Meet The ProMusica Arizona Management Team
Patti Graetz
Artistic Director/Principal Conductor
With a music career spanning more than 30 years, Patti Graetz has been with ProMusica Arizona since 2015, first as Assistant Conductor and Conductor of the Women in Song, and then as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. She is not only a skilled conductor, but also an award-winning soprano, having sung leading roles with major opera companies including Houston Grand Opera and Arizona Opera. Patti attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where she was a soloist in the world-renowned Concordia Choir under the direction of Paul J. Christiansen.
Moving to the Valley in 1989, she was head of vocal departments at the Arizona School for the Arts from 1998-2000 and the Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics in 2003. She was Director of Music at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Phoenix from 1995-2004. Before that, she was Director of Music at Scottsdale Presbyterian Church.
Patti lived in Australia from 2004 to 2012, where she was a featured soloist with Australian Music Events, sang recitals and concerts, was vocal teacher for the Opera Scholars Australia young-artist program, and was the Conductor of the Murray Conservatorium Choir and the Murray Conservatorium Youth Choir.
Before moving to Australia, Patti was principal soprano for professional ensembles “Opera-tunity” and the Royal Renaissance Singers starting in 1990, and sang in hundreds of performances during her 12-year tenure with them. Upon her return to the US, she began singing again with the Royal Renaissance Singers during the holiday season. She is delighted that The Royal Renaissance Singers are now a part of ProMusica!
She is married to Australian husband, Trevor, and has three children and five grandchildren. She teaches private voice and piano at home and sings with the Sonoran Desert Chorale. You might spot Patti getting some “wind-therapy” on her Can-Am Spyder three-wheeled motorcycle. This past summer she rode over 11,000 miles on two cross-country trips.
Karen Rasmussen
Executive Director
ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Orchestra (PMAZ) has announced the appointment of its new Executive Director, Karen Rasmussen, effective July 1, 2025.
Rasmussen has sung with PMAZ since 2017, has served on its Board of Directors since 2019, and has chaired the Board since 2024. Board member Terry Quinn has been elected Chair to fill out the remainder of Rasmussen’s term.
Professionally trained as a church organist and accompanist, Rasmussen served multiple congregations in three different states over nearly three decades. She relocated to Phoenix in 2001and joined the Sanctuary Choir of All Saints Lutheran Church in 2002.
Rasmussen is an acclaimed expert on non-profit governance, strategic planning, and commun-ications. Her extensive non-profit leadership and management experience includes 13 years as Vice President of a large California-based non-profit transportation organization and 11 years as President and CEO of the non-profit Arizona Trucking Association (AzTA). At AzTA, she formed the 501c3 Arizona Transportation Education Foundation and served as its Executive Director for eight years.
Rasmussen was recruited by the PrePass Safety Alliance to become its President & CEO in 2012. PrePass is a 501c3 non-profit program providing North America’s largest truck safety weigh station bypass program, with facilities in 38 states. Following her retirement from PrePass, Rasmussen helped found the non-profit Independent Carrier Safety Association, where she serves on its Board of Directors and became its Executive Director in 2020.
Rasmussen has served on several other non-profit boards, including American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), Truckers Against Trafficking and others.
Rasmussen may be reached via email at [email protected], or by phone at (623) 920-1194.
Allen Ames
Concertmaster
Allen Ames grew up in Phoenix, began playing the violin at age nine, and has studied with Max Mandel, Theodora McMillan and James Buswell. He studied composition with Janne Irvine and James DeMars, and has been featured in the N.E.A’s Composers in Concert series. He is a member of ASCAP.
He was apprenticed to the late Carl E. Reiter in 1980 as a violin maker and is listed in Wenburg’s Violinmakers of the United States. In 1995 he developed the Violira, a six-string, five octave instrument spanning the ranges of the violin, viola and cello.
Allen has played with orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Arizona Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Nouveau West Chamber Orchestra, the Phoenix, Amabile and Philharmonic String Quartets, the TOS Performing Arts Ensemble, and many others. He has also played baroque violin with the Solis Camerata, Camerata Sonora, and the Phoenix Bach Choir.
Allen has been playing jazz since his high school days, and has performed with such iconic Phoenix artists as Charles Lewis, Nadine Jansen, Keith Greko, Danny Long, Nuance, Beth Lederman, and many others. In recent years he has been playing Gypsy Jazz with Zazu West.
Since 1985 Allen has explored a wider field of musical improvisation, playing and recording with Mosaico Flamenco, harpist Ani Williams, Klezmer legend Schlomo Carlbach, Navajo musicians Sharon Burch, R. Carlos Nakai and Mary Redhouse, and other adventurous artists. He has toured nationally with Three Redneck Tenors. He currently plays with Lyra, the William Eaton Ensemble, Meadowlark, and Zazu.
In 1987, Allen and classical guitarist Maryanne Kremer formed Lyra. Originally a classical duo, they have branched into a variety of musical styles, including many original compositions. They recently completed their thirty-fifth summer season at the Briar Patch Inn in Sedona. Allen and Maryanne were married in 1989.
Allen has taught many music appreciation courses, and given pre-concert lectures for the Phoenix Symphony and the Sedona Chamber Music Festival. As a published poet, he has also given many performances combining music and poetry.
Jeffrey Yoder
Collaborative Pianist
Jeffrey Yoder received his Bachelor of Science degree from Grand Canyon College and his Master of Music degree from Arizona State University. After 27 years, he retired from the Glendale Union High School District where he taught piano, guitar, and choirs. He has also worked at the collegiate level as choir director and student teacher supervisor.
Mr. Yoder is an active accompanist and clinician in the Phoenix area. He has traveled as co-director of the Arizona Ambassadors of Music to Europe, and in 2004, he received the Achievement Above All Award from Greenway High School and the O.M. Hartsell Award from the Arizona Music Teachers Association. In 2016, he had the honor of receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AMEA. He has served as the SW Regional Choir Chair and the Choral Directors’ Association’s Vice-President for High School Activities.
While Mr. Yoder served as director of Greenway High School’s vocal ensemble, their performances included Suns, Roadrunners, Diamondbacks and Coyotes games; Glendale Glitters; Peoria Old Town Festival; Disneyland; AZ State Capitol Building; Symphony of the West Valley Concerts; AMEA State Convention; and the Fox 10 studios for a Christmas morning airing. His vocal ensembles have received superior ratings at festivals and personal invitations from foreign governments to sing abroad.