The Professional Vocal Ensemble for Portland Baroque Orchestra
Meet Portland Baroque Voices
Portland Baroque Voices is a professional vocal ensemble launched in 2025 as part of Portland Baroque Orchestra. Performing with a flexible number of singers tailored to the expressive needs of each program, the ensemble approaches vocal music of the Baroque and early Classical eras as a living tradition rather than a historical artifact. Drawing on the latest scholarship in period style and performance, Portland Baroque Voices explores repertoire ranging from beloved masterworks to rediscovered gems, bringing clarity, immediacy, and dramatic insight to each piece. Rooted in PBO’s spirit of collaboration and curiosity, the ensemble highlights the power of text and musical rhetoric, creating performances that are both historically inspired and relevant to modern audiences.
Performances that feature Portland Baroque Voices:
Messiah
December 10-13, 2026
Chorus Master
John K. Cox
Conductor, musicologist, and four-time GRAMMY nominee John K. Cox is Visiting Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College where he teaches courses in music history and choral music. A specialist in Renaissance and Baroque music and practice, his recent scholarship investigates music written for Roman nuns during the late-seventeenth century. In March 2026, Portland Baroque Orchestra will present the modern debut of five pieces written for performance at the convent of S. Lucia in Selci during the Anno Santo of 1675. Dr. Cox is the artistic director and founder of Rose City Renaissance, and the Assistant Conductor of the Portland Phoenix Choir. As a professional tenor and chorister, John has performed and recorded with many renowned professional vocal ensembles including Apollo’s Singers, True Concord, and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus. He currently performs Portland Baroque Voices, Resonance Ensemble, and the Skylark Ensemble (2025, 2022, 2021, 2019 GRAMMY nominees for “Best Choral Album”).
Chorus Master
Susan Hale
Susan Hale has been actively involved with choral music for many years in the Portland area as an ensemble singer, soloist and educator. For twenty years, she performed as a member of the Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene. She currently sings with In Mulieribus, Cappella Romana, and has sung with Cantores in Ecclesia, Trinity Consort, Resonance Ensemble, and The Ensemble of Oregon.
Choral music education has been a constant in Susan’s career. Her present involvement includes educational outreach and clinics with school and community choirs. In 2015, she completed a long tenure as choral director at Tigard High School. Susan’s commitment to music education has encompassed elementary, middle school, and high school vocal music as well as supervision and mentorship of Portland State University student teachers. She lives in Wilsonville, Oregon with her husband Paul Klemme, a church musician and conductor in Salem, Oregon.
