2025-2026 BACH Board of Directors

Marilyn Marshall

BACH Board President

As Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois System Offices, Dr. Marshall served as the university’s liaison with state education agencies and directed system-wide academic and student programs. Dr. Marshall worked at the university for over 25 years. She holds degrees in music, computer science, public administration, and a PhD in educational policy. Marilyn taught elementary and secondary choral music and directed a church choir. She plays Horn in the Parkland Concert Band and sings in her church choir. She has enjoyed singing with BACH for more than 15 seasons.

Russell Zillman

BACH Board Vice President

Russell Zillman serves as the Assistant Director of Development & Marketing at Crisis Nursery, where he leads fundraising events and marketing initiatives in support of children and families across Champaign County. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Music Business and Creative Technologies from Illinois State University, where he studied under Justin Vickers, Thomas Studebaker, and Karyl K. Carlson. During his time at ISU, he performed with the Concert Choir, Madrigals, and the Clef Hangers a cappella group. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at the University of Illinois Springfield with a focus on nonprofit management. A passionate advocate for the arts, Russell is also active in the local theatre scene as a performer and supporter. 

Emma Kathleen Lloyd

BACH Board Secretary

Emma (they/them) is delighted to serve on the BACH Board in 2025-2026. Raised in Champaign-Urbana, Emma sang one season with BACH in high school with their stepfather and music mentor, Dr. Don Armstrong. Growing up, Emma studied with local soprano Audrey Vallance and sang as a chorister with Linda Buzard at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Urbana, where Emma is still regularly featured in the Canterbury Choir. At the University of Illinois, Emma studied with voice professor Dr. Ollie Watts Davis while completing a BA in History with a focus in medieval studies. After returning to CU in 2023, Emma joined BACH again and has performed as both a soloist and choir member. Emma has broad experience in care work, critical thinking, and administrative organization and is excited to use their skills and creativity to forward BACH's mission in the central Illinois community.

John Abelson

John Abelson joined BACH in 2019.  He has sung in several choral groups since 1980, including the JS Bach Chorale in Paris and the Early Music Singers at Stanford.  His singing teachers include William Miller, Jaume Aragall, and Enivia Muré.  John recently retired as a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at UI.  He looks forward to working with all the wonderful members of BACH!

Jack Bertrand

Jack Bertrand is a conductor, baritone, and educator based in Urbana, Illinois. A board member of BACH, he has appeared with the ensemble as a soloist in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah and Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri. Jack teaches Theatre Arts at Edison Middle School and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University. Recent performances include the Five Cities Baroque Festival and Parkland College Theatre's productions of The Wedding Singer and White Christmas. Jack’s work bridges education, performance, and scholarship, emphasizing creativity and connection through the arts.

Kara Greer

Kara Greer spent her career teaching mathematics in high schools and community colleges, retiring from Parkland College in 2020.  She has been singing all her life in church choirs, high school and college choirs, and was a member of the Augustana College Oratorio Society.  Kara joined BACH in January of 2023 to reconnect with her love of singing and choral music.  She is excited to be singing with BACH and excited to join the board and get involved with the organization on a deeper level.

William Mendoza

A native of the plains of Southern Colorado, William has sung in groups including the Otero Junior College Choir, the University of Northern Colorado (UNCo) Concert Choir and Opera Choir, the Greeley Chamber Choir, and the Greeley Chorale. While obtaining degrees in chemistry and physics at UNCo, William performed major works including Bach's St Matthew Passion and Brahms' Requiem, and he was fortunate to join summer opera programs working with Opera Classica Europa, performing operas by composers including Mozart and Verdi. In mid-2020, William moved to Champaign-Urbana where he obtained his masters degree in materials science and engineering from UIUC in 2021. William joined BACH in 2022 and the Canterbury Choir at St John the Divine Episcopal Church on the UIUC campus, singing works including Bach's Cantata 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, and Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb. William was BACH co-president for the 2023-2024 season, and vice president for the 2024-2025 season. He now resides in Philadelphia, PA, and works as a scientist for Johnson & Johnson.

Elizabeth Otto

Beth grew up on a farm near Decatur, where her pianist mother and opera-loving father infected her with a love for music early on. Marching band, musicals, theater, and show choir were favorite activities. Singing has been a continuous thread through the years, with various choirs, Parkland Camerata, and now BACH. After earning a BS in environmental science from Cornell University, Beth attended Parkland College to become a graphic designer. She learned to proofread choral music at Mark Foster Music Publishers, worked for WILL radio and television, then spent 17 years as promotions manager for the Champaign Public Library. Now retired, she’s happy to lend these skills as a volunteer for BACH, the Land Conservation Foundation, and Grand Prairie Friends.

David Smith

A Professor at Eastern Illinois University, David is a specialist in Baroque-era French history, focusing on issues of political structure and economic policymaking.  Prior to joining BACH, he sang for several years with Capella Orpheus.  He enjoys a wide range of choral music and occasionally offers historical commentary on issues or topics raised by specific choral works.

Audrey Vallance

Audrey Vallance, soprano, voice teacher and coach, has been blessed with an incredible career of performing for over 40 years. Audrey moved to the Champaign-Urbana area in 2006 from Houston where she was a member of Houston Grand Opera Chorus for several years. Audrey also lived in SE Asia for 6 years where she was a singer, director, and vocal coach, performing in Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. While in Bangkok, Audrey also directed choirs and several musicals. In Champaign, Audrey had a busy voice studio and started the Creative Arts Music Program at Carle Foundation Hospital, bringing area performers into the common areas of the hospital to provide comfort and joy to staff, visitors and patients. She is grateful for her many years with BACH and hopes to continue her singing in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Karin Vermillion

Karin received her bachelor's degree in music education from UIUC and never left the area. After teaching music for six years, she made a career switch, eventually earning a DNP and working for the UIC College of Nursing. Over the years, she has participated in many musical endeavors including playing oboe in local groups, performing with community theater companies, and of course singing with BACH.

Bach Founder Chester L. Alwes

Chester L. Alwes (b. 1947) holds degrees in music from Hanover College (BA), Union Theological Seminary School of Sacred Music (MSM), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DMA). Prior to joining the University of Illinois faculty in 1982, he held teaching positions at the College of Wooster (Ohio) and the University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music. At the University of Illinois, Dr. Alwes has taught graduate courses in choral literature (both MM and DMA) and seminars on the works of J. S Bach and Henry Purcell as well as graduate and undergraduate conducting. For twenty-seven years he conducted the Concert Choir (1982-2009), taking over the Women's Glee Club for the final two years of his tenure. In addition, he was a frequent conductor of the University's Oratorio Society and Summer Chorus and the Illinois Summer Youth Music Senior Chorus. Professor Alwes also was the chorus master for a number of productions by the Illinois Opera Theater (including cameos in several operas).

In 1996, he founded the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH). As a choral conductor, Dr. Alwes is known for his innovative programming, his sensitivity to tone and musical line, and his dedication to the musical success and growth of his singers. Throughout his career, Alwes has been widely hailed as a teacher/mentor, scholar, editor, and composer.

He is currently awaiting the publication of his long-anticipated text, A History of Western Choral Music by Oxford University Press (Fall, 2011). He also is the author of Handel's Messiah: the Complete Solo Variants (Roger Dean Music, 2009) and has contributed a chapter on nineteenth-century choral music to the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, edited by Andre De Quadros.

Honorary BACH Board Members

We thank these prior board members for their service to BACH!

Jan Bahr
Judi Geistlinger
Kerry Heimann
Mark Penner
Marlys Scarbrough
Sarah Scott
John Setterland
Deborah Townsend

BACH Staff

Jen Anderson

As our business manager, Jen is thrilled to be supporting the great work of BACH. While she only sings in the shower or the car, her love affair with the arts started in elementary school and ultimately led her to an MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College. Outside of work she enjoys traveling, hiking, running, reading, and spending time with her family.

Jonathan Young

BACH accompanist Jonathan Young is Director of Music at the Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Champaign, Illinois. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, a Master of Music in Organ Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and completed doctoral coursework and recitals at the University of Illinois. An avid student of automotive aerodynamics and aerodynamic efficiency, Jonathan earned an Associate of Engineering Science degree at Parkland College in 2021 and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2025.

In Memoriam

Nicholas Temperley

Nicholas Temperley was president of BACH from 2002 to 2005 and started the Young Baroque Artists Competition (YBAC). Born in England, he held a Ph.D in music from Cambridge University and was a professor of musicology at UIUC from 1967 to 1996. He specialized in English musical history, publishing The Music of the English Parish Church (1979), The Hymn Tune Index (1998), and many books, articles, and editions of music. He edited Haydn’s Creation for Peters Edition. He led a group that sang carols in CU for decades, starting in 1959, and published his own carol collection, Christmas is Coming (Stainer & Bell).