2025 Featured Soloists and Instrumentalists

Valerie grew up in New York in a musical family – both parents were avid chamber music players, her brother a pianist.  After college she worked as a free lance violinist in NYC for a few years before going to medical school.  She specialized initially in Neurology and then Neuro-ophthalmology, moving to Indianapolis in 1983 for a faculty position at IU.  Her three children have relocated, each with children of their own, but she’s still here, enjoying semi-retirement and playing with her long-time string quartet.

April received violin lessons as her Christmas gift at age 7 and was an early Suzuki Kid. She loves playing in orchestras that accompany choral groups, large and small, with the privilege to play masterworks from many musical periods. She is grateful to have played in concert halls and churches in the U.S. and Europe across several decades.

Len Cheatham has performed as both soloist and orchestral musician across the U.S. He is currently
Principal Cellist of the Hendricks Symphony Orchestra. He has been a chamber music player with the
U. S. Navy String Quartet, the Kuralen Trio, as well as many other chamber groups. He has played as
Assistant Principal Cellist of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Cellist of the
Mesa Symphony Orchestra and Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as a member of
the Symphony of the Southwest and the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. In 2005 he founded the
Arizona Repertory Orchestra, a sightreading group, which performs an entire 2-hour program each
week in the summer, without rehearsal. He has studied with Takayori Atsumi, Cassell Grubb of
DePauw University, Orlando Cole of the New School of Music in Philadelphia, and Scott Ballantyne of
the Julliard School of Music. He holds a Bachelor of Music from DePauw University in Cello
Performance and has performed as soloist with the North Carolina Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony
and the Chandler Symphony. He also performed at the White House while a member of the Navy
String Quartet. He has won the Lima Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition and the Phoenix
Symphony Guild Young Musicians Competition, Grand Prize.
He enjoys gardening, working as a Webelos Cub Scout Leader, writing novels, composing music and
playing the best video game of all time, the stock market.

Sarah has played and taught cello in the Indianapolis area for 35 years. She loves teaching, playing chamber music with friends, gardening, reading and hanging out with her grandchildren.

Ryan is a recent graduate of Brigham Young University, where he was a violinist in the BYU Symphony Orchestra and a member of the BYU Choirs. Currently, Ryan is an actuarial analyst for Milliman Indianapolis Health, and he and his wife enjoying spending time with their nearly one-year-old son. 

Cyndia is a mom of four, a violinist, and a piano teacher. When she was a student at the Boston Architectural College, Cyndia had her first opportunity to play for a Messiah Sing-in. This will be her third year playing with the Carmel Messiah Sing-In orchestra. Cyndia loves the glorious feeling of playing such powerful music about Jesus Christ.

Originally from the San Franscisco Bay area, Abe Wilson has a degree in piano performance from Brigham Young University. After completing his MBA at Yale, he moved to Indianapolis 4 years ago. He enjoys running, baking, practicing the piano and spending time with his wife and three young boys.

Tommy Washburn is a member of the Carmel congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a freshman trumpet player at Carmel High School. He has participated in the past two seasons of the high school’s marching band, which recently placed third in the country. He has been playing trumpet for the past four years and studies with Carrie Fleig. He also enjoys playing the piano, coding, and spending time with his pet rabbit, Brownie.

Nancy started playing violin at age 5 and switched to viola in college. She enjoys playing in several local ensembles. She enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and dog. 

Michael has played the viola in many different ensembles over the past 25 years.  He has 2 dogs (Koda and Tempo) and loves doing life with his girlfriend and her daughter.

Jenny played the violin in high school and her first year of college. After taking a long a long break, she picked up the violin again a few years ago to start playing occasionally with her children and in some small local ensembles. She is excited to have the opportunity to play Handel’s beautiful music. She and her husband have eight awesome children they love spending time with.

Ethan Kline is currently a junior at Carmel High School and has been playing the trumpet for six years. During his short time as a student musician, Ethan has received numerous gold with distinction awards at State Solo and Ensemble. Additionally, he is a member of the Carmel High School Marching Band, which has won multiple national championships. Finally, Ethan is a member of the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra, where he enjoys playing with other musicians from the greater Indianapolis region. In his free time, Ethan also enjoys working on cars and looks forward to pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering.