Community Voices Choir
Adult | September - April
A program where individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia and their caregivers create community through joyful singing. In partnership with Penn Memory Center, Curtis Institute, and The Salvation Army Kroc Center, this program fosters connection, sparks memory, and celebrates creativity with care and dignity.
Fridays 1:00-2:00 p.m. starting September 26th, with a showcase on April 10th, 1:00-2:00pm
Kroc Center
Kroc Center (Room 204)
4200 Wissahickon Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19129
Thank you to our wonderful partners for making this program possible: Salvation Army Kroc Center, Curtis Institute of Music, and Penn Memory Center.
Emilie Kealani, Community Arts Facilitator
Filipino-American soprano Emilie Kealani makes her house and role debut with Opera Philadelphia this season as Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims. Praised by The Wall Street Journal for her “delicate” and “ideal” title role portrayal in La Calisto at The Glimmerglass Festival, she has also been featured in past productions with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Curtis Opera Theatre, and has earned acclaim for her crossover work in Into the Woods, Candide, and West Side Story.
Beyond the stage, Emilie is a passionate advocate for community and cultural empowerment as the founder of the Kapwa Passion Project. The project strives to bring AAPI artists together, creating spaces for us to cultivate a shared sense of community and identity through music. Programming ranges from multidisciplinary recitals to panel discussions and has been featured on PBS WHYY TV-12 in their new Concert Specials Series in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
A San Francisco native, Emilie is dedicated to community engagement in the Bay Area with her work as a guest alumna and mentor with the San Francisco Arts Education Project – the youth musical theatre company that introduced and nurtured her love for theatre. Emilie has also worked with Horizons Unlimited as a youth community leader, helping develop programming that supports young people and families in the Mission District.
Elizabeth Gautsche, Community Arts Facilitator
Praised by the Houston Press for performances “full of vigor and spirit,” soprano Elizabeth Gautsche made her professional debut in 2017 with Opera in the Heights as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. Her repertoire includes Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Armida (Rinaldo), Peep-bo (The Mikado), and the title role in Rusalka. She was also an emerging artist in the Opera Works Summer program in Northern California.
Beyond the stage, Ms. Gautsche is a dedicated Teaching Artist, recently joining Opera Philadelphia. She has held similar posts with Los Angeles Opera and Houston Grand Opera, leading workshops that use music and storytelling to build empathy in communities such as the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, The Women’s Home, and refugee after-school programs. With the Houston Area Women’s Center, she coordinated and performed in the 2018 benefit concert Exultate! Uplifting Women through Song.
An active educator, she has taught as Adjunct Voice Professor at Sam Houston State University and maintains a nationwide private studio. She previously served in administrative roles with Houston Grand Opera and as assistant at the Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti in Lucca, Italy.
Ms. Gautsche earned her Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Julian Jenson, Community Arts Facilitator
Julian Jenson is a pianist, collaborative musician, and dedicated pedagogue originally from Southern California. Born into a musical family, he began piano and conducting studies at an early age and has since performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States and internationally, including in Italy, Iceland, Japan, and Chile. Julian appears regularly on television, radio, and streaming platforms and brings deep musical sensitivity to his work with vocalists, shaped in part by his long-standing artistic partnership with his wife, soprano Susana Leiva. An experienced teacher, he maintains an active piano studio and offers music theory tutoring and private lessons for students of all ages. Julian holds a Master’s in Music Theory from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s in Piano Performance, Magna Cum Laude, from La Sierra University. His philosophy centers on using music to enrich communities and inspire the next generation of musicians.