Peter J. Durow, Artistic Director
Peter J. Durow is a conductor and composer working in the field of music education. He began his tenure as the Artistic Director of From Age to Age, a chamber choir of young professionals based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2016. He is currently serving as the Director of Choral Activities at Andover High School in the Anoka-Hennepin School District. Peter lives with his wife Jodi, and their two children in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Dr. Durow has taught at the Secondary and University levels and has worked as a church musician in Minnesota, Texas, Indiana, Florida, New York and Missouri. He has served on the music faculties of The College of St. Benedict & St. John's University (2020-22), Augsburg University (2019-20), Bethany Lutheran College (2019), St. Cloud State University (2016-17), Southeast Missouri State University (2011-15), Stetson University (2009-11), and SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music (2008-09).
An active composer and arranger of choral music, Peter has won awards with the San Francisco Choral Artists and the Longfellow Chorus of Portland, Maine. His music has been commissioned for premiere performances at Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 2017 National ACDA Conference, and the 2018 ACDA-MN State 4-5-6 Girls’ Honor Choir. Peter’s compositions and arrangements are published in the Henry Leck Choral Series and Rodney Eichenberger Choral Series with Colla Voce Music, LLC; the Peter J. Durow Choral Series with Heritage Music Press; MusicSpoke; The Sacred Music Press; Personage Press; Northwestern Publishing House; and VocalEssence Music Press in the Graphite Marketplace.
Education
Ph.D. Florida State University
M.M. Butler University
B.M. Augsburg University
A.A. Bethany Lutheran College
Singers
Karin Almjeld
Olga Frayman
Chloé Knutson
Rose Tamasi
Christy Emanuelson
Alissa Hokr
Christine Johnson
Mila Judge-Becker
Ben Hecht
Lucas Rapisarda
Zaq Swank
Erik Gerhardt
Josh Smith
Bryan Steenerson
Olga Frayman
Olga has been singing with From Age to Age since 2017. A native of Kyiv, Ukraine, she couldn’t imagine her life without music and singing. Her youth was spent in choir, including 5 years in the Children’s Choir of the National Opera of Ukraine. Since moving to the US, Olga has performed with Minnesota Choral Theater, under the baton of Dr. Albert Grottel, as well as a variety of theatrical productions. She is very active in the Minnesota Ukrainian community and is the go-to person for performing the national anthems of Ukraine and the United States. Olga has a band with her husband and they perform at festivals around the country.
Olga holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota and is a mom of three budding musicians.
Chloe knutson
Having grown up in an Air Force family, Chloé lived all over the globe. Her lifelong love for travel complements her work as an account manager and business consultant for independent art stores across the US and Canada. When not at work or choir rehearsal, she is likely tucked away in her art studio with her cat, Cobalt. Whether watercoloring, tinkering with fountain pens, drawing, or knitting, Chloé loves filling her life with as much color as possible. In the warmer months, Chloé enjoys cruising around the Twin Cities in Ophelia, a 1937 Ford Coupe she restored with her father when she was seventeen. Her musical background includes performances with the Texas Children’s Choir at Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington National Cathedral, and the Washington National Gallery. She also graduated from the University of St. Thomas and sang with their Festival Choir at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and on an international tour in Lima and Cusco, Peru.
Rose Tamasi
Rose has been immersed in music her entire life. The daughter of a band teacher and a horn player, she and her sister spent their childhood in concert halls and rehearsals. As her love of music grew she was influenced by a wide variety of ensembles starting with high school band and choir, drum corps international competitions, vocal jazz choir in Portland, and graduated with a degree in Music Education from University of Nevada, Reno.
Recently only just moved to Minnesota and is exploring all the seasonal adventures of the midwest with her husband and 2 fur babies.
Christy Emanuelson
Christy grew up in Rosemount, MN and fosters a lifelong love of singing. After beginning her choral journey at age 10, she pursued a B.A. in music performance at Luther College, focusing on opera performance. There she had the privilege singing with the Nordic Choir from 2014-2016, joining the group on tours through the Midwest, the West Coast, and Italy. Meanwhile she performed in various opera productions at Luther, including Mozart's The Magic Flute and Gilbert & Sullivan's The Gondoliers, as well as LC Vocal Jazz, chamber choir Jubilus, and the Twin Cities summer choir Vox Nova Chorale.
Upon returning to the Twin Cities in 2018, Christy searched for a group with which to continue singing and found FATA. She sang with the group throughout 2018-2019 before taking a break from music, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. She returns this season absolutely thrilled to make music again with a beautiful cast of characters!
When Christy is not singing, she works at an Allergy & Asthma clinic, bakes often, and takes countless photos of her rude cat Joseph.
Alissa Hokr
Alissa grew up in Plymouth, Minnesota, and has always been a lover of music. Her love for music all started with taking piano lessons when she was five years old. She started singing professionally when she joined District 279 Children's Chorus and Twin Cities Youth Chorale. Since then, she performed in a variety of elite choirs and musicals during her middle school and high school years. After graduating high school, Alissa attended the University of Minnesota Duluth where she had the privilege to sing in Vocal Jazz, University Singers, and Chamber Singers. She also performed in an Indie-Folk band called NorShore Summit outside of the university programs.
Alissa graduated from UMD with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing with Minors in Music and Psychology in 2020. Since college, she started her sales career as a Client Advocate at Wedding Day Diamonds and is now the Store Manager at the Roseville location. Outside of work, Alissa loves traveling and spending time with her family, friends, and two cats. This is her second year singing with From Age To Age and she couldn’t be happier to sing with a wonderful group of musicians.
Christine Johnson
Christine grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and has always loved performing. Between competitive dance, playing the french horn, speech team, and musical theatre, singing has always been a constant for her. Once she got to the University of Minnesota Duluth, she joined the Vocal Jazz program, where she was grateful to not only perform again but also to meet lifelong best friends. After graduating from UMD with a degree in Psychology, she went on to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and earned a Master's Degree in Integrated Behavioral Health. She now works as a Chemical Dependency Counselor in a residential treatment setting and is pursuing licensure as a mental health professional. She is excited to be able to perform with a group again after a years-long hiatus while in graduate school!
Mila Judge-Becker
Mila was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota where her love of music and singing was nurtured by the local musical community. After graduating with a major in viola performance and Italian language, she became involved in the Twin Cities music scene as a violinist and singer in several local bands. Currently, she plays with Charanga Tropical (Cuban dance), and Ukrainian Village Band (traditional and modern Ukrainian and Slavic). With these bands, she has played on many local stages including First Avenue, The Cedar Cultural Center, Icehouse, and Schooner.
This is her second season with FATA, and Mila is excited to join this colorful new world of vocal performance.
Zaq Swank
Zaq Swank has been singing in From Age to Age since 2008 but is in his first year as the Assistant Director. He graduated from Bemidji State University in 2018 with a degree in music and currently resides in Minneapolis as a freelance voice teacher. In addition to singing in the Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers, he served as Tenor Section Leader, as well as student director of both Chamber Singers and the men’s choir. Zaq loves writing music and is an award-winning choral composer and songwriter.
Zaq has enjoyed being involved in FATA for just about his entire adult life, because of the group’s willingness to perform unique and challenging music - much of it written by friends affiliated with From Age to Age over the years as well as other local composers, for the thrill of walking on stage, for the chance to be in the company of talented musicians and great people on a regular basis, and to collaborate with them to satisfy an ambitious musical standard of choral performance. He hopes to sing with and contribute artistically to FATA for years to come, to help the ensemble continue to reach new heights.
Zaq follows several sports teams obsessively. He loves to travel, especially with a road atlas and a general sense of direction in lieu of a GPS. He’s always looking for new places to find the best vegan food and loves animals, particularly cats. At From Age to Age concerts, you can witness him putting his perfect pitch to use by giving the pitches for each song.
Erik Gerhardt
Erik grew up in Appleton, WI where he sang with the Appleton Boychoir. His focus shifted to piano studies in his teen years and he graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 2018 with a B.S. in Actuarial Science and a B.A. in Music. Erik currently works at Arch Insurance Group and spends some of his free time as a staff accompanist for choirs at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.
This is Erik’s fourth season with From Age to Age.
Josh Smith
Josh Smith grew up in Chanhassen, Minnesota, and graduated from St. Cloud State University in 2016 where he served as the Concert Choir's tenor section leader and Choir Manager, and held internships with the Cantabile Girls' Choir and the Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota. Josh began teaching K-8th grade classroom music and choir in St. Cloud, before transitioning to Holdingford, Minnesota, where he taught 6-12th grade choir and music technology. Josh also directed the St. John's Boys' Choir - Junior Varsity Choir from 2016 to 2022, and currently directs both of the choirs at Salem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud. Now, teaching 6-8th grade choir and music technology at Highview Middle School in New Brighton, he is very excited to be a resident of Minneapolis, and even more elated for this opportunity to make music as a singer once again.
When not singing or preparing music for his teaching and directing duties, Josh enjoys playing guitar, spending time outside, traveling, producing electronic dance music, and reading. This is his first season singing with FATA.
Bryan Steenerson
Bryan grew up in Lengby, MN a small northern Minnesotan town. He grew up surrounded by folk music and started classical piano around the age of 6. In his teens, he taught himself guitar and went on to start writing music as well as singing. Since those early years he has written, recorded, and released 8 music albums under various monikers; the most successful thus far being the band Murzik which toured nationally for a number of years and was featured on NPR as well as played at such prestigious venues such as CBGB in NYC and First Avenue in Minneapolis.
These days Bryan's touring days have settled a bit, but he has not slowed down. He has lately been directing films with his directorial debut available on Amazon Prime and Tubi, running his recording studio Dastardly Records, writing and recording some country music tunes as Bryan Casey, and of course, singing choral music as a bass with FATA. He resides with his wife and two kids and animals in Inver Grove Heights just outside the loop.