The ISM welcomes twenty-seven new students

The Yale Institute of Sacred Music is delighted to introduce twenty-seven new students who will join us at Yale in late August. The diverse cohort includes scholars from a wide range of disciplines, professional fields, and geographic areas. In conjunction with Yale Divinity School, two students will be pursuing a Master of Divinity (M.Div.), ten a Master of Art in religion (M.A.R.), and one a master’s in sacred theology (S.T.M.). With the Yale School of Music, twelve students will pursue a Master of Music (M.M.) and two a Master of Musical Arts (M.M.A.).

The new class hails from the United Kingdom, Finland, South Korea, and from many U.S. states including North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Iowa, California, and Wisconsin.

Many students have already completed advanced degrees; some are actively pursuing ordination in various denominations; and others are accomplished musicians, vocalists, and organists with extensive performance experience. Several have backgrounds in literature, art, and the humanities, with expertise in a broad range of subjects from poetry, museum curation, and cinema, to the history of medicine and urban planning. Community engagement and service is also a recurring theme, including volunteer work in an orphanage, teaching in an inner-city school, and chaplaincy at a trauma center. 

The unique backgrounds and profound dedication of all these students will undoubtedly enrich our ISM community. Congratulations and a very warm welcome to all!

Read more about each student below or on the student bio website. 

Student Bios

Eden Bartholomew (M.M.A.) is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and has always been transported by stories and initially wanted to be an English professor, studying literature and music at Vassar College. They decided to pursue voice while deeply missing music-making during the spring of 2020, and recently earned a master’s degree from the Peabody Institute. Fusing their passion for poetry and music, Eden loves interpreting art song, placing in the Sylvia Green Competition (2024) and the Art Song Competition (2023, 2024) at Peabody. They are delighted to be attending Yale as a soprano in the Voxtet! When not singing, Eden can be found mountain biking, painting, or running. Website: edenbartholomew.com.

William Burrows (M.A.R.) is a British writer and photographer. Before arriving at Yale, he read theology at Oxford and studied photography and cinema at the Royal College of Art in London. He lived for many years in Moscow, Brussels, and Paris. He works at the intersections of literature, image, and theology. Above all, he is drawn to writers and artists who inscribe theological and philosophical questions in their works, particularly those who might prefer to situate themselves after “the death of God”, yet find themselves returning to old vocabularies and structures of meaning nevertheless.

Catherine Campbell (S.T.M.) is focused on liturgical studies at the ISM and the Divinity School, with interests in parallel Anglican and Roman Catholic liturgical development, the liturgies of women’s monastic and religious houses, and methods of chant. She received her B.A. in the history of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; an M.A. from the Earlham School of Religion (Society of Friends); and in 2024 an M.Div. from YDS, alongside the Berkeley diploma in Anglican Studies. She grew up in central Pennsylvania, and returns to New Haven from a yearlong chaplain residency at a large trauma center and teaching hospital in New Jersey. From a background in classical ballet, she has become a wholehearted parish choir member and an enthusiastic beginner organist, and is passionate about welcoming newcomers to choral liturgy and lay liturgical leadership.

Gabriel (Gabe) Colombo (M.Div) is originally from Austin, Texas, the ancestral homelands of the Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Comanche, and Lipan Apache peoples. He received a B.A. in Plan II Honors (humanities) and urban studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School Design. Having practiced as an urban planner and designer in Boston for several years, he is now pursuing ordination as a priest in the Episcopal Church and hopes to continue weaving together spirituality and urban design, cultivating urban spaces of communion among people and land through creative ministry, scholarship, and design practice. Gabe will be an M.Div. student at Berkeley along with the ISM. He enjoys conversations and activities related to urbanism, art, architecture, liturgy, literature and poetry, music, hiking, cycling, film, theatre, and the ephemeral.

Grace Currie (M.M.) is a choral conductor, vocalist, and arts leader from Aurora, Illinois. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in choral music education with highest honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently pursuing a Master of Music in choral conducting at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Grace is passionate about community-centered music-making, sacred repertoire, and exploring the intersection of choral performance and storytelling. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of City of Lights Theatre and Cabaret. Outside of music, she enjoys spending time with family, content creation, travel, cooking, and staying active.

Xenya Currie (M.A.R.)  grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and comes to New Haven from Philadelphia, where she spent a year living in an intentional community and working at a tuition-free middle school in the city. Before that, she earned her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in English with a minor in philosophy. She is fascinated by the intersection of religion and literature, particularly in Victorian and nineteenth-century Russian texts. In her free time, she loves reading, going on long walks, and exploring local coffee shops in search of the best oat lavender latte.  

Brian De Stefano (M.M.) is a baritone and conductor with a bachelor’s degree in music education and vocal performance from the University of North Texas. While there, Brian sang with the A Cappella Choir, the school’s flagship choral ensemble. They served as a staff singer at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas. Additionally, while in DFW, Brian sang professionally with Incarnatus, Verdigris Ensemble, and the Saint Michael and All Angels Compline Choir. As conductor, Brian was selected for the 2024 Southwestern ACDA undergraduate conducting masterclass, and the 2025 Texas Choral Directors Association conducting masterclass.

Gwendolyn DeLaney (M.M.A.) is a mezzo-soprano with a passion for early music, new music, and American opera. At the ISM she will be part of the Voxtet. On the operatic stage, Gwendolyn has recently been seen as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with UMKC Opera Theater, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Heartland Opera Theater, and The Manager in Working Hard & Hardly Working with No Divide KC and The Lyric Opera of Kansas City. When she isn’t singing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book or playing board games with her friends.

Sarah Christine George (M.A.R.) is from Indianapolis, IN with a B.S. from Georgetown University. As an M.A.R. student in Religion and Literature, she is interested in how secular fiction and the Bible can be put in conversation in order to share the Gospel with all sorts of story lovers. She is a 2025-2026 Rivendell Fellow and hopes to become a member at Trinity Baptist Church. When not reading (and buying) so many books, she’s making YouTube videos for her channel ButliveintheBIBLE.

Kamala GhaneaBassiri (M.A.R.) (they/them) is originally from Portland, OR, but currently lives in Western Massachusetts. They majored in religious studies at Carleton College and have been working in museums since graduating, first as a museum educator at the Art Institute of Chicago, then as a curatorial intern at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Most recently they served as a curatorial fellow at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA). At Smith, they curated an exhibition called Temporarily Ours that was featured in the latest issue of the Boston Art Review. Kamala is interested in exploring how museums represent religion—particularly Islam—and how contemporary artists challenge or reshape curatorial and art historical narratives. For hobbies, Kamala collects mugs and prints, loves playing softball, volleyball, and pickleball, and enjoys a tag sale. 

Jacob Gruss (M.M.), named one of The Diapason’s “Top 20 Under 30,” is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School and former Organ Scholar at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Jacob won first prize and audience choice at the 27th Albert Schweitzer Young Professionals Competition, as well as first-place in both the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition and Harrisburg’s Cassel Competition. Jacob has performed in renowned venues including New York’s David Geffen Hall and with The Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. Outside of music, he enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, and playing golf.

Katherine Johnson (M.M.)

Ellie Grace Lashier (M.A.R.) joins the ISM from Iowa State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies and music with an emphasis on piano performance. Her coursework in both disciplines sparked questions about how liturgical music and practices shape individuals and communities. She is especially interested in contemporary evangelical theatrical productions. Outside of the classroom, Ellie Grace finds joy in creating and listening to music. On any given day, she might be found teaching piano lessons, attending live music performances (particularly folk or bluegrass), or serving a congregation as a church pianist.

Lydia Lee (M.A.R.) will focus her studies on music and religion. She grew up on her family’s pig farm in rural Iowa and graduated with B.A. degrees in music and English from Iowa State University. She then moved to Cambridge, UK, where she earned an M.Phil. in music, was formally received into the Church of England, rowed competitively, and played piano in a jazz band. Her master’s dissertation centered on the relationship between music and infinite longing (Sehnsucht) in German Romanticism, a research interest she intends to develop further at Yale.

Samuel Loposky (M.A.R.) comes from Mercer, Pennsylvania and is originally from Corning, New York. Sam graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2021 with a B.M. in vocal performance. He then pursued graduate studies at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, graduating in 2024 with an M.Div. After graduating from the seminary, Sam worked for a government-contracted company, working closely with various government entities serving and aiding victims of sex trafficking. At Yale, Sam will pursue an M.A.R. with a focus in religion and music. Afterwards, he hopes to continue his studies in a Ph.D. program. Sam’s research interests lie at the intersection of liturgical and sacred music and liturgical theology. He has explored and will continue to explore what music means within the context of liturgy and what that means for humanity.

Haniel Neves (M.M.) is a recent graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas where he earned his B.M. in organ with studies in harpsichord under Dr. David Heller. He served various churches and was most recently organ scholar at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church. He was awarded first prize and the hymn playing excellence award for the undergraduate division in the 2025 William C. Bill Hall Organ Competition in San Antonio, and is the winner of the 2025 Trinity Concerto Competition. He has just been awarded the 2025-2026 Knock Internship in Sacred Music at Rye Presbyterian Church, Rye, NY, and will be studying with Martin Jean and pursuing harpsichord studies with Arthur Haas at Yale. Ever the enthusiast of early recorded sound, he will also be assisting Mark Bailey at the Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings.

Nataly (Seoyoung) Pak (M.M.), originally from South Korea, has lived in San Jose, California since she was eight. At the ISM she will study organ performance. She graduated with a degree in organ performance from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Professor Christa Rakich and also explored fortepiano under the guidance of Dr. David Breitman. Nataly is a recipient of the David S. Boe–C.B. Fisk Prize for Excellence in Organ Performance. She was featured on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase with her performance from Oberlin’s Danenberg Honors Recital in 2024 and she has performed at venues close to home and in Ohio. Nataly has participated in masterclasses with professors Damin Spritzer and Bernhard Klapprott, served as organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Oberlin, and studied historic organs in Dresden, Germany. She also studied in France with leading organists including Louis Robillard, Jean-Baptiste Robin, Sophie Veronique, Olivier Penin, Christophe Mantoux, Aude Heurtematte, and Frédéric Blanc.

Julia Parsenios (M.A.R.) received her bachelor’s degree in English from Fordham University, and during her time there generated a passion for the intersection of theology and literature. She has spent much of the past year living at a Christian boys’ orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, where she cared for orphaned babies in the infant unit. Julia is very passionate about service work, and creating a strong community wherever she goes. When she’s not reading, Julia enjoys hiking, running, or watercoloring. 

Remigius Recchia (M.Div.) is an Episcopalian poet, essayist, and editor from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Named after the fifth-century Bishop of Reims, Remigius is the author of two collections of poetry and four poetry chapbooks, and he is the editor of two contemporary poetry anthologies. Academic interests include transmasculine theopoetics, addiction/recovery narrative, and the works of James Baldwin. Personal hobbies include reading, bicycling, and going to the zoo. He holds an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. While at YDS, Remigius will explore a calling to prison ministry and study queer theology. Remigius roots for the Dodgers and OSU Cowboys.

David Rice (M.M.) studied at the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham, UK. He previously held director of music positions at the churches of St James, Cambridge and Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield. Most recently, he spent a year as acting assistant director of music at Coventry Cathedral, where he was the principal organist for four weekly choral services and special events such as the installation of a Bishop and a choir tour to Romania. For six years, David was head of choral music at Solihull School, where he taught music to pupils aged 8-18 and directed the 90-strong chapel choir program; this position allowed him the flexibility to teach in areas as diverse as outdoor education, maths, and computer science.

John Richardson (M.M.) is originally from Huntington Beach, California. He decided to take up classical singing while studying history at Brigham Young University. Despite the late start, a combination of hard work and passion for vocal music landed him a spot with the BYU Singers, the university’s flagship ensemble. While in Utah, John joined the music staff at the Cathedral of the Madeliene in Salt Lake City, where he sang for weekly masses. After graduating, John was admitted to a master’s program in history at the University of Oxford and was offered a choral exhibition with the Choir of Queen’s College. After graduating from Oxford, he worked as a lay clerk with the choir of Clare College, Cambridge, where he sang for two years. During his time at Clare, John enjoyed several high-profile opportunities, including singing as a soloist on BBC Radio 3, at Symphonia Smith Square, and on tours of the Netherlands, Belgium, and the USA. He also sang in several of the UK’s major churches, including Westminster Abbey and Peterborough Cathedral. Having recently relocated back to the U.S., John began building a career as a professional musician in Washington DC, singing with several high-profile choirs, including the choir of Washington National Cathedral and the choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. John is thrilled to further develop as a professional ensemble and solo singer with the ISM, which closely aligns with his experience and career goals.

Reid Simmons (M.M.)

Joshua Swanson (M.A.R.) 

Eini Vuorinen (M.A.R.) is a theology graduate from the University of Helsinki. Originally from Finland, Eini loves people and good conversations, and laughs easily, too often at her own jokes. She is fascinated by the historical interplay between theology and art, especially during the Renaissance. Outside of academic work, Eini is passionate about fashion and classic cinema, particularly the films of Charlie Chaplin. People often say that she loves everything beautiful. It might once have seemed like a flaw, but now she sees it as a calling, expressed through studying some of the world’s most beautiful works of art. Eini also enjoys reading across genres, so if anyone is thinking of starting a book club, you can count her in! 

Anthony Washington (M.M.), originally from Dallas, TX, comes to Yale from Cornell University, where he received a B.A. in music (summa cum laude) and anthropology. While there he was named a Merrill Presidential Scholar and pursued research into Haitian classical music as a Nexus Scholar. Anthony has appeared as a conducting fellow at numerous choral festivals, among them the Sarteano Choral Workshop in Italy and the Choral Masterworks Institute at the Eastman School of Music; he recently served as a conducting apprentice for the 2025 Berkshire Choral International programme in Berlin. In masterclasses across the United States and abroad, Anthony has worked with renowned conductors including Simon Carrington, Jerry Blackstone, and William Weinert, amongst others. 

JoEllen West (M.M.) is thrilled to begin her master’s in organ performance and sacred music. Last spring, she graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance and music theory, where she studied with Todd Wilson. Originally from Dallas, TX, she studied organ with Bradley Welch and piano through the Southern Methodist University piano preparatory department for ten years and with Stephen Nielson for one year. She has held artistic leadership positions at the 2023 New ExplOratorio festival in Los Angeles, the 2024 Royal School of Church Music Midwest Residency and Interlochen Arts Camp, and has performed in numerous festivals throughout the United States and Europe. When not at the bench, JoEllen enjoys fitness, learning languages, and becoming a cheese connoisseur. 

Lucas Zuehl (M.M.) is a bass-baritone from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early sacred music program at Yale and holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance with a minor in creative writing from Brigham Young University. He has sung with Los Angeles Master Chorale, Sound of Ages Consort, and the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir. Lucas performed, recorded, and taught alongside Voces8 in the Voces8 US Scholars program, and has also served as a vocal fellow at Spoleto Festival USA and Tanglewood Music Center. He cultivated a passion for German Lied at the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Austria for two summers, where he studied with the leading experts in the genre. In 2024, he won an Encouragement Award in the Gerda Lissner Song/Lieder Competition. In his free time, Lucas likes to hike, read, and argue about urban planning.