of 1991. His full biography can be found here.

Brent Burmeister, Accompanist

Our pianist since 1998, Brent is one who not only can play the accompaniments to perfection, but also carefully checks all arrangements. We appreciate the valuable advice and error checking of the “Orpheus Philharmonic,” and also the occasional tidbits from Adler, Schopenhauer, and Nietsche that he throws at us.

The Singers

* Indicates a founding member of the choir

First Tenors

Brandon Dale—Brandon is a Sophomore at the University of Arizona. Born and raied in Portland, Oregon, he graduated from Vally Catholic High School in 2009 and is now pursuing a degree in Vocal Performance at the UA School of Music. He has sung with the Oregon Bach Festval Stangland Family Youth Choral Academy under the direction of Anton Armstrong for three years, and the Oregon Children’s Choir and Youth Chorus under the directon of Sandra Miller for ten years, in which he has traveled through central Europe. He has played the parts of Ahmal and King Kasper in “Ahmal and the Night Visitors.”
Eugene Friesen—Eugene has had two careers, first as an army chaplain, and second as a psychologist in private practice in Tucson. In retirement, he gives psychology lectures on cruise ships.
John F. Kamper—John, while in the seminary for 11 years, was in the Schola (choir) as a member and also as Choir Conductor, both for Gregorian Chant and polyphony. He played the clarinet, the Tenor Sax in a Dixieland Jazz quintet and strummed the guitar to folk songs in the 60’s. After the seminary, music slipped by. He was busy raising a family, working for various banks as a Manager of the Real Estate Department. John is now an Adjunct Faculty Member for both Pima Community College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, teaching Finance (he has an MBA) and Microsoft Office courses. After a chance meeting with Tom McGorray, John joined Sons and has since realized how much he missed and enjoys singing.
David Hernandez
Tom McGorray—Listserv Manager
A native of Buffalo, NY, Tom is a former Naval Aviator and a retired FBI agent. Tom has sung with the Barbershopers (SPEBSQSA) in quartets and choruses for 41 years. Tom also sings with the Diocesan Chorale, and St Elizabeth’s Parish Choir here in Tucson. He is a private investigator, FBI BICS investigator, Desk Top Publisher, writer, an Apple Macintosh computer consultant and maintains some 30 web sites on the Internet. He also runs seven listservs, including the Sons of Orpheus (sonsofo), the Knights of Columbus (KC8077), and one for 2800 retired FBI agents (xgboys).
Bruce Mortensen—Section Leader
Born in Clinton Iowa, Bruce has lived in Tucson since 1978. His partner Vicki Franz works at the American Board of Radiology. “We have two live-in domestic terrierests which keep us on border patrol of our back yard. They think of themselves as great white bush hunters in their little pith helmets, but we have their numbers!”
James Naughton—Born in 1941 in Pittsburgh, James moved to Tucson in 1951. He went to High School, and college at a seminary in California and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1963. Married to Lesa, James has two children and owned and operated Naughton Plumbing until his retirement on January 1, 2000.
Jim Tomlinson—Jim was program manager for a $1.5 billion joint military services program to computerize the development of weapons systems.
Jerry J. Villano—Jerry graduated from the University of Colorado in 1956, and has been a Tucson resident for forty nine years. He trained and graduated from Colorado University—Boulder, Colorado and Physical Medicine, Denver, Colorado. He worked in private practice as a Physical Therapist for forty one years and is now retired. He has five wonderful children and five wonderful grandchildren. His dear deceased wife Betty of fifty two years supposts family, friends and Sons of Orpheus concerts with her spiritual grace. Jerry has sung with Sons of Orpheus for fourteen years.
Daniel Westcott
Dick Wroldsen—Dick moved to Tucson in 1993 from the Bay Area, and is currently associate manager of Long Realty’s Foothills office. Dick is a member of the Catalina Foothills Church and sings in the choir. Dick and his wife Kay enjoy desert living in the Old Foothills and have two married children in Portland and Denver, and two grandchildren.

Second Tenors

Dave Burns—A Montana native, Dave has lived in Tucson since 1984. He is a partner in BWS Architects, and is a hiker, bicyclist and fisherman. His wife Nancy is a fantastic cook and native of Lima, Peru. He has two grown daughters.
Darwin Hall—Performing under his first name only, Darwin—“Mr. Smoooooth,” from Washington, D.C., has been an active part of Tucson’s arts community for more than thirty years, as both a professional singer and an actor. Darwin has been active in choral singing since high school, when his choir sang in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building for the 100th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. He attended Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia, where he sang with both the Concert Choir and Male Chorus. Audiences clearly enjoy his rich baritone voice and his warm personal magnetism whether on stage, at a dinner house, a dance, private party, a retirement community, many local churches or sacred ceremony. He regularly sings every Friday evening at Vitello’s Resturante Italiano, in Catalina.
Jim Hogan—A native of Brooklyn, NY, Jim is the owner of the Hogan School of Real Estate. He received his B.S. degree in Geology from the City College of New York, plays the guitar and is a singer-songwriter. He has published two CDs of his music: Home in Arizona and When I Pick Up My Guitar.
Van G. Honeman—Van is an eleven-year veteran of Sons of Orpheus. He is an official court reporter in Pima County Superior Court. He has two adult children, Grant and Michelle, and is single. His hobbies are international travel, history, and whitewater rafting. He is looking forward to retirement in April 2011 and hitting the road in a 5th-wheel trailer.
Bob Kurtz—A graduate of Michigan State University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and having served 8 years, active and inactive, in the U.S. Army Reserves, Bob is now retired from his family sand, gravel, and ready-mixed concrete business. He and his wifesplit their year between Michigan and Green Valley. Since high school, Bob has been actively involved in church and community choirs, and has performed in a number of operettas.
Luciano Marazzo
Richard Miller—Richard grew up in upstate New York and attended the University of Rochester and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He worked at Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn., for 33 years, eventually becoming Assistant Headmaster. He retired to Tucson in June of 2000. Since that time he has served as a community volunteer for several organizations, including the Community Advisory Board of United Way, as well as its Supporting Seniors Coalition, and as a Literacy Volunteer Tutor. He is the current chair of the Executive Committee of Sons of Orpheus. Richard and his wife Linda have two children, both of whom are married and live in California.
Mike Negrete—Section Leader
Mike works as a mail carrier for the US Postal Service, and has been a resident of Tucson for 30 years. He was a founding member of Sons of Orpheus, and has recently returned to the choir after a long hiatus. He was born and raised an Ohio Buckeye, and loves major sports. Mike was delighted to find on our recent trip to German and Austria that buckeye trees are ubiquitous there, where they’re called “kastanie” trees!
Doug Nordell
Chris Richied
Ken Rosenblatt—A new arrival from California, Ken just finished a long career as a government lawyer. In college, he sang with the UCLA Men's Glee Club. He and his wife of 29 years have settled in Tucson, where Ken intends to write books and keep on singing.
Larry Ross—Larry, a retired physician/cardiologist, and Sonja, a psychologist, snowbirds from New York City, moved to moved to Tucson in 1998. He graduated from Brown University and the NYU School of Medicine, served as Captain in the U.S. Army from 1961 to 1965, and then conducted private medical practice in New York City from 1965 to 1996. He had faculty appointments at the NYU School of Medicine and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. He has been singing in choral groups since entering college. He took a course in choral conducting while in college, and was an organizer and conductor of a male sextet.
Larry Sayre—Larry has lived in Tucson since 1992. He is a psychologist in private practice. Before moving to Tucson, he served on active duty with the U.S. Air Force for over 26 years. He has sung in church and school choirs since childhood and currently sings with the Foothills PCA Choir and Arts Express Chorale.

Baritones

Mike Bradley—Mike is from the Bay Area and has been an apprentice boat-builder, a Marine, a Sierra Club staffer, a “junior executive” in the transportation industry, a graduate student at Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, a post-doctoral fellow at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla and a professor of Hydrology and Water Resources and Urban Planning at the U of A since 1972. He specializes in water rights and policy in the Southwest (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas). He and “team Bradley” (wife Dorotha and her sister Kathleen) were on the Germany-Austria tour, enjoying it greatly. Mike also paints watercolor landscapes and is in the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild.
Bob Couch—Besides singing in the shower and in several church choirs, Bob has music running through his head constantly.
Michael Claridge
Terry DeGrenier—Terry, his wife Blanca and his son recently moved to Tucson from Bradford, MA. He was active in his high school chorus, barbershop groups, musical theater and church choirs, but he drifted away for several years and is now very grateful for the opportunity to sing once again! He is a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and has over 15 years of experience in Information Technology.
Chuck Dickson—Chuck moved to Tucson after taking early retirement from teaching history at a small college in Ohio. He is thoroughly enjoying Tucson. In addition to singing with Sons of Orpheus and Arizona Repertory Singers, he is an active member of Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. His hobbies include reading, weight-lifting, and swimming.
Jim Filipek—Section leader
Jim has been singing in choruses for over 40 years, and has some conducting experience as well. He is married to Candice.
Cameron Fordyce—Cameron retired in 1994 from a career with the Federal Reserve Bank, and worked thereafter for five years at Northeastern University Graduate School of Business running a Master of Science in Finance program. He has been involved, off and on for the past 40 years, in singing choral, church and folk music. He and his wife moved from Massachusetts to Tucson in 2003. They have four children and five grandchildren. They have a summer home in Marion, Massachusetts.
Michael Fraser—Originally from British Columbia, Canada, Mike is a metallurgical engineer with a career in the international mining and metals business. His current business card says he specializes in smelling the roses (planted by others), singing the old songs, and spoiling the grandchildren.
David Harrington
Frank Hartline—Frank and his wife Cherie moved to Tucson to work for Raytheon Missile Systems from Dallas, where he worked for Texas Instruments after a 30 year Army career as an armored cavaly officer, acquisition manager and economics professor. Degrees include a BS in Engineering from the US Military Academy and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, UPA. Frank sings with the Catalina Foothills Church and Arts Express choirs and with the Tucson Babershop eXperience—the Tucson chapter of the world’s largest male singing organization, the Barbershop Harmony Society. He performs with the western band the “Moonstruck Coyotes.”
Jim Kitchack—Jim hails from Southeastern Wisconsin, the Milwaukee area. Among many endeavors since retiring in 1999, he has set up and managed a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, known in Arizona as Habistore. He also started a local men’s chorus (DeKoven Men’s Chorus) in November of 2007 and has performed with them regularly. Jim and his wife Lorna have two married daughters and their first grandchild born in 2009. Jim also enjoys sportscars and is a hands-on “house-flipper” when he has the time. Jim and his wife currently spend winters in Green Valley, and summers back in Wisconsin, and are planning to increase their Arizona time soon.
Ned Mackey—Ned taught English and Humanities at Rincon, University, and Tucson high schools. He sang with the University of Oregon Singers in his college days and with the Bean Alley Boys during folk-craze days. He is a member of the Society of Southwestern Authors and writes/edits Voice of Orpheus, our periodic newsletter. He rides a bicycle with a group three or four days a week. He and his wife, Pat, have three children and five grandchildren.
Samson McCrady—Samson is currently a senior at BASIS Tucson High School, and takes private voice lessons from Prof. Grayson Hirst at the University of Arizona. A graduate of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus, he is glad to be singing in a choir again.
Rick Sack—A native Chicagoan, Rick is a Realtor specializing in land and lot sales with Long Realty. With a diverse music and theater background, he is currently an occasional cantorial soloist and choir member at a local synagogue. He and his wife Holly enjoy hiking, reading, tennis, and their Australian Shepherd, “SHAY.”
Vern Williamsen*—Vern is a retired Professor of Spanish Literature whose B.A. was in music theory. He taught public school music and Spanish for 17 years before changing careers. He has sung in choral groups consistently since elementary school days. Verne has arranged over thirty compositions for Sons of Orpheus.

Basses

Ron Bailey—Ron is a retired engineer for Bendix Commercial Vehicle systems in Elyria, Ohio. He spent 38 years with various divisions of Bendix in South Bend, Indiana, Troy, New York, Elyria, Ohio and Seoul, Korea. Ron and his wife are snowbirds from October through April and both enjoy playing golf in the beautiful Tucson weather. Ron spent the past 16 years singing with The Singers’ Club of Cleveland. He also enjoys woodworking and motorcycles.
Jeffrey Handt—Jeffrey is a Commissioner on the Tucson Commission on Disability Issues. He is medically retired and collects business cards. In addition to Sons of Orpheus, he sings with Holy Cross Lutheran Church Choir, Sonoran Desert Singers, and Reach the World.
Thomas Kane—Tom began his dedication to choral singing with the Bowdoin College Glee Club in Maine. During the Cold War, he was active in government service abroad, returning stateside in the 1970s. Retiring from Frazee Paint in San Diego, he returned to Maine and resumed his singing connection with the Choral Art Society in Portland. A confirmed snowbird, Tom now summers in Alaska and winters in Tucson.
Jess Koehn
George Ledbetter—Section leader
George is in his third year as an Orphean where he sings bass. A native of Seattle Washington, George received his BA degree from The University of Puget Sound and his MBA from Seattle University. George moved to Tucson about 9 years ago and became a member of the Unity Chorus, The Southside Presbyterian Choir. He currently sings with the Tucson Arizona Mass Chorus (TAMC) and the Eckankar chorus. He retired from Thermal Efficiency Inc. an alternative energy company. His friends accused him of working to support his physical fitness habits; running, bicycling, mountaineering and playing racquet sports.
Gary Smyth
Eugene Stevick
Steve Wafler—Steve taught elementary education for thirty years in inner city Minneapolis after attending the Univ. of Minnesota where he sang in the chorus. He has sung in various Episcopal church choirs for 50 years. His wife Anna and he are snowbirds for five months and love the Tuscon weather and atmosphere. Steve is an avid gardener, specializing in hostas.
Thomas Wentzel—Webmaster. Tom grew up in Maine, where he sang in the Bates College Choir for four years. In Tucson in the late 80s, he sang motets, madrigals, carols, and shape-note music with the eight-member Furry Day Singers. He joined the Sons of Orpheus in January 2002 and enjoys their varied repertoire. With a Ph.D. in Physics, Tom works as a scientific programmer for the National Solar Observatory. He has been married to Cindy Meier since 1987. He currently divides his free time between Sons of Orpheus, for which he is Webmaster, newsletter caricaturist, and arranger, and The Rogue Theatre (co-founded by Cindy Meier), for which he is Webmaster, layout artist, treasurer, and business manager.
Woon-Yin Wong

Our others

Sue Lane—Accompanist. Sue Lane accompanies Orpheus at various venues around town, and occasionally plays duets with Brent during concerts and tours. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and always involved with music, she was a church organist at age 12 and throughout her teen years. Serious piano study did not begin, however, until later in life, after marriage (husband Ken) and children (two sons, now grown). She graduated from the U of A with a degree in Piano Performance, and spent several years accompanying at the U of A, and for Ballet Arizona, as well as for Orpheus and others.

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visitors since February 10, 2007