Meet The Performers
Gary Ruschman
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Gary Ruschman is a critically-acclaimed performer, conductor, and composer who works in a broad range of musical traditions. He creates music for live performance, television, and film, heads the vocal and choral programs at North Hennepin Community College and St. Timothy Lutheran Church of St. Paul, and performs as a concert, stage, and recording artist across the globe.
Called “terrific” by MPLS.ST.PAUL Magazine, Ruschman spent a decade touring the globe with Cantus, and has appeared in past seasons with NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, Boston Pops, Portland Opera, Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Bach Ensemble, Luminiscence, Nautilus Music-Theater, Mankato Symphony, Ballet San Jose, Minnesota Dance Theater, American Bach, Urbino Early Music, and Festival Musique en L’Île de Paris.
Gary’s scores have been featured by BBC Two, C-SPAN, Minnesota Opera, New Age Notes, American Public Media, Kantorei, Waxwork Records, Madison Square Garden, and the Center for Interfaith Relations.
Jerry Rubino
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Andrea Leap
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A strong advocate for new music, and a curious and versatile musician, Andrea works with composers at Nautilus Music-Theater, American Composers Forum, Outpost Words and Music and MacPhail Center for Music. She has been seen on local stages with The Schubert Club, Minnesota Historical Society, Duluth Festival Opera, Fortune’s Fool Theater, Skylark Opera, the Jungle Theater and the Spotlight Series, and nationally at Greenville Light Opera, Toledo Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Troupe America and Light Opera Oklahoma. She holds a B.M. In Vocal Performance from Indiana University, a Master's degree in Music from the University of Michigan, and completed post-graduate studies in Paris, France, where she created and performed cabaret concerts inspired by music of the 1920s. A six-time recipient of the Individual Artist Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board, she is an active producer and performer of chamber music concerts ranging from the Baroque to modern. She is currently composing a set of songs to be performed in early 2027.
Debi Kilde
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Debi Kilde is pretty famous and has been delighting Twin Cities audiences with her big voice and onstage antics for over 20 years. She just finished a run of PROTEST! A Revolutionary Rock Opus, where she got to play the iconic Jane Fonda–but, sadly, did not get to wear a leotard or leg warmers. Her work spans multiple genres including Musical Theater (History Theatre, Old Log, Plymouth Playhouse, Sidekick, Nautilus, Celtic Junction, Paul Bunyan Playhouse), Classical (Mixed Precipitation Opera, Skylark Opera, Luminescence, Lantern Choir and Chamber Orchestra) and Pop/Rock/Country (Buffalo Gal Productions, Sidekick Concert Series, Queens of Country, MetroNome Brewery). Debi is the Co-founder (with Amanda Weis) of Inspire Performing Arts MN, where she teaches music and theatre camps, workshops and classes to artists ages 6-93! She is also the Founder and Director of the JCC Adult Show Choir in St. Paul. Debi loves bright colors, fancy dresses and laughing! She lives with her husband and two hilarious children in St. Paul. www.debikilde.com.
Liz Pearse
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Liz Pearse is a Minnesota-based vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Known for her keen musical intellect as well as her uniquely colorful voice, Liz has appeared at the Lucerne Festival, Poland’s KODY Festiwal, Guadalajara’s Festival de Mayo, the Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium, Bang on a Can’s Long Play, and with Cepromusic in CDMX, among many other performances in Europe, Britain, and North America.
An avid chamber musician, Liz sings with the treble quartet Quince Ensemble and with Damselfly, a flexible-roster ensemble with flute/harp/voice. She also performs regularly with Border CrosSing in Minneapolis/St. Paul. As a recording artist, she appears on Roger Reynolds’ For a Reason with Neuma Records; on several EPs with Damselfly including music of Tania León, Alfred Zimmerlin, and Kaija Saariaho; and on multiple albums including Dust Bowl and love fail with Quince Ensemble. Liz has recently authored a chapter in an upcoming text on the art of self-accompaniment at the piano, and she has also written and presented on the music of Milton Babbitt. Liz lives in the beautiful Driftless region and teaches at Winona State University. Lizpearse.com
Amanda Weis
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Amanda Weis is Twin Cities-based music director, stage director, teaching artist, performer, and private vocal instructor. Regionally, Ms. Weis has performed, stage directed, or music directed with such companies as Minneapolis Musical Theatre, History Theatre, Lyric Arts, Duluth Playhouse, St. Croix Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, Open Eye Theatre, Journey North Opera, Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Children's Performing Arts, Masquers Theatre, Eden Prairie Players, Opera Reading Project, The Seasons Dinner Theatre, Open Window Theatre, The Phipps, Really Spicy Opera, and the Paul Bunyan Playhouse, among other notable houses.
Amanda stage-directed Verdi’s Rigoletto for Really Spicy Opera’s tenth season and assistant directed Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Waimea, Hawaii, for the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Ms. Weis music directed High Fidelity for Minneapolis Musical Theatre at the infamous Electric Fetus, earning herself a Broadway World Minneapolis regional nomination for best musical direction and a nomination for Favorite Musical Director with the Twin Cities Blogger's Theatre Awards. Ms. Weis was the vocal director the 2019 national tour of Nick Jr Live, a collaboration between Nickelodeon and VStar Entertainment. Additional Regional Broadway World Minneapolis nominations include Best Director for Tuck Everlasting at The Phipps in Hudson, Wisconsin and Best Musical Direction for Jersey Boys at the Duluth Playhouse.
She has been a teaching artist or vocal coach with Totino Grace Fine Arts Academy, Lundstrom Performing Arts, Young Actors Academy, and at the Guthrie.
Amanda Weis is a member of NATS - National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Amanda is also a solo and ensemble contest judge and a one-act judge for the Minnesota State High School League.
Ms. Weis' private music studio is located in Lino Lakes, MN, where she resides with her husband Patrick McGivern, two cats (Thors & Sif) and two dogs (Lucilla and Bucky.) Bucky and Amanda are a certified Therapy dog team through Helping and Healing Paws. They frequently visit their local library, Crestview memory care unit in Blaine, and do Hospice Hound volunteering through Ecumen.
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