With 14+ years of arts administration and hospitality leadership experience, Jen Arvay Kefalas is an expert in planning, curating, and executing complex arts activities that create great experiences for all involved. Jen is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the New York Holiday Singers, a seasonal group that performs fun & original versions of holiday favorites.
She holds a BFA in Dance Musical Theater from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. When Jen is not producing the next great event, running financials, or managing calendars, you’ll find her doing professional voiceovers and baking the best brownies in the world. Her chocolate chip cookies are pretty amazing too!
Wendy BakerWendy Baker, soprano, has a Masters in Music Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and she obtained a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Clayton State College. She has been heard as a soloist in works including Handel Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Saint-Saëns Oratorio de Noël, Poulenc Gloria, Vivaldi Gloria, Faure Requiem, Brahms Requiem, Haydn Stabat Mater, Theresienmesse and Harmoniemesse, Mozart Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and Dona Nobis Pacem and Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle. She has sung the roles of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Giuletta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Gilda (Rigoletto), Madame Heartthrob (The Impresario), Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), and the title roles in Suor Angelica and Lucia di Lammermoor.
The recipient of numerous awards, Wendy was a Jensen Foundation National Finalist, Oratorio Society of New York Semi-Finalist, Gerda Lissner National Finalist and Grant Winner, and a Prize Winner in the Met District and Regional competitions.
She has had the privilege of traveling to Israel and the Salzburg Music Festival where she sang as the soprano soloist in the Bloch Sacred Service under the baton of Zubin Mehta. She is honored to be a member of the Saint Ignatius Loyola Choir. www.wendybakersoprano.com
Danya KatokDanya Katok, soprano, originally from State College, PA, is an exceptionally versatile vocalist whose repertoire ranges from the pure straight tone of plainchant to the exciting belt of musical theater. Performances of note include Max in Where the Wild Things Are with New York City Opera (for which she was praised by The New York Times as being “superb”), featured vocalist in “An Evening of Cole Porter” with The Boston Pops, soprano soloist in Haydn’s The Creation with Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, vocal soloist with Mark Morris Dance Group at Jacob’s Pillow, and soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble. Danya received her DMA in Voice Performance from CUNY Graduate Center in 2016 and is currently on the music faculty at Hunter College. http://danyakatok.com.
Sarah GriffithsSoprano Sarah Abigail Griffiths has been hailed for her “glowing tone, effortless facility and vivid expressivity” (Dallas Morning News), and has appeared as soloist and chorister with professional ensembles throughout the United States. She can be heard on recordings with Armonia Celeste (Centaur) and New York Virtuoso Singers (Naxos), and she is featured singing Alice Parker’s song cycle Dickinson: On Recollecting in a 2017 recording for Gothic. She has performed U.S. premieres by Bob Chilcott and Thea Musgrave and world premieres by Katherine Hoover, Edward Smaldone, and Martha Sullivan. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College, and Earlham College, and is an adjunct professor at Ramapo College and William Paterson University.
Juliet PapadopoulosPraised by the Greek National Herald as having a “powerful and clear voice that dazzles audiences,” young Greek-American soprano Juliet Ariadne Papadopoulos has performed solo in most of the major halls in New York City, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Symphony Space. Her “jewel-toned” voice (operatoday.com) and “compelling stage presence” (nick-Holmes-music.com) have led her to several international engagements; in 2024, Juliet enjoyed performing in Austria, Scotland, Greece, and England. Special recent career highlights include performing Pierrot Lunaire in Vienna as part of the “Schönberg 150” celebration and singing under Sir John Rutter’s baton as soprano soloist four times at Carnegie Hall. In August of 2024, Juliet made her professional operatic debut singing the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Opera Theater of Connecticut.
Last year, she won 2nd place in the New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition. Juliet graduated with her Masters in Music from the Yale School of Music and Yale ISM and she holds a Bachelor of Music degree, Summa cum laude, from Purchase Conservatory (State University of New York.) She is a native New Yorker and a proud graduate of the Fiorello H LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, class of 2018. This season included an appearance as soprano soloist for Sir John Rutter’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, soloing for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at her Alma mater, and performing in 13 operas at the Metropolitan Opera Company as a member of the Chorus.
Hannah Madeleine GoodmanSoprano Hannah Madeleine Goodman, hailed for her “adept coloratura,” “exquisite dynamics,” and “riotous physical comedy,” has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Originally from Oregon and based in New York City, Ms. Goodman’s performance highlights include: Fort Worth Opera, Portland Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Barn Opera / Opera Vermont, Salt Marsh Opera, Opera Saratoga, New Camerata Opera; Philadelphia Orchestra, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra; television’s Glee. Young Artist: 2024-25 Fort Worth Opera, 2019 iSING! International Festival. Awards: 2023 Camille Coloratura Awards semifinalist, 2024 American Traditions Competition quarterfinalist, 2025 Anna Sosenko Assist Trust grant recipient.
Trained in Mandarin lyric diction, Ms. Goodman has toured internationally with Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems and the iSING! International Festival. She has performed the work in London, Beijing, New York City, and Philadelphia since 2023.
Ms. Goodman is an in-demand educator and a Master Teaching Artist for the Metropolitan Opera and Little Orchestra Society. Guest artist and masterclass facilitator highlights include: National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Metropolitan Opera, Lehigh Valley Music Teachers Association, Interlochen Arts Camp, Fort Worth Opera / Bass Hall, University of North Texas.
Ms. Goodman is a proud member of AGMA, Actors’ Equity, and SAG-AFTRA. For more: www.hannahsopranah.com
Rev. Dennis J. Yesalonia, S.J.Father Dennis Yesalonia is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey. He entered the Society of Jesus in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976 and was ordained a priest at St. Joseph Chapel at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1985.
No stranger to New York City, Father Yesalonia is a 1967 graduate of Xavier High School. He journeyed to New England to attend the College of the Holy Cross and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1971. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Notre Dame Law School where he distinguished himself as a Concannon Scholar. Father Yesalonia has been a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1975 and of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1988. After entering the Society of Jesus, Father Yesalonia earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University, a bachelor of sacred theology degree from Regis College in Toronto, and a master of divinity degree from the University of Toronto.
Following his ordination to the priesthood, Father Yesalonia served as legal counsel to Boston College for thirteen years and taught a seminar on estate planning at its law school. After an interim period in private practice, he returned to academia as legal counsel to the College of the Holy Cross until 2003. In 2002, Father Yesalonia was named treasurer of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus. After a term of eleven years as treasurer, he served as chief operating officer of the Health Sciences Division of Loyola University Chicago before briefly returning to the provincial staff of the New England Province until the summer of 2015. Throughout his many years in legal and financial administration at Jesuit institutions, Father Yesalonia regularly served on weekends as an Assisting Priest at parishes in the archdioceses of Boston and Chicago and the diocese of Worcester.
Father Yesalonia joined the parish staff in September 2015. He became Pastor in June 2016.
Emily LomnitzerEmily Risley Lomnitzer holds a bachelors and masters degree in vocal performance from the Catholic University of America, where she had the privilege of studying with acclaimed sopranos Sharon Christman and Fabiana Bravo as well as composer Leo Nestor, with whom she studied sacred and choral music.
A consummate sacred musician, Lomnitzer has performed and recorded with some of the country’s most well-known choral ensembles, including those of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, and Washington National Cathedral. A proponent of new music, she has premiered choral and operatic works at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and throughout the DC area.
Lomnitzer enjoys an active theatrical career as a music director for many award-winning programs throughout the tristate area including the Staples Players and New Canaan High School.
Steven Morris
Steven Morris is a graduate of Fordham University and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Berklee College of Music with a major in songwriting. Current projects include music supervising, arranging and orchestrating Nikki Sixx’s Heroin Diaries (upcoming North American tour), composing and producing the theme music for Let’s Get After It with Chris Cuomo (SiriusXM Satellite Radio), writing music, lyrics, arrangements and orchestrations for the new musical Everyone Comes To Elaine’s (based on the book Everyone Comes To Elaine’s by A. E. Hotchner about the world renowned Upper East Side restaurant Elaine’s). Recording bass tracks for legendary guitarist, arranger and producer, David Spinozza’s Beatles Big Band project. Ongoing collaboration as a recording artist and songwriter with Grammy Award winning producer and engineer Paul Boutin (Morris Brothers). Composing and producing the theme song for The Richie Byrne Comedy Special (Network Pending). Steven has also contributed music, lyrics and orchestrations for the musicals Duck Commander Musical (Las Vegas), White Noise (Chicago, New Orleans), Once Around The Sun (Off Broadway), Rock Star (Off Off Broadway), and What You Will (Philadelphia). His recording artist releases, as one half of the Morris Brothers, include Stand Out, Pop The Trunk and One Less Dream.
He has written for, and with, major label and independent artists, and his songs have been featured on network and cable television. As a bass player he has recorded and performed everywhere and beyond, with numerous artists some of whom are; Stevie Wonder, Sting, Darius Rucker, Natalie Cole, Robin Thicke, Kristen Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Allan Toussaint, Arturo Sandovar, and in the orchestras of numerous Broadway shows (Hairspray, Hot Feet, Baby It’s You, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, It Should Have Been You, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Bronx Tale, School Of Rock, Waitress, Summer, Bat Out Of Hell). He was nominated for Chicago’s prestigious Jeff Award in the category of Outstanding New Work-Musical or Revue for the Royal George Theater production of White Noise (Whoopi Goldberg Executive Producer), and has also composed sacred music for, and performs with, the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Wallace Hall Choir. For a time, he and his twin brother could be seen as the Mad Cloning Scientists on The Late Show With David Letterman. He is a client of the WME agency, a writer/publisher affiliate at SESAC and a member of Local 802 American Federation of Musicians. He lives in New York City with his wife and their three children.
Elisa Singer StromSoprano Elisa Singer Strom enjoys a versatile career, ranging from opera to contemporary, early, and sacred music. Recent solo performances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Fairfield County Chorale, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle as well as Brahms Requiem with the choir of St. Ignatius Loyola. An active collaborative artist, Ms. Singer Strom regularly performs choral music throughout the New York area with groups such as Musica Sacra, New York Choral Artists, Voices of Ascension, choir of St. John the Divine, Park Avenue Synagogue, and more. Elisa earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and her master’s from the Cleveland Institute of Music.