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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Larry LaLonde has performed at Orchestra Hall with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago; played the comedic lead “Abner Gronski” in the professional prdocution of “The Love Song of Ed for Rose”; directed and produced the “Praise in the Park” series at Ty Warner Park in Westmont; was the Dramatic Lead in an educational series under actor Gary Lonak at Indiana University,has sung with several civic choirs, a barbershop men’s chorus, and the Elmhurst Choral Union. Larry has recently played the part of Sasha the Russian in Fiddler on the Roof and the Reverend Shaw Moore in the production of Footloose. Larry has    been a music director for twenty years and has served as the music director at St. Cletus parish in LaGrange, IL, and is currently the music director at St. Isaac Jogues in Hinsdale, IL. He holds a degree in Piano Performance and studied voice under working Chicago artist Greg Walters.  Larry enjoys composing praise music and was the opening act for Christian artists Audrey Assad and Matt Maher.

Hubert Ley considered a career as an instrumental soloist in his early life, playing the Cello and studying music at the University for Music in Cologne, Germany. He also served in the (mandatory) military service in Western Germany as part of the German Federal Honor Guard’s chamber orchestra.  He ultimately decided to become an Engineer, but stayed musically active by playing in a number of orchestras, including the Aachener Kammerorchester (Chamber Orchestra of the City of Aachen, Germany) in Germany. He eventually immigrated to the US as a visiting scientist in 1991 and works since then at Argonne National Laboratory. He resumed his musical activities by playing with various local orchestras and musical ensembles in the suburbs of Chicago. In 2010, he joined the newly established Sinfonietta Bel Canto, a local chamber orchestra (incorporated as a charitable 501(c)(3) organization in Downers Grove) focusing on performing live staged operas and symphonic pieces, specifically serving the western suburbs of Chicago. Hubert Ley is the principal cellist and a board member and treasurer of the Sinfonietta Bel Canto since 2017. He is also the chair of SBC’s new Concerto Competition for young instrumentalists, and actively supports the yearly SBC Voice Competition for vocal talents. He enjoys performing with new instrumental groups, and is looking forward to perform with the Four Seasons Chamber Music Society.

Tom Culver is a recently retired public school orchestra director who taught most of his 33-year career in the LaGrange public schools.  Tom received his Bachelor of Music Education from Illinois State University in 1989 where he studied cello with Ko Iwasaki, and completed his Master of Music Education degree from VanderCook College of Music in 1994.  While in LaGrange, he increased the string program enrollment numbers fivefold to over 300 students district-wide during his tenure.  His belief that string instruments can, and should be present in all styles of music was at the core of his teaching.  In the early 2000’s, Tom introduced an electric-string element to the orchestra program there, which is continued to this day.  As a classical musician, Tom is a member of both the Southwest Symphony Orchestra and the West Suburban Symphony Orchestra, but is most passionate about playing his traditional, and 6-string electric cellos with ensembles that perform alternative styles of music.  In 2012, he co-founded the Strung Out Band, which is a rock group that performs frequently in the Chicago area, and the Big Sky Ensemble in 2022, which is an all-string band that performs root-based Americana music.  Tom and his wife Kendra, also a cellist, have three children, Lauren, Emma and Tommy that are active as musicians / teachers.

Cara Schlecker Ketter, alumna of The University of Michigan and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, is an avid performer and teacher in the Chicagoland area. She is the current Concertmaster of the West Suburban Symphony and former Member of The Civic Orchestra of Chicago.  Ms. Ketter has performed internationally in both the Rome Chamber Music Festival and the InterHarmony Festival of Germany. She made her Lincoln Center debut in 2012 and has had the pleasure of performing several times at both the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse and Le Poisson Rouge. She has been featured on Chicago’s classical station WFMT radio’s “Introductions.” Ms. Ketter was featured on national television with the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings in their PBS special, “A Grand Mercer Christmas.” 

 She has performed and toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Chuck Leavell, Jo Dee Messina, the “Ten Tenors” of Broadway, and Martin Short, to name a few. A frequent recitalist, Ms. Ketter has performed chapter recitals on behalf of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Wagner Society of America. Her recording, of Igor Frolov's Concert Fantasy on Themes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, was released through The University of Michigan's “Gershwin Initiative.” Ms. Ketter has served on faculty at Triton College and Sherwood Conservatory of Music at Columbia College in Chicago. 

Lauren Culver has been studying the violin since she was four. She is an alumnus of the Merit School of Music as well as the Western Springs School of Talent Education. Throughout high school, Lauren traveled around the world to locations like Cuba and Iceland with the Chicago Consort violin ensemble. Lauren graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts with a double major in violin performance and music education in 2023. She studied with world-renowned pedagogue Almita Vamos and held the position of principal second violin in the CCPA chamber and symphony orchestras. Lauren has a passion for teaching and has maintained a private violin studio since she was in high school. She spends her summers working and volunteering at music camps for orchestra students. Outside of performing and teaching, Lauren is also an avid composer and arranger.”