Get to know members of the MasterVoices chorus
Spanning from enthusiastic high school students to seasoned singers with over 30 years of participation, our chorus is a testament to a collective dedication to the sheer joy of musical expression. As part of our commitment to sharing the stories behind the voices, we have undertaken an ongoing project to present spotlight interviews with our talented members. Every quarter, we take pride in featuring four spotlight interviews, offering an intimate glimpse into the lives and passions of these remarkable chorus members.
SAMANTHA KAHN
Member since 2019
Soprano
Dedicate a gift in honor of Samantha
From her student days at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, where she majored in Business and Vocal Performance, Samantha has been equally comfortable in both worlds. Trained in classical voice, opera, and musical theatre, some of her select credits include the role of Floor in “Furniture the Musical” at Midtown International Theatre Festival, where she was nominated for Outstanding Leading Actress and The Vixen in “The Cunning Little Vixen” at Manhattan School of Music’s Summer Voice Festival. She has also performed as the National Anthem Soloist for The Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.
With her performing roots, she found the perfect melding of her interests with her current career. Samantha leads Global Recruitment Marketing and Social Media at Warner Bros. Discovery, home to brands like Max, HBO, CNN, Warner Bros., and DC Comics in which she has the exciting task of telling the stories of the behind-the-scenes talent that brings some of the world’s most loved content to life. “When performing in Lord of The Rings with MasterVoices, I had this incredible full circle moment where I was going to work during the day for the company that created the movie, then heading over to Radio City at night to sing in the concert. It was surreal.”
MasterVoices attracted Samantha’s attention with its programming from opera to contemporary music and ability to be more of a true musical ensemble, which is why she was especially elated to flex her past professional career in the semi-chorus for Carmen. “When I decided to enter the corporate world full-time, I never thought I would have the opportunity to perform again with such a high caliber of artists and in some of the world’s most esteemed venues. I like to think I’ve mastered the art of balancing my passions and MasterVoices has helped me do that.” At the time of this interview, Samantha worked for WBD. Samantha is now Director of Employer Branding for Veterinary Emergency Group.
ed Yim
Member since 2017
Tenor
Dedicate a gift in honor of Ed
Ed got into orchestra management when he was 24 and has been in key leadership positions with the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others. He is now in public media at the top of WQXR, New York’s classical music station, raising money, doing scheduling, strategizing and program development.
Ed always thought about joining The Collegiate Chorale, and finally joined MasterVoices in 2017. “I like the community of people, I like Ted, I like doing musical theatre, concert programs and new music which I’m committed to. MV was the group that encompassed a lot of things I was interested in.”
“I’m a low 2nd tenor. I’m really a baritone who refuses to believe that I’m a baritone. I’m used to being an inner voice.” He particularly loves singing the Handel (Dixit Dominus). “That’s my language. I know how to do that.” Ed also notes: “In my job people are always asking me: What should I do? What about this? On Monday evenings, Ted and Julie tell me what I should do, and I just need to follow the instructions.”
Although raised in Los Angeles and Boston, Ed is now a New Yorker through and through. He and his husband live in Hell’s Kitchen. “We spend a lot of time at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Broadway theatres and I can walk everywhere. We love taking long walks with our dog, Huck(leberry). MasterVoices is part of his passion for New York. “If you love culture, there’s no place else to be.”
Reina Muñiz
Member Since 2018
Soprano
Dedicate a gift in honor of Reina
Reina first learned about MasterVoices when she was given a ticket to see Babes in Toyland in 2017. After the show she “wished she could be part of a production like that”, and in 2018 her wish was granted when she was accepted into the Side-by-Side program during her senior year at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. Reina was drawn to classical repertoire in high school where her focus was on vocal performance. She has continued on that path and is now in her fourth year at Brooklyn College Conservatory as a classical voice major (soprano). She continues to sing with MasterVoices as her college schedule permits, as she did when joining the chorus for our recent Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers performances at Radio City Music Hall.
Reina credits her time in the Side-by-Side program as an important part of her development as an artist, from her conversations with her mentor, soprano Shelly Nelson, and the time spent researching the many shows and performers mentioned by Ted Sperling in his anecdotes during rehearsal. But her favorite experience was performing in MasterVoices production Lady in the Dark – which she describes as “magical.” Speaking of magic and wishes, one of her dream roles is the Fairy Godmother in Massenet’s Cendrillon.
Laurie Rios
member since 1985
aLTO
Dedicate a gift in honor of Laurie
Laurie started singing with The Collegiate Chorale as a tenor but she moved one year later to her rightful place in the Alto section and settled in for her (soon to be) thirty-ninth season with the chorus. Originally from Hagerstown, Md., Laurie earned a Journalism degree from Penn State and started her work life as a reporter in Westchester and then Mt. Kisco, NY. The lure of New York City meant a change of venue, an MBA in Marketing from Pace University; and, eventually, she “stumbled into teaching”. She earned a Master’s of TESOL from Hunter College and worked for twenty years in the ESL world – changing countless lives for the better. She says that her 15 years of teaching English to adult immigrants was ‘the best job of all”.
After retiring in 2019, Laurie has returned to playing the violin which she had previously studied for many years. Married for thirty 30 years, Laurie and husband Joe are parents to Daniel who has sung with our Side-by-Side program, participated in two of the Chorus’ overseas trips and is now in the bass section.
Laurie’s favorite memory was the Mozart ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ at Carnegie Hall – with Marion Anderson in the audience and Bob Bass conducting this most exquisite concert. Laurie has traveled with the chorus for five Verbier seasons and two trips to Israel and the Salzburg Festival. She has called her experiences singing with MasterVoices as one of “connectivity – the hearts are all beating the same”, and also of awe in the singing and feeling beautifully “out of space and time”.