Meet our Prima Melodia guest artists

Praised for her musicality and stage presence, American mezzo-soprano EMILY ANDERSON has performed domestically and internationally in operatic roles such as Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. A lover of new works, she has workshopped and premiered roles with the Twenty-Four Workshop, the Nathan Felix Opera Collective, and Central City Opera. She has also competed around the country, including most recently in the DLOG Aria Competition and the Laffont Competition. She can next be seen in Art Song Colorado’s staged concert series, Amuse Bouche! Ms. Anderson is a 2023-2024 Seicento Apprentice Artist.

SARAH BIBER has played viola da gamba and cello across the U.S., Australia, and China. In recent dance collaborations, she was featured with the Paul Taylor Dance Company performing solo Bach for the company’s first performance with period instruments. Ms. Biber earned her doctorate from Stony Brook University after double-degree studies at Oberlin Conservatory and College and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She recently relocated to Golden, Colorado, where she teaches and plays with ensembles like the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Colorado Bach Ensemble, and the Colorado Chamber Players. Ms. Biber plays an 1815 Lockey Hill cello and a 2015 gamba by François Danger. A Colorado native, she has been delighted to be a part of the growth of early music in this beautiful state. 

STACEY BRADY enjoys performing on both baroque and modern violin. A Colorado native, she is a dedicated teacher with Boulder Suzuki Strings and the University of Northern Colorado, and enjoys her studio of students ranging from age 3 to 23. She has been a member of the highly acclaimed Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado since its inception in 2005, and has performed with Baroque ensembles across the U.S., including most recently the North Carolina Baroque Ensemble and Wyoming Baroque. Ms. Brady has performed many times with Seicento Baroque Ensemble since its first concert in 2011 and is excited to be playing once again with this lovely ensemble.

CHUCK COLBURN is a devoted cornettist living in Seattle, Washington, where he also serves as a trumpet instructor. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music in education, and subsequently developed a deep fascination with and passion for early music. He has taken the stage with Pacific Music Works-Early Music Underground, and Austin Baroque Orchestra and Choir, as well as with the Christ Church Episcopal Choir in Vancouver, B.C., The Ave Renaissance Women’s Choir of Seattle, and Sine Nomine. He performed solo and improvisational Renaissance repertoire at the 2017 University of Oregon Musiking conference and at Central Washington University. Recently, Mr. Colburn has been performing solo recitals on cornetto in the Northwest with his friend and mentor, keyboardist Margret Gries.

MARK ALAN FILBERT, conductor for Ancor che col partire, has served as Cantor (i.e., Organist/Choirmaster) for Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Denver since 2002. Currently pursuing a doctorate (DSM) through the Graduate Theological Foundation, he is a graduate of Oral Roberts University (BM, BME) and Southern Methodist University (MSM, MM), and is a Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Formerly Music Director for Seicento and active in the American Guild of Organists and the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, Mr. Filbert is an avid collector of hymnals and resides in Aurora, with his husband of 31 years, Thomas Strickland, and their two cats, Libby and Brubeck. 

Tenor DANIEL HUTCHINGS performs in Colorado with ensembles such as the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, the Boulder Bach Festival, the Denver Early Music Consort, St. Martin’s Chamber Choir, and Seicento Baroque Ensemble. He has premiered many works for tenor and piano composed by his wife, Rachael Lu Hutchings. Before moving to Colorado, Mr. Hutchings was a fixture of the San Francisco Bay Area early music scene. He appeared frequently with American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, and Magnificat, and returns yearly to perform with the San Francisco Bach Choir and the Sonoma Bach Choir. He performed for five years at the Carmel Bach Festival, and was one of its Virginia Best Adams Fellows. The San Francisco Classical Voice says , “tenor Dan Hutchings…performed with great sensitivity. Hutchings’ high clarion tenor is perfect for Bach’s music.” The Denver Post says, “Hutchings commanded rapt attention in his beautifully phrased performance… With extraordinary breath control and fine-tuned interpretation, he delivered this piece…with aplomb.”

ANN JEFFERS, soprano, is honored to join the Seicento family as an Apprentice Artist. After a hiatus for a second career as a cancer genetic counselor, she resumed studying voice in 2021 with Dr. Juliana Bishop Hoch. She has sung with Loveland Opera Theater and at the National Universalist Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. She is currently a member of the Rocky Mountain Chamber Singers. Her earlier experience includes solo performances with many Boston-area organizations, including Boston Early Music Festival, Boston Cecilia, Masterworks Chorale, Harvard-Radcliffe Chorale, Boston Light Opera, Boston Summer Opera Theater, and Playwrights’ Platform.  

LINDA LUNBECK, recorder, has been the leading recorder soloist throughout the Rocky Mountain region since completing her Master of Music in Early Music Performance at the New England Conservatory. A member of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, her performances also include the Aspen Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, and others. She co-founded Diverse Passions early music ensemble and has served on the board of area arts organizations, including Seicento. Ms. Lunbeck teaches privately, coaches ensembles, has deep roots in the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music and movement education, and is a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences.

Violinist BRUNE MACARY, a native of Paris, France, has been an active performer in the Boulder area for the past 12 years. Specializing in baroque music, she is a member of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, as well as the Boulder Bach Festival. She regularly performs with Seicento Baroque Ensemble and her recently formed baroque chamber group Cadmus. She plays modern violin with Sphere Ensemble and the Steamboat Symphony, and as Principal Second of the Boulder Chamber Orchestra. She maintains an active studio of violin and viola students in her home in Nederland.

Mezzo-soprano GABRIELLE RAZAFINJATOVO, celebrated for her expressive musicality and rich vocal tone, is an active performer and teacher in Colorado’s Front Range. Notable achievements include second place in the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music Honors Competition, multiple finalist awards in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition for Colorado Singers, and finalist in the Colorado Bach Ensemble’s Competition for Young Artists. Ms. Razafinjatovo has performed operatic roles with Boulder Opera Company, Opera Fort Collins, and Western Plains Opera. She is an accomplished choral singer and soloist, performing in concert with groups including Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, and Central City Opera. In addition to her performance career, she maintains a private voice and piano studio. Ms. Razafinjatovo is a 2023-2024 Seicento Apprentice Artist.

WILLIAM SIMMS is an active performer of early music. Equally adept on lute, theorbo, and baroque guitar, he appears regularly with Apollo’s Fire, The Washington Bach Consort, Ensemble Vermillian, IndyBaroque, The Thirteen, and Three Notch’d Road. He has performed numerous operas, cantatas, and oratorios with such ensembles as the Washington National Opera, the Cleveland Opera, Opera Lafayette, and American Opera Theatre. Venues include the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Library of Congress, The Corcoran Gallery, The Kennedy Center, and The Barns at Wolftrap. He has toured and recorded with The Baltimore Consort, as well as with Apollo’s Fire. He performed on the Grammy-winning Songs of Orpheus with Apollo’s Fire and Karim Sulayman. His recording with Ronn McFarlane, Two Lutes, was the CD pick of the week on WETA in Washington, D.C., in 2012. Mr. Simms received a Bachelor of Music from The College of Wooster and a Master of Music from Peabody Conservatory. He serves on the faculties of Mount St. Mary’s University and Hood College, and is the founder and director of the Hood College Early Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Dorian, Centaur, Naxos, and Elektra labels.

ANDREA WEIDEMANN is a soprano active in the Mountain West, performing early music to Wagnerian opera. A proud graduate of the University of North Texas and Colorado State University, Ms. Weidemann has recently enjoyed being a soloist for the 2024 Montana Early Music Festival, performing the role of Pamina in The Magic Flute with Boulder Opera Company, and singing in the chorus of Opera Colorado. She is a new chorister with Bravo!Vail and the Philadephia Orchestra, and is featured on an upcoming concert with the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. She sings with Ars Nova Singers in Boulder, and has loved her time as an Apprentice Artist with Seicento.

Harpsichordist WEBB WIGGINS, recognized and lauded internationally for his innovative and musical continuo realizations, has performed and recorded with many U.S. ensembles, including the Folger Consort, the Dryden Ensemble, King’s Noyse, Chatham Baroque, the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, Apollo’s Fire, The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Wiggins is also one of the foremost teachers of harpsichord, as well as a coach for Baroque chamber music and as musical director of Baroque opera.  He was Associate Professor of Harpsichord at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music for 11 years and coordinator of the early music program at the Peabody Conservatory of Music for 20 year s.  He has given numerous concerts, classes, lectures, and coachings to students at the Shanghai Music Middle School and at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Quito, Ecuador, as well as various music centers in the U.S. and Colombia.  Other performances were in Europe, Taiwan, New Zealand, and throughout the U.S.

His recordings can be heard on the Smithsonian, Dorian, EMI, Bard, and PGM labels.   Mr. Wiggins holds degrees in organ performance from Stetson University and the Eastman School of Music, and has done additional harpsichord study through the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.  He is perhaps the only harpsichordist in modern times to have given multiple performances on transatlantic voyage