J.P. Kentros is in his second year as an Arts Specialist for Canyons School District where he leads, develops, and administers support for Arts programs district wide. Prior to his district assignment, Kentros spent 13 years as a high school choir teacher, and spent his last six as the Choir Director at Jordan High School in Sandy, UT. During his years directing high school choirs, he consistently directed groups to receiving superior ratings at Region and State Festivals, as well as directed groups who have placed at local and national competitions. Kentros has taken ensembles on performance tours to Seattle, Washington D.C., San Diego, Anaheim, Las Vegas, and more.

Kentros currently serves as a director for the Lehi Community Choirs, conducting a Lehi/Saratoga Springs/Eagle Mountain performance of Handel's Messiah each year in December, and a new works SATB choral performance towards the beginning of each calendar year. This ensemble proudly aims to maximize the talents of singers of all experience levels, and seeks to connect people from all backgrounds and beliefs.

He received his Master of Music Education degree at SUU in the Spring of 2018. Kentros also holds a Bachelor's degree from Southern Utah University (double major in Music Education and Theatre Education), and upon graduation was named the Outstanding Graduate of SUU's Music Department in 2009. 

Always refining his craft, Kentros remains an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and currently serves as the chair of the Utah Music Educators Association Choral Committee as the Choral VP. As well as directing choirs, Kentros has frequently served as music director and private voice teacher to students from elementary to high school ages, and has even had the privilege of being hired as guest-music-director for both Southern Utah University and Dixie State University mainstage theater department productions.

Kentros looks forward every day to the challenges that directing choirs and coaching voices bring, and always enjoys watching students grow from doing new and challenging literature. He is excited to train young singers for the foreseeable future. 

Experienced in audio hardware and recording software, Kentros has done several presentations on streaming live performances at PD conferences across the state. He has been hired and consulted on the set up of many school livestream set ups throughout the state of Utah.

Kentros remains most proud to be a husband to Anni, and a dad to Danny and Audrey.

CLIFFORD W. KING is an award-winning Salt Lake City-based composer. Recent commissions include Cantorum Chamber Choir, Wasatch Chorale, Salt Lake Chinese Choir and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. Clifford is the composer for the popular podcast and YouTube series “Profiling Evil” and his work has been performed worldwide, including premieres by Opera Contempo, Salt Lake Choral Artists, and NEXT Ensemble. In 2022 he founded the Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir - Virtual Singers, a collective of professional choral artists dedicated to recording new works by living composers, for which he also serves as their artistic director. Clifford’s music is published by Hinshaw Music and Carus-Verlag. He loves slightly out-of-tune pianos, bighorn sheep, and rooibos tea.

Composer/Performer Randall Smith lives in pursuit of a creative practice that challenges categories and
defies assumptions and expectations about genre, style traditions, and the foundations of music itself.
Viewing music as a uniting and edifying force, Smith's interests chiefly lie in unusual and unexpected
collaborations with musicians and artists of various disciplines and media as well as community experiences
that challenge traditional concert formats and participant roles.
Never one to shy away from the bizarre, Smith makes up one half of punk-classical duo Counterpoint
Hangman, an ensemble that evades description at every turn, combining stylistically fluid spontaneity with
edgy, experimental theatrics.
Hobbies and extra-musical pursuits include cooking, reading everything in sight, learning languages, and
Chinese martial arts.

Keely Malcom is a classically trained lyric soprano based in Ogden, Utah and holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Weber State University. She has extensive background in teaching and performing classical, musical theatre, and commercial styles in both ensemble and solo settings. Keely has been a featured soloist in Chamber Orchestra Ogden and in WSU’s symphony orchestra as a winner of the Concerto Night competition. She currently serves as a vocal coach at Amplify Choirs and as an adjunct voice faculty member at Weber State University.

Nathan is a Weber State Choral Alumni and is honored to be singing with NEXT ensemble for the first time. Nathan has been surrounded by music his entire life: playing piano and saxophone, performing in musicals, and singing in choirs. Outside of performing, Nathan is a passionate artist, focusing his talents on the visual arts, such as illustration, concept art, and character design.

"Music has been a part of life since literally before I can remember. My parents often tell stories of my grandmother, a lifelong musician, singing to me as a child, and how she'd change keys just to see if I could follow along. I started doing choir extracurricularly in the 5th grade, singing at my city's Christmas festivals and other school events. I've been in choirs as much as I possibly could ever since, auditioning into the Illinois Music Educators Association's yearly middle school choir event in 8th grade and eventually into my high school's top choir. I've continued following this passion throughout my secondary education as well, singing in both the Chamber and Student Ensembles at Waubonsee Community College, and eventually the Utah State University Chamber Singers. I'm very excited to be able to provide my voice for Next Ensemble, and look forward to the concert!"

Holly Banfield graduated with a DMA in vocal performance at the University of Utah where she performed as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Juno in Semele, Madalena in Rigoletto, and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Some of Holly especially enjoys comedic roles such as Tisbe in Cenerentola, Orlofsky in Die Fladermaus, the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Third Lady in the Magic Flute. She also serves on the board for Opera Contempo.

Holly won 1st Prize in the 2021 Martha Marcks Mack Federation Competition. She was awarded Bronze in the National Russian Competition in December 2020. The University of Utah was awarded the National Opera Association’s 1st place for their productions in which she participated as Assistant Director and performed as the Mother for Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Holly is not only a performer but a passionate educator. Holly served as the Teaching Assistant for Opera Workshop and the president of the Student Opera Guild at the University of Utah from 2019-2022. Prior to her studies at the University of Utah, Holly was a choir teacher for 9 years and has had a private voice studio for over 13 years. Throughout her higher educational training, Holly has served as Assistant Teacher for Music Theory, Ear Training, Women’s Choir, University Choir, Private Voice lessons, and Opera Workshop.

Holly has studied voice with Celina Schaffer, Robert Breault, Kris Ceisinski, Darrell Babidge, Edna Garabedian, and Jacqueline Kreitzer. She has performed with Maestros Ryan Murray, Joseph Rescigno Nicolas Giusti, Brian

Alhadeff, Jeffrey Price, and Greg Ritchey. She has worked under the stage direction of Roy Stevens, Robert Breault, Edna Garabedian, Anthony Laciura, and David Ronis.

"Laudate!" is a celebratory work of excitement and praise. After its boisterous opening, the energy of the song takes off with differing motifs and rhythmic figures in each voice before the chorus unites in large, harmonic textures. The anticipation builds again before returning to the polyphonic section from before. The work slightly slows down, while maintaining its energetic spirit, creating polychordal harmonies. The uptempo energy comes back once more and builds through the key change and rollicking finale (similar to the beginning).

The Survivors’ Blessing was inspired by lines from Kendra Preston Leonard’s novella in verse Protectress, which we recently adapted into an opera. The genesis for this piece comes from one of many gorgeous excerpts that was not included in the opera. In the text, the goddess Hecate offers blessings to Medusa after she was raped by Poseidon and cursed by Athena, including blessings for healing herself, for protection, and for bringing light. Kendra expanded those few lines into a longer poem entitled “Hecate’s Tears,” which held a more universal blessing for all survivors of violence.

Haiku has long been among my favorite poetic traditions. The more I
learn of its subtleties, the more mysterious and enchanting it
becomes. Somehow, the practice of distilling an idea into so few
syllables with such deliberate balance suggests to me a pattern for
simple, intentional living (an idea I fail constantly to employ).
Matsuo Basho is broadly regarded as the father of haiku, and its
unequivocal master. In a time of barbaric cruelty, insurmountable
corruption, and a cavalier willingness to barter the living world for
profit, Basho’s invitation in this text feels poignantly timely.
I hope all who hear this setting take the master’s invitation to
heart and find a renewed sense of kinship, connection, and
responsibility with and to all living things.

This beautiful poem was originally written as a blessing for Christmas by writer and artist Jan Richardson. On her blog (adventdoor.com), she writes, “though we cannot see or feel or know all the ways that God is radiantly illuminating us, may we open ourselves toward that light. May we open our eyes, our hands, our hearts to meet it. May we lean into the light that begins in the deepest dark, bearing itself into this world for us.” In writing this piece in its original SSA voicing for the Henry Middle School Varsity Treble Choir, their director asked me to contemplate the theme of “peace” for their concert program. This text, while originally written about Advent and the anticipation of Christmas, uses wonderfully universal words that relate to ideas of peace and hope. Jan’s blessing makes me think that within each of us is the ability to work toward peace. It doesn’t take a monumental action, just many little kindnesses that we can show to others every day which radiate out to bring light to the whole of humanity. When we love, accept, and care for all of our neighbors—despite our differences—we find that the light that the dark world so desperately needs begins in us. Many thanks to the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus (Dr. Thomas Rinn, conductor) for their commissioning of this TBB voicing.

I’ve had this melody and text rattling around in my head for many years, and finally had the opportunity to flesh it out. The text is an adaptation of the traditional Irish blessing with additional original text, combined with the refrain, “God be with you ‘til we meet again.” The melodies and harmonies are very accessible—suitable for church and community choirs, as well as more experienced high school and college choirs. The piano accompaniment provides good support and contains counter melody lines—and an optional ambient electric guitar part really adds an evocative element. Ideal for a benediction/blessing or closing piece—or a graduation send-off concert. (An a cappella voicing for this piece will be coming soon.)