Our Mission

Ms. Gilroy, soprano, is a member of the voice faculty at Hamline University, and maintains a private voice studio in Minneapolis. An accomplished soloist, Ms. Gilroy enjoys an active performance schedule performing in operas, recitals, chamber ensembles, orchestral concerts, and community events. Ms. Gilroy holds section leader and soloist positions with Minnesota Chorale and Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church. Her new opera company, Raison d’être Opéra/Reason for Being Opera, debuted in August of 2023. www.raisondetreopera.org. She earned her post-graduate certification in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Minnesota and holds an MM degree and BA degree in Music.

Deb Carbaugh a soprano, and native of western New York, is well known as a concert soloist in the Twin Cities area. She holds a BM in Music Education and Master of Music degree in vocal performance from State University of New York at Fredonia and she was on the faculty there for four years. Deborah has performed extensively in the western New York area, including solo appearances with Buffalo Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, and Erie Philharmonic. A Metropolitan Opera district winner, she has performed roles with numerous opera companies, among them Pittsburgh Chamber Opera, Syracuse Opera, and Artpark Opera. Deborah is currently a member of the voice faculty at Augsburg University. She is a section leader with the Minnesota Chorale and the choir of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. She has appeared frequently as both concert and opera soloist with Minnetonka Choral Society, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Oratorio Society, and Minneapolis Pops Orchestra.

Gary Briggle, a nationally renowned singer, actor, director and teacher, has nearly fifty years of experience in the full range of music-theater genres. In an administrative capacity he has served as artistic director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, artistic associate with Seaside Music Theatre, head of the Opera department at the University of Iowa, co-chairman of the musical theater department at SPCPA, and interim artistic director of Skylark Opera Theater.

Catherine Gulsvig has a piano performance degree from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and has performed as a collaborative pianist and choral singer in both the Twin Cities and London, England. She is a software architect, inventor, lepidopterist and author, and an advocate for including people with arts backgrounds (especially music) in software development. Her book Bach, Butterflies and Booleans, a memoir that explores the relevance of music and nature to the field of technology, is due for publication in 2026.

Patricia Kent has performed as soloist with many orchestras including Wooster (OH) Symphony, the Duluth Superior Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She holds a DMA from the University of Minnesota, where she won the coveted Schussler Prize. While at the U of M, she played Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, Lady Billows in Albert Herring, and Aminta in El re pastore. She played the mother in both The Consul with An Opera Theater and in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Minnesota Orchestra. She is an active performer in opera, chamber music, recitals, and oratorio. Patricia is a featured artist on several recordings, including the Minnesota AIDS Quilt Songbook, “All in the Family,” a CD of songs of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn with pianist Robert Koopmann and a CD of French songs, “La Vie Intérieure,” with Roderick Phipps-Kettlewell. Patricia serves on the music faculty of Augsburg University and Macalester College and recently retired from the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University.