Christine Jarquio, co-founder and Executive Director of Vox Nova, is an active music educator, singer, conductor, and collaborative pianist in Columbia. She taught middle school choral music for seven years in Columbia Public Schools, and most recently completed her first year teaching middle and upper school choral music at Columbia Independent School. Christine is the former Artistic Director of the Columbia Public Schools 5th Grade Honors Choir and she has music directed shows with the University of Missouri’s Theatre Department, MU Summer Repertory Theatre, and Maplewood Barn Theatre. Her passion for singing choral music is realized in professional choral ensembles Prometheus, Pro-Arte of St. Louis, and Vox Nova. She also maintains a modest private voice studio. She holds a dual Master of Music in Voice Performance and Choral Conducting, and a Bachelor of Science in Vocal Music Education. Outside of music and teaching, Christine loves to travel with her husband, Jay; run on the Columbia trails; and cook and eat any and all varieties of food.

Christina Ray is a Kansas City–raised performer, educator, and entrepreneur dedicated to making opera accessible and joyous. She serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice and Co-Director of Show-Me Opera at the University of Missouri. In 2019, Christina co-founded Landlocked Opera with her husband, Jonathan Ray, a company centered on the mission “Opera for All.” She is currently pursuing her DMA in Classical and Commercial Contemporary Voice Pedagogy at Shenandoah University, and holds degrees from UMKC, Louisiana State University, and the University of Missouri. Praised for her “velvety mezzo” voice, Christina is at home in opera, musical theatre, and concert work. Her stage roles include Cherubino, Mercédès, Hänsel, Béatrice, Ramiro, Rosina, Isabella, Angelina, Zosha, Katisha, The Beggar Woman, Ms. Lark, and Celeste #1. Her concert credits include Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Magnificat, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. She performs professionally with Vox Nova, Prometheus, and Missouri Choral Artists, and made her professional directorial debut with The American Prize award-winning world premiere of The Murderess by Allison McIntosh and Trip Venturella. A dedicated pedagogue, Christina co-founded the Classically Untrained Voice Collective and remains active in NATS, where she serves as Treasurer of Mid-MO NATS and is a 2024 NATS Emerging Leader and Intern Program participant. She is also a recipient of the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Encouragement Award (Little Rock District).

Betsy Jane Bledsoe, graduated from the University of Missouri (BM) and Michigan State University (MM) with degrees in vocal performance. During her collegiate years she performed several operatic and musical theater roles, including Serpetta in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, Franca Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza, and Luisa in MSU's Summer Circle Theater's The Fantasticks. She was a winner of the 2012 Missouri NATS graduate division competition while studying with Christine Seitz. A native and resident of Kansas City, Betsy has fallen in love with the local musical theater scene. Her favorite past roles include Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Guenevere (Camelot), Cinderella (Into the Woods), and Kate Monster (Avenue Q), and Marion Paroo (Music Man). Betsy has been a music director for OCTA’S Sunday in the Park with George, Landlocked Opera’s Beatrice et Benedict, and The Barn Player’s Little Women. An accomplished saxophonist at Mizzou, Betsy rocks out on the bari sax in a quartet with friends and with the Spirit of Independence community band. She has also been a vocal soloist as well as a conductor with the band. She is a lead pharmacy technician at Children's Mercy Hospital. Betsy has been a member of Vox Nova since 2015.

Two days before Covid-19 restrictions hit the US, Chicago-based Mezzo-Soprano Christina G. Adams performed in the finals of the prestigious Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship competition. Since then, she has been featured as a soloist on Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre’s film, Songs of Isolation and Connection and will return to Cedar Rapids in 2021 as Julie Jordan in Carousel. In 2019 she was a member of Sarasota Opera’s Apprentice Artists and is the recipient of an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Highlights of her operatic roles thus far include the title role in The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Blanche de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Angelina (La Cenerentola). Though she looks forward to the safe reinstatement of the performing arts, Adams has enjoyed the opportunity to invest in her other creative endeavors as a writer and illustrator and is currently working toward a lifelong dream of becoming a certified birth doula.

Kara Brietzke graduated from the University of Missouri with bachelor degrees in Linguistics and Psychology and a Master of Public Affairs degree. During her undergraduate years at MU, Kara was active in University Singers and other choral ensembles, and was co-founder and director of Mizzou's premier female a cappella group, Naturelles. She has been a part of the chorus for Die Fledermaus (Missouri Symphony), An Antique Carol (Talking Horse Productions), and sang the role of Mina Murray in Dracula, the Musical (Columbia Entertainment Company). Kara lives in Columbia, and is a member of the Columbia Chorale and Columbia Chamber Choir.