MUSIC DIRECTOR / PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
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Taylor Gonzales
Taylor Gonzales was named the Music Director of the Wild Beautiful Orchestra in December 2022, having previously served as the conductor for various concerts during the orchestra’s 2021-2022 season. Originally from Bend, Oregon, Taylor earned a degree from the University of Puget Sound before studying orchestral conducting at the University of Denver under the mentorship of Lawrence Golan.
Prior to his appointment as the Music Director of the WBO, Taylor served as the Associate Conductor of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and co-founded and directed the Puget Sound Concerto Orchestra. As a pianist, Taylor has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the University of Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra and the Sunriver Music Festival. Taylor is an active piano teacher in the Denver area and maintains a large studio. When not performing, Taylor enjoys exploring the Denver community and playing with the housecat, Pippin.
Prior to his appointment as the Music Director of the WBO, Taylor served as the Associate Conductor of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and co-founded and directed the Puget Sound Concerto Orchestra. As a pianist, Taylor has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the University of Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra and the Sunriver Music Festival. Taylor is an active piano teacher in the Denver area and maintains a large studio. When not performing, Taylor enjoys exploring the Denver community and playing with the housecat, Pippin.
PERFORMERS
The WBO has flexible membership; performers may join for a single project, or stay on for several seasons.
Since 2021, performers have included:
Since 2021, performers have included:
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WOODWINDS
Ethan Ault Michael Dirnberger Catherine Flinchum Samantha Gucwa Brenden Hill Ally Kreider Chris Leech Nicolas Lengyel Kassandra Lopez Virginia Limbird Nathan Miller Jason Olney Robert Pan Juan Panneflek Ilse Reardon Kevin Sakai Sarah Sujansky PERCUSSION, KEYBOARDS, GUITAR Bryce Baturevich Bryan Chuan CJ Fankhauser Matthew Hauser Yueun Kim Chappell Kingsland Will MacLeod Gabe Mangione Ethan McGraw Brandon Paine Elijah Patchen 
VOCALISTS
Lydia Bechtel Natacha Cóndor Guevara Ally Dellgren Anika Erickson Adam Ewing Andrew Garland Amy Gray Christopher Grundy Daniela Guzmán-Égüez Sharon Harms Alexis Haro Jennifer Kingsland Travis Kornegay Oliver Poveda Preeti Saldanha Aaliyah Shambé Zoë Spangler Rachel Winnick |
BRASS
Emily Brezina Elyssa Devisscher Darian Freeman Ethan Harris Evan King Aaron Olson Noelle Strom Briay Yonker STRINGS Arlo Adams Kierra Aiello Adon Biggs Lee Blackmore Jacqueline Blazquez Natasia Boyko Ximena Calderon Ronnie Crisp Elliot Elder Dani Garcia Kris Harris Olasuyi Ige Josquin Larsen Annabelle Linke Ash Mach Kevin McFarland Phil Norman Michael Olson Ava Pacheco Autumn Pepper Lauren Phillips Michael Pordesimo Thalia Rojas Ashley Santore Crystal Schneckenburger Audrey Shia Cameron Smith Sabrina Towne Dylan Tyree Jacob Unruh Leah Weinberg Ashley White |
BOARD
Chappell Kingsland, Executive Director
Taylor Gonzales, Music Director
Bill Shia, Secretary
Adriene Callahan, Treasurer
Don Hagar, Board Member-at-Large
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Chappell Kingsland (Executive Director) is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. He has over twenty years of experience in producing concerts and recordings, ranging from solo performances (on piano and organ) to chamber music to full orchestra. His Bachelors Degree is from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, where he served on the board of Ossia, a new music ensemble run by students. Dr. Kingsland holds Masters and Doctoral Degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he founded New Voices Opera, recruited a working board of students, and raised money to produce a fully-staged performance and recording of his 90-minute opera for thirty performers. He founded Mile High Opera in Denver as a one-year project which gave concert and outreach performances of his 30-minute opera for nine performers. He ran the Wild Beautiful Concert Series at Salem United Church of Christ in 2021, producing six concerts which featured local musicians of many genres. He has worked closely with the Boulder Opera, Lamont Opera Theatre, and Thompson Street Opera (Louisville, KY) when they have given productions of his operas, serving as pianist, conductor, percussionist, and sometimes assisting with grant writing, fundraising, and promotion. He and wife Jennifer Kingsland run Strings of Brigid, a band featuring Chappell’s arrangements of Celtic music, with recordings available on streaming platforms. Chappell has organized other bands in the past, most notably Electric Athena, a quartet which performed rock, pop and classical music in the Denver area between 2017-19. As a composer, he regularly collaborates with musicians across the country.
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