Roy Heilman – tenor (Evangelist)
A frequent tenor soloist, Roy Heilman has recently been heard in major works such as Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s The Seasons, and as Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion.
He also makes frequent ensemble appearances in the Twin Cities area, most notably with Silver Swan, Glorious Revolution Baroque, Exultate and Consortium Carissimi.
Mr. Heilman is in his seventh season as tenor soloist and section leader at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. He holds degrees in vocal performance from Gustavus Adolphus College and the New England
Conservatory of Music.
Besides performing with Exultate, Roy’s upcoming engagements include tenor soloist in the U.S. premiere of a Patrick Hadley cantata with Augsburg Masterworks Chorale and the Evangelist and tenor soloist for the Messiah Festival of the Arts in Lindsborg, Kansas.
He rehearses and lives in Shoreview, Minnesota with his wife and two children and can always be found at His website.
Jennifer Sylvester – soprano
Soprano, Jennifer Sylvester holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in Music from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota and a Master of Arts (MA) in Speech-Language Hearing Science from the University of Minnesota.
She has been a soloist for Exultate’s previous performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria, Shubert’s Mass in G, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and other works. She has also been a soloist with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto and Aria Concert and has performed as a soloist for St. Clement’s Episcopal Church, University Lutheran Church of Hope and Grace University combined choirs in the Twin Cities, and King of Glory Lutheran Church of Dallas, Texas. Jennifer participates regularly in the Thursday Musical Performing Artists recital series and has also performed recitals with the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series and Lord of Life Concert Series of Dallas.
In addition to singing as a member and Soprano Section Leader of Exultate Chamber Choir, she has sung with various other organizations,
including the Fargo/Moorhead Civic Opera, Metroplex Opera of Dallas, Minnesota Opera Chorus and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorus.
When she is not singing, she maintains a private voice studio and is a speech and language pathologist with an interest in voice disorders.
Jennifer resides in Lino Lakes with her husband, Stephen, and two sons, Sam and Charlie.
Andrea Kovago – alto
Canadian lyric mezzo soprano, Dr. Andrea Kovago is a sought after performer throughout the United States and Canada. She has performed steadily in the areas of opera, oratorio, chamber music and numerous solo and collaborative recitals throughout her career.
Dr. Kovago has performed many lead and supporting operatic roles and has often been a featured soloist with many distinguished organizations such as, Société philharmonique de Montréal, Stewart Hall Singers, Choeur symphonique de Sherbrooke, Choeur Sorel-Tracy, Montreal’s L’Ensemble Con Brio, the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, Bach Society of Minnesota, Exultate Chamber Choir and Orchestra, Minnetonka Choral Society, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and Kensington Sinfonia in Calgary.
During her time in Montréal, she performed with the Société philharmonique de Montréal under the baton of Maestro Miklos Takács, Choeur Sorel-Tracy with conductor Josée Laforest and L’Ensemble Con Brio de Montréal. Dr. Kovago is one of 16 members in Choeur de Chambre du Québec, a relatively new professional choir comprised of young Francophone and Anglophone artists from Quebec lead by artistic director, instructor and composer
Robert Ingari. Recently, she has become a new member of the Ottawa Classical Choir under the direction of Maestro Michel Brousseau. As a soloist,
Dr. Kovago has recorded at least three CDs featuring her as alto soloist. She is looking forward to adding the Bach St. John Passion to this list.
Dr. Kovago’s teaching experiences include work at Dalhousie University Department of Music and Arts in Halifax Nova Scotia, The University of Minnesota, Anoka Ramsey Community College in Minnesota, University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge Music Conservatory.
Dr. Kovago has been committed to teaching excellence and mentoring singers and pianists of all ages and levels for more than 20 years. She currently teaches more than 45 voice and piano students each week from her home in Orleans, Ontario and in music schools like Tutti Muzik, Ottawa School of Music and Russell Music Academy. Alongside her busy teaching schedule, she finds time to adjudicate the Kiwanis Music Festival and NATS competitions and coaches public speaking and monologues for straight theatre auditions.
More information may be found by visiting her website.
Andrew Barrett – tenor
Tenor, Andrew Barrett, holds a DMA in vocal performance from the University of Minnesota, where he also earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He has studied abroad at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with French baritone, Gérard Souzay, and received a fellowship to study with Hakan Hagegard at the Hagegarden, in Gunnarsbyn, Sweden.
He has sung many roles of the bel canto and lyric repertoire, including Count Almaviva, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tamino, Die Zauberflote, and Ernesto, Don Pasquale. With Opera in the Ozarks, Andrew has performed the leading tenor role of Mr. Owen in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, the comic role of Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, the title role in Orpheus in the Underworld, Maximillian, in House of the Sun, and Remendado in Carmen, as well as Tamino in 2005.
While at the University of Minnesota, Andrew performed the leading roles of Der Tanzmeister, Ariadne auf Naxos the title role of Albert Herring, and Danceny, Dangerous Liaisons. Andrew has been seen as a soloist with the College of St. Catherine’s Choral Society in Messiah, The Lord Nelson Mass, and The Seasons.
Regionally, Andrew has performed with the Minot Symphony Orchestra (Bach, St. John Passion) and has been tenor soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Mozart’s Coronation Mass with Exultate, with whom he is Assistant Conductor and Tenor Section Leader.
In addition to taking part in nearly thirty productions in the ensemble with the Minnesota Opera, Andrew was also a soloist with the Minnesota Opera preview tour. Currently, beside his teaching and singing schedule, Andrew directs EverBlest, a youth choir based in Cambridge, Minnesota.
Philip Rossin – tenor
Tenor, Philip Rossin, recently graduated with a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Vocal Music Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. He sang for three years in the world renowned Concordia Choir, one of those years holding the position of tenor section leader. While studying in Moorhead, Philip sang with the Fargo/Moorhead Opera as a chorus member in six of their productions, including La Traviata, La Boheme, The Barber of Seville, and I Pagliacci.
This is Philip’s first season singing with Exultate where he has been featured as a tenor soloist for Schuberts Mass in G and in the Scottish folk song Loch Lomond.
He plans to pursue further education in vocal performance and choral conducting in the near future. He is considering graduate schools such as McGill University, The Boston Conservatory and Yale University.
When not performing with Exultate, Philip enjoys studying and playing a variety of piano repertoire, as well as singing in small vocal groups and in churches as a soloist.
Jonathan Ten Brink – baritone (Jesus)
Jonathan Ten Brink is an exciting Bass-Baritone active in opera, oratorio, and chamber music. His “big voice” that “rumbles like foghorns” (Pioneer Press) is regarded as “rich” (Madison Magazine), “heartwarming” (Examiner), and “possessing considerable agility” (Grand Rapids Press).Mr. Ten Brink last performed with Exultate in Haydn’s Paukenmesse and Handel’s Dixit Dominus and is excited to return. His recent opera credits include singing Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Alfesibeo in the North American Premier of Gli more d’Apollo e di Daphne under the musical direction of Paul O’Dette.
On the concert stage he has performed with The Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival and Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in works including Handel’s Esther, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion as ariaist and Jesus, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Carmina Burana. He is also a frequent collaborator in chamber works with The Rose Ensemble, Glorious Revolution Baroque, and Oratory.
In addition to his performing, Mr. Ten Brink is in demand as a voice teacher and clinician. He maintains full studios at Crown College and North Central University in addition to teaching Diction, Vocal Pedagogy, and Early Music History. He has given master classes across the continental United States from Georgia to Illinois, Minnesota, and Oregon.
He holds a BA in voice from Calvin College, a MM from Bowling Green State University, and a DMA from the University of Minnesota. Find more information at His website.
Jeffrey Madison – bass
Hailed for his dramatic diversity, baritone Jeffrey Madison has performed a varied repertoire from grand opera, operetta, to musical comedy and oratorio.
Mr. Madison recently made his Carnegie Hall debut as the baritone soloist in Neilson’s Symphony No. 3 with the Minnesota Orchestra, performed the roles of Father in
Hansel and Gretel with the Colorado Symphony, Schaunard in La Boheme with the Minnesota Opera, Marcello in West Virginia Symphony’s production of La Boheme, Bottom for Seattle Opera Young Artist’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the title role of Falstaff as a guest artist with UCLA Opera Theater, and Albert in
Chautauqua Opera’s production of Werther. A frequent soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Mr. Madison has appeared as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, the Father in Hansel and Gretel, and Angelotti in Tosca.
A resident of Duluth Minnesota, Mr. Madison has often appeared locally performing the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Duluth-Superior Symphony,
and Ko-Ko in the Mikado, the title role of Gianni Schicchi, and King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Lyric Opera of the North. He has also appeared with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra singing Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and as the Major General in the Pirates of Penzance for the summer 2010 Duluth Tall Ships Festival.
Upcoming 2014 performances include a return to Lyric Opera of the North in Don Pasquale as Malatesta and a debut with the Duluth Playhouse as Javert in Les Miserables.
Mr. Madison currently serves on the faculties at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and Bethel University. He is a student of John DeHaan.
Robert Sunderlin – bass (Pilate)
Robert Sunderlin, as a young vocalist, was twice chosen for the Minnesota All-State High School Choir, won a scholarship as a vocalist to attend the University of Minnesota High School Musicians Project, is a Thursday Musical college scholarship award winner as well as a University of Minnesota vocal performance scholarship recipient. While attending the University of Minnesota, he played drums in the marching band and was soloist with the Chamber Orchestra.
Since then, he has been a cantor and chorister as well as soloist at several churches in the Twin Cities such as; St. Mark’s Episcopal Church downtown Mpls, Saints Martha & Mary Episcopal Church in Eagan, and Nativity Episcopal Church, Burnsville. He performed numerous times with The Dale Warland Singers and the SPCO as well as the Minnesota Orchestra and Masterworks Chorale.
In 1997 he played the role of the drunk in the English-language opera premiere of Captive and Free by Egil Hovland with the Masterworks Chorale. Bob has been with Exultate since 2001 and has been a soloist in many concerts.