Soprano

Sara Dovre Wudali lives in St. Paul, MN with her husband and two young hooligans. She owns a full-service book production house called Buuji and enjoys reading, fending off the squirrels and the rabbits from the vegetable garden, and sneaking out to a movie every once in awhile. Previously she sang in the St. Paul Chamber Singers and in the Concordia Choir (Moorhead, MN).





Kimberly Goodman has enjoyed singing in the Concordia Choir (Moorhead) and the chamber groups St. Paul Chamber Singers, Namasté, and Sacred Voice. She also played flute in the U of M Wind Ensemble. By day, Kim is a hospital chaplain in St. Paul, and spends evenings restoring her Victorian home in south Minneapolis. Next summer she hopes to plant a vegetable garden and keep it weeded.





Karen Kelley is is delighted to be a member of InVocation. Singing in choirs since the sixth grade, she has been a member of the NDSU Concert Choir, the Basilica of St. Mary Choir and the a cappella choir Voce Fresca. She puts her Theater Arts degree to good use doing voice-over work here in the Twin Cities. A collector of all things ephemeral, she enjoys antiquing and has a penchant for crate labels. She's so pleased to be a part of the charitable work that InVocation does.





Laurie Botes Zaepfel has been a singer since childhood, performing solos and participating in a variety of church, school, and community groups through the years. Although large oratorio choirs have their own thrills, her real musical love is the intimate chamber choir, and so she is very happy to be a member of InVocation. Laurie has worked as a librarian, but is currently holding down the home fort in St. Paul, caring for her two wonderful daughters. She is grateful for her understanding husband, Joseph, who willingly stays home on rehearsal nights. When not singing or chasing kids, Laurie likes to cook and to read, especially children's literature.




Alto

Becky Dop is thrilled to be a part of InVocation! She previously sang with Sacred Voice, and is active in her church’s music program. Becky is a graduate of Willamette University (Salem, Oregon), where she studied Music Therapy and French Horn performance. Becky has worked for the past 16 years in the marketing group at MGI PHARMA. She and her husband, Randy, live in Bloomington with their two teen-aged sons. With all three men in the house as trumpet players (not to mention the electric guitar and bass practicing going on), the family dog, Amber, has acquired “selective hearing”.





Jodi Gustafson (co-creative director) has her Master’s Degree in Sacred Music, with an emphasis in choral conducting, from Luther Seminary. As part of that program, she studied with Paul Westermeyer, Anton Armstrong, Carolyn Jennings, and Robert and Cora Scholz. Her Bachelor’s degree in vocal music is from Winona State University. Jodi has sung with a number of local choirs, including the National Lutheran Choir and most recently, Sacred Voice. By day, Jodi works in External Relations at the University of Minnesota; after hours, she dons her “Music Director” cape and heads over to Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. She loves to sing and to read (though not at the same time), and to take care of the home she shares with her wife Rochelle (and all her penguins).





Rochelle Milbrath has performed as a soloist and with ensembles throughout the Twin Cities, including St. Paul Chamber Singers, National Lutheran Choir, and Sacred Voice. She has always loved singing, especially since singing duets with her twin brother at 10 years old. When she has a spare minute, she also loves to cook, dream of traveling internationally, attempt do-it-yourself repairs at home, collect penguin figurines from around the world, and grow flowers and other living things in her backyard (including Walter the groundhog, fat squirrels, and several rabbit families). Rochelle works as a speech-language pathologist in Early Childhood Special Education in Minneapolis, and shares her home with Jodi (and all her books).




Tenor

Mark Doerr is a recent transplant to St. Paul from Madison, WI. His love of music started when he first picked up a bassoon in 1974, and his passion for choral music began shortly thereafter. Mark's more recent experience includes nearly 20 years with the Festival Choir of Madison, with whom he toured Austria and Japan. He has also worked with the Madison Symphonic Choir and the choir of Memorial United Church of Christ as section leader and soloist. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to join InVocation in their musical and charitable endeavors.






John Goodman began singing professionally with the Metropolitan Boys Choir at age 7 and was introduced to the trumpet at age 9. After studying art and music at St. Olaf College—and singing, playing, and composing for jazz, blues, rock, funk, and ska bands there—John toured briefly with the Chicago-based a cappella pop group Blind Man’s Bluff before settling down in Minneapolis and into a career as a graphic designer (and into married life with Kim). He has since sung with various church choirs as well as local choral groups Namasté and Sacred Voice. When not singing or working, John enjoys watching films, collecting comic books, fiddling with Macintosh computers, composing music, and spending time with family and friends. He is (still) determined to eventually learn to play guitar.





Erik Hummel has been singing for as long as he can remember. Some of his musical highlights include two years of traveling with musical ministry teams visiting a large part of the United States and spending five months in West Africa. While in West Africa, Erik enhanced his skills in hand percussion which has become another passion. Erik has also sung with the National Lutheran Choir, and in 2003, he was able to combine his love of baseball with singing as he was selected to be a national anthem soloist for a Minnesota Twins game. Erik is very excited to be a part of the music and mission of InVocation.




Bass

Michael Downs started singing in the boy's choir at his church at age 6 and has been involved in vocal and instrumental music ever since. While earning his Bachelor's degree in Church Music at St. Olaf, he sang with the St. Olaf and Chapel choirs and had the privilege of leading a Russian Language choir. After some graduate work in Choral Conducting at Michigan State and leading church choirs in Michigan and Minnesota, Michael took a musical hiatus, which he has happily broken by joining InVocation. In his spare time, he rides and races bicycles and enjoys the humor that comes from raising his energetic and talented children. Someday he hopes to remember how to play the cello.





Daniel Pederson is a Canadian import—and U.S. citizen! (most-recently hailing from Grand Forks, ND)—and is thrilled to be joining InVocation. Daniel has a BA in Music Theory and Composition from North Dakota State University and did graduate work in Choral Conducting at the University of North Dakota. As a composer, he’s had works commissioned and performed by groups at all levels. In the spring of 2006, his “Farvel” was premiered at the North Central ACDA Convention; and in the spring of 2007, his “Night on the Prairies” was performed at the National ACDA Convention in Miami. His choral works are published by Augsburg Fortress and Pavane/Hal Leonard. Daniel calls his partner Dennis “home” and lives in Minneapolis.





Dan Thunselle has participated in many choral groups in the years since the Concordia Choir, chief of which is the Senior Choir and other ensembles at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church. Dan has also enjoyed singing in a men’s a cappella quartet for the last 12 years. This quartet performs Christian music in a variety of styles including Barbershop, Contemporary, and Traditional. Dan works as an Account Manager for Agilent Technologies in Chemical Analysis Instrumentation. In his leisure time, Dan likes to spend time with his family at the lake cabin, fishing, and occasionally golfing.





Mark Weiler (co-creative director) obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from Iowa State University in Vocal Music Education and taught for 10 years at both the high school and elementary levels in Iowa and Colorado. He is currently an Assistant Managing Editor for Augsburg Fortress Publishers where he project manages the production of Augsburg’s printed music. Mark sang with Sacred Voice for 5 years, the last 2 of which he was its artistic director. He is also an active church musician and is currently the choir director at Union UCC in St. Louis Park. Most recently, he has made a foray into interior design with his partner, Will, spending almost every summer weekend of 2006 indoors, painting their new condo in the Midtown Exchange building. Color is good.