About Us
With more than 100 combined years of singing and theatrical experience on both a professional and community level, including more than 15 combined years of singing Christmas carols professionally in the Piedmont Triad NC area, the singers of Season’s Best Carolers have the talent, the know-how, and the warmth to make your holiday event a special occasion.
We sing a cappella, meaning we bring nothing more than our voices, our festive costumes, our personal warmth, and a generous helping of holiday cheer. We can tailor our performance to your holiday entertaining needs. We can stroll during your company Christmas party in our Dickens-era Victorian costumes or perform an intimate concert of Christmas carols at your private cocktail party. We can accommodate your needs in almost any performance format or venue. Most importantly, we will do our very best to bring a smile to your face and the Spirit of Christmas to your hearts!
Meet the Carolers
John Ebrahim
Tenor
Tenor John Ebrahim is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts completing a degree in Vocal Performance. He has performed in operas such as Rota’s Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze, Sullivan’s Cox and Box, and Rossini’s La Cenerentola. While attending UNCSA he performed as part of the Cantata Singers as well as with the Winston Salem Symphony and Magnolia Baroque Ensemble. John has sung with Piedmont Opera regularly with previous engagements in their productions of Mary, Queen of Scots, Silent Night, and La Boheme to name a few. Currently he is living in Winston Salem, NC with his beautiful wife Auburn, daughter Lydia, and son Mason. John is passionate about working at Matthews Specialty Vehicles in the Executive Sales Assistant role selling Bookmobiles, STEM Units, and Mobile Classrooms as well as serving as the Music Director at Glenn View Baptist Church. He is excited to have this opportunity to sing Christmas Carols throughout the Christmas Season!
Clarice Friedrich
Alto/Soprano
Clarice Weiseman, from Ypsilanti, Michigan, holds a Masters of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from The University of North Carolina Greensboro and a Bachelors of Music in Voice Performance from Eastern Michigan University. She performs frequently with many theatres, opera companies, and chorales, including Bel Canto Company, The Straits Chorale, UNCG and EMU Opera Theatres, Greensboro Opera, and Community Theatre of Greensboro. Her most notable roles include Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and Miss Barley (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder). Equally at home on stage and teaching in the voice studio, she is the voice faculty member at Averett University and teaches private voice lessons at The Music Academy of North Carolina.
Michael Friedrich
Tenor
Michael Friedrich is from Cary, North Carolina, and has studied singing all his life. He recently graduated from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro with a degree in Opera Performance. He placed first place in the NC NATS voice competition in 2017 and in 2019. His on-stage credits with UNCG Opera Theatre include such roles as Gabriel von Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), and Monostatos (The Magic Flute). In addition, he is currently a regular soloist at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in High Point, NC. Michael is singing his first season with Season’s Best Carolers and is so excited to share Christmas cheer!
Janine Hawley
Alto
American mezzo-soprano Janine Hawley has achieved accolades for her critically acclaimed performances of roles ranging from Carmen to Cherubino in opera houses throughout the United States. She has worked with the Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, New Orleans Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Boston Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Connecticut Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Sacramento Opera, Chautauqua Opera, receiving great critiques that praise her lush quality, dark timbre, technical facility and charming stage presence. Concert performances are an equally important aspect of Ms. Hawley’s art and conductors are drawn to her impressive musicianship, mastery of styles and sensitive interpretations. She has worked with the famed Detroit Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and in such concert venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Weill Recital Hall. Ms. Hawley made her international debut with the Jerusalem International Symphony singing Mahler’s famed Second Symphony in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Distinguishing herself in the repertoire of Mahler, in the last several seasons she added the Kindertotenlieder and Rückert Lieder to her symphonic work, which includes Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Chautauqua, Fairfax, Vancouver Symphonies, and Louisville Orchestra. Her Carnegie Hall debut was as soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria, and she returned to sing Handel’s Messiah, both with John Rutter conducting.
Ms. Hawley was born in Nebraska, is a graduate of Indiana and Columbia Universities and is an Associate Professor of Voice and Assistant Dean for Academics and Administration at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) School of Drama. www.janinehawley.com
April Hill
Alto
April Hill specializes in teaching musical theater vocal technique and styles. At UNCG, April is a full time lecturer who teaches applied voice lessons for students in the new BFA Musical Theatre program. From 2006-2020, she taught voice lessons, classes, and occasionally musically directied at Elon University in NC. In addition to UNCG and Elon, April has worked at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia as the Music Theater Specialist. A native of North Carolina, April received both her MM in Vocal Performance and her BM in Choral Music Education from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG). She taught choral music in the public schools for 4 years and has been teaching private studio voice since 1998. April has been Mezzo-Soprano soloist with Greensboro Oratorio Society (NC), Choral Society of Greensboro (NC), Alamance Chorale (NC), and area churches. She has sung professionally with the Bel Canto Company (Greensboro, NC) and the Carolina Chamber Chorale (Charleston, SC). In the fall of 2009, she premiered the role of Camala in a concert version Sorrel Hays’ new opera, Toowhopera at the Georgia Music Teachers’ Association’s fall conference in Rome, GA. Her work with theatre and musical theater majors at UNCG, Shorter College and Elon University has allowed students to go on to Broadway, National Tours, regional theaters, cruise lines, Disneyworld, and Universal Studios in Florida. April is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Troy Hurst
Tenor
Troy is happy to be part of Season’s Best Carolers, singing his favorite kind of music, Christmas Music! Troy has been singing most of his life and has filled various roles in Church Choirs, College Ensembles, Worship Leader, Semi-Professional Quartet Singing, Vocus Acapella Singers and much more. He has been seen in various productions around the Piedmont Triad, acting with The Little Theatre of Winston Salem, Theatre Alliance, Spring Theatre and various roles in short films. Some of his favorite roles have included: Sam Carmichael, Mamma Mia!, Judas, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mr. Banks, Mary Poppins, Victor Von Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, Max Von Mayerling, Sunset Boulevard and other ensemble roles and performances. He hopes you will enjoy his joyful performances with Season’s Best and remember the Reason for the Season!
Trevor Ketterling
Bass
Being involved with music since childhood, Trevor Ketterling has sung many different genres of music; however Christmas music will always hold a special spot in his heart. Ketterling family tradition involves singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, sometimes for hours on end! Trevor is excited to be a part of Season’s Best Carolers and for the opportunity to sing professionally! He looks forward to charming you with song and showcasing this awesome group of people!
Charlie Kluttz
Bass/Tenor
Edward Charles Kluttz III was born and raised in Concord NC. He moved to Winston-Salem, NC in 2010 to attend UNCSA where he earned a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance degree while studying with Glenn Siebert. Kluttz has been serving as a music director and private lesson instructor for the Willingham Performing Arts Academy and the Yadkin Arts Council (both in Yadkinville, NC) since 2017. He also teaches the Music Theatre II and Music Theatre Plus classes for Acting Out!, a community outreach program based out of the UNCSA School of Drama. Kluttz is thrilled to be caroling with such a talented group this holiday season!
Sheri Masters
Soprano
Sheri Masters loves music in general and singing in particular. In fact, her first pet was a cat named Judy, after Judy Garland. She had her first solo in sixth grade in a musical version of Tom Sawyer. She spent most of her school years singing in choirs—madrigal choirs, show choirs, concert choirs—honing her skills under the direction of some of the nation’s most outstanding choral teachers. She was selected for the Illinois All State Honors Choir and Jazz Choir and was a proud member of the finest high school music program in the state. When she moved to North Carolina, she found her musical family, leading worship at her church and performing with the Winston-Salem Mozart Society in their annual production of The Messiah, accompanied by the Winston-Salem Symphony. An active member of the local theater community, she’s had the privilege of playing some of her favorite musical roles, including Marian the Librarian in The Music Man, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Lily Craven in The Secret Garden, Cinderella in Into the Woods and Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Katie Muhlenkamp
Soprano
Katie Muhlenkamp (soprano and music director) loves to carol and will sing all 5 verses of Good King Wenceslas if given the opportunity. Katie studied vocal performance at Elon University under a choral music scholarship. She teaches voice at UNCSA – Community Programs, is a staff singer at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in High Point, and music directs Seasons Best Caroling. Katie is also a frequent performer, and has appeared this year as Evelyn Nesbit in Piedmont Opera’s Ragtime, Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls with the Little Theatre, and in the staged reading of Dot with NC Black Rep. By day, Katie is an attorney, a wife, and a dog mom. www.kmuhlenkamp.com
Kelly Turner
Bass/Tenor
Kelly Turner has always enjoyed singing Christmas carols, and is thrilled to be joining Season’s Best Carolers this year! Kelly holds both Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has directed choirs and taught music theory, conducting, lyric diction, and voice at both the secondary and collegiate levels. He has also been privileged to serve in the music ministries of several churches over the years as music director, soloist, and choir member. Kelly currently lives in Pfafftown with his lovely wife, Amy, and their two daughters, Tessa and Georgia. He hopes our performances will bring warmth and joy to your Christmas season!
Muffy Underwood
Soprano/Alto
Muffy is a lyric soprano who is thrilled to be caroling this holiday season! She received her BA in Vocal Performance from Wingate University and can be seen performing in various choirs and theatre productions around the Triad. When not singing, Muffy loves to spend time with her friends, family and all of their pets.
Dave Wils
Bass
Dave has been singing his whole life. Being the son of a church musician, Dave has always had an interest in all things musical. He became involved with musical theatre at the age of 6 and has been singing and acting ever since. Since moving to the Triad, he has been actively involved in community theatre whenever he finds the opportunity. In college at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, Dave sang for the University Arts Chorale, the premiere chorus of the school, and now sings as a bass section leader for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem. After singing with Season’s Best for 9 seasons, he and his wife, Amanda, have been the proud co-owners of the Triad’s best group for caroling entertainment since 2019. Dave is also currently an assistant principal with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.