Our Artists
Angela Presutti Korbitz holds degrees in voice performance and vocal pedagogy from The University of Illinois and Roosevelt University. She has also studied at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari Italy and The Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England. With a voice that has been described as “Absolutely Exquisite” by former Chicago Symphony President Henry Fogel, Angela has appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Grant Park Orchestra of Chicago, Bel Canto of Milwaukee, The Fox Valley Orchestra, The Park Ridge Civic Orchestra, Salt Creek Sinfonietta, Sinfonietta Bel Canto, The Elmhurst Choral Union, and The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. Her recital work includes performances on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Fairmont Chamber Society, Musicians Club of Women, and multiple appearances on “Live from WFMT.”
Ms. Presutti began collaborating with guitarist and husband, Ron Korbitz in 2000. Their work has been featured on numerous concert series including The Chicago Classical Guitar Society, Summer Suburban Symphony, Mayslake Summer Concerts, Lake Geneva Lyric Opera Guild, and several colleges and universities throughout the Chicagoland area. The Star Newspaper described them as “a rare chamber duo” and WFMT radio host Kerry Frumkin declared, “our audience loved them.” Angela is currently the voice area coordinator and assistant professor of music at North Central College and associate professor of music at VanderCook College of Music. She is also a professional member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Grant Park Chorus.
Ron Korbitz holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from VanderCook College of Music. He has been playing the guitar since the age of seven and is known for his ability to play in any style from classical to heavy metal and any stringed instrument that you can play with a pick. He performed for several years in the role of the Strolling Minstrel at The Royal Castle Dinner Theater and later as One-Eyed Ron at Captain Dick’s Voyage Dinner Show where he also served as the musical director. Ron also played with the Frank Pellico Orchestra, Maiden Voyage, and The Sound Connection. He was a regular in the pit orchestra for musical productions at The Sabre Room and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Fury. Ron performs regularly with his wife, soprano Angela Presutti. They have appeared together on numerous concert series throughout the Midwest and on Dame Myra Hess, CSO Radiothon, and Live from Studio One broadcasts on Classical 98.7 WFMT. He is also currently the lead guitarist for the rock band Schtillrokken. Ron also directs the choral music program at Hill Middle School. He is the Artistic Director of the Palatine Children’s Chorus and Assistant Director of the Metea Valley High School Madrigal Ensemble.
Luis Galvez described as "...the golden tenor " by Hedy Weiss of the Suntimes, is Director of Music at Mary, Mother of Divine Grace Parish. He is a native of Lima, Peru, and Founder and Executive Director of North Shore Opera Hour, a 501(c) (3) Non-profit. Luis has received numerous awards and accolades including from the Association of Peruvian Institutions in the United States of America and Canada (AIPEUC) and the Peruvian Tumi Award in recognition of his work promoting Peruvian culture. He is a graduate of The Chicago Musical College and completed the Chicago Series in Liturgical Music at St. Joseph’s College in Rensellear, Indiana. He most recently completed certified training in the Neuro-Vocal Method for Contemporary Commercial Singing.
Roxann Ferguson has performed in productions ranging from opera to improv, and with several Chicago area companies including Sinfonietta Bel Canto, Chicago Folks Operetta, Music by the Lake, North Shore Opera Hour, Belle Ensemble, and The Second City. Recent roles include Gretel in Hänsel & Gretel, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Inès in Les Bavards. Roxann can be heard on the Naxos recording of Paul Abrahám’s operetta Ball at the Savoy. She holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance and bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Anthropology, and has received awards from the SBC Voice Competition, Orpheus National Vocal Competition, and Bel Canto Italian Opera Contest. In addition to singing, Roxann is a professional voiceover actor and has been featured in national ad campaigns.
Ryan Rump, originally from eastern Pennsylvania, holds a Bachelor in Music from Temple University In Philadelphia, and a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, both degrees in Viola performance, studying both voice and collaborative piano “on the side”. Active in liturgical music since the age of 12, Ryan turned singing and conducting into part of his musical career. Currently the Music Director at St. Cletus Parish in LaGrange, IL, Ryan also actively performs as principal viola of the New Philharmonic, and in the viola section of Chicago Philharmonic, Northwest Indiana Symphony, and Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he was the principal viola for both the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and for Distinguished Concerts International New York.
Carolyn Stopka has worked as a professional cantor, soloist, chorister and section leader in Chicagoland churches, choirs and opera companies such as daCorneto Opera, The Savoyaires, Downers Grove Choral Society, Vox Caelestis,Tower Chorale, Salt Creek Sinfonietta, Elgin Opera and Sinfonietta Bel Canto for over twenty-five years, performing in operas, oratorios, and pops concerts as soloist and ensemble member. Singing roles in over twenty operas ranging from Verdi to Gilbert and Sullivan, Carolyn has performed under the baton of Robert Holst, Kostis Protopapas, Robert Ashens, Frank Miller, Dan Pasquale D’Andrea, Victoria Bond, and Josephine Lee who described her as a “powerhouse”contralto.
Carolyn has also served as a board member 2014-2018 and vocal competition judge for Sinfonietta Bel Canto from 2010 to the present. Her successful organization of, performances in, and production of the Mayslake Summer Concerts from 2014-2018 led to her goal of establishing The Four Seasons Chamber Music Society.
Carolyn has also maintained a successful career as high school English and history teacher, as well as coach for Speech, Debate, Monologue Performance, and musicals. Her students have won recognition in such contests as August Wilson New Voices, Chicago History Fair, Shakespeare Competition, and The Pegasus Playwriting Competition. Carolyn holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Loyola and a Master’s in English from Ohio University. She has studied music and voice with coaches from Chicagoland since high school. Among her favorite roles are The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Roland in Les Bavards, and Valencienne in The Merry Widow.
Colleen Ortega is the director of music and liturgy at St. Luke and St. Bernardine Parish in River Forest-Forest Park, IL. Professionally, Ms. Ortega has performed as a pianist, organist, clarinetist and vocalist (contralto) in her native Canada, Europe, and here in the Chicago area. She has worked with Main Street Opera (Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci), Da Corneto Opera (Faust, Noli Me Tangere, Nabucco) Sinfonietta Bel Canto (Il Tabarro,Suor Angelica, La Chanson de Fortunio), New Philharmonic (Merry Widow, West Side Story, South Pacific) and is so pleased to be a part of the wonderful collaboration of Four Seasons Chamber Music Society.
Nicolette Cheauré is the current Associate Principal Violist of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra and a section member of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, while also holding substitute positions with the Carmel, Albany, Danville, and Akron Symphonies and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Nicolette earned her Master of Music degree from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she majored in Viola Performance in addition to an outside concentration in Violin/Viola Pedagogy under the direction of Li-Kuo Chang, as well as a B.M. degree and a music history minor from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Dr. Kirsten Docter. She has worked closely with Roland Vamos, Almita Vamos, Lynne Ramsey, Stephen Wyrczynski, Mark Holloway, and Dimitri Murrath, along with other members of the Chicago Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Verona Quartet. She has had the privilege of working under the batons of renowned conductors Marin Alsop, Robert Spano, David Alan Miller, Cliff Colnot, James Ross, Arthur Fagen, and Thomas Wilkins in a Principal rotation. Previous appearances include sitting as Principal Viola in the Jacobs School of Music Conductor’s Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and as an Assistant Principal in the Chicago Youth Symphony Chamber Orchestra.
Summer studies include two fellowships to the National Orchestral Institute (NOI), where she was part of their inaugural cohort with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to perform chamber music on the museum’s 1695 Stradivarius “Axelrod” viola. She has also attended the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival, as well as the Jacobs School of Music Academy precollege program for three years.
Competition accolades include first-place wins at the Illinois Philharmonic’s Rising Stars, the New Philharmonic Young People’s, the Downers Grove Music Club, Darien Woman’s Club, and the Jacobs School Summer Music Clinic Concerto Competitions, among others.
Outside of performing, Nicolette is a private viola/violin teacher, as well as a Teaching Instructor for the OPUS Chamber Music Camp (Naperville, IL), the Indiana University String Academy program, and Through the Staff – which aims to provide lessons to students nationwide that could otherwise not afford their musical education. She is also a music critic and researcher, whose work can frequently be found on the performing arts blog Cleveland Classical. Her most recent project, “The Rise of the Viola, Made Possible by Nineteenth-Century Programmaticism” is expected to be published in the Journal of the American Viola Society later this year.