About Us
Nathan Bill, Tenor
Nathan Bill, current Cherry Creek Chorale President, is a musician with a great love of many musical genres, whose musical performance journey started in childhood with piano, voice and musical theater. His family performed together in the local community in Sedona, Arizona as a musical group, first two part and then four part as the voices grew, often called the ‘von Bill Family Singers’ after the von Trapps from the Sound of Music. After many years of piano and voice lessons, grade school choir and band, community productions, multiple summer music camps, jazz and regular choir in high school, and regional and all-state choirs, he began an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Arizona. There he was lucky enough to sing in a 9-part vocal jazz group, nUAnce where he got to sing with such luminaries as Linda Ronstadt, including some of the Nelson Riddle arrangements. Later in college, he sang in a 4-6 part a capella group EveryMan Jack and later EveryMan Jack & Jill (with Tones Director James Libbon, a close friend) – which he transitioned to leading the group and arranging some of the group’s songs. After a musical break of nearly 15 years due to heavy work travel commitments, he is overjoyed to be back singing, in both the Chorale and the Cherry Tones!
Leslie Beahm, Alto
Leslie is an electrical engineer, scrapbooker, triathlete, outdoorswoman, and chorister. As a chorister, Leslie’s sung with the Penn State Concert Choir, Colorado Springs Chorale (CS, CO), Imperial College Choir (London), Wright State University (Dayton, OH), Fairfax Chorale (Fairfax, VA), MSU Choral Union (Wichita Falls, TX), the Parker Chorale (Parker, CO), and since 2015 the Cherry Creek Chorale. She is happy to re-join the CherryTones after a few years absence while she built a passive-solar house with her husband and served on the Cherry Creek Chorale Board of Directors.
John Buteyn, Bass
John has been a member of the Cherry Creek Chorale since 2013 and the Cherry Tones since 2016. He works in the construction industry with Colorado Hardscapes, installing specialty concrete throughout the Denver area. John enjoys singing with people who are so passionate about the Chorale and in music in general .
Tim Gesler, Tenor
Tim loves to sing! He has been a member of the Cherry Creek Chorale for nine years and has enjoyed every moment. He joined the CherryTones in the summer of 2023. He looks forward to singing with this talented bunch of singers.
Jay Hartman, Tenor
Jay is from Texas, where his father played a wide variety of music with friends in a garage band. Jay joined the Navy and worked as an aviation structural mechanic during his tour. After departing he joined the Cherry Creek Chorale in 1995, but his performing was interrupted three times; first by software development study at DeVri University, then a Masters at Triton College, and finally by Covid in 2020. Jay is now a lab manager in manufacturing.
Nancy Henson, Soprano
A Colorado native, Nancy grew up in a musical family singing harmony at the family cabin near Bailey. In high school and college in the 60’s, she played guitar and sang in hootenannies, even traveling and singing across Canada with a fellow musician. She met her husband, Bruce, in a swing jazz ensemble in 1988, performing across the front range for over twenty-five years. Nancy joined the Cherry Creek Chorale in 2016 and started singing with the Cherry Tones at the end of the 2022-23 season. She is definitely loving small ensemble singing again and is looking forward to learning loads of new music.
Gordon Johnson – Bass/Baritone
Gordon grew up in rural North Dakota in a family that played piano and sang. He graduated in industrial engineering at UND. His career moves gave him the opportunity to sing with all types of vocal groups along the way… choirs, orchestra chorus, barbershop, opera chorus, renaissance ensembles, and mens’ chorus. After retiring, Gordon moved from Augusta, Georgia to Denver in 2019 and after attending every Holiday concert he could find; he joined the Cherry Creek Chorale. He works on his earth house every summer, volunteers at the Forney Transportation Museum in RINO, and travels with his wife Liz Anne when he can work it into the Chorale schedule.
Wyatt Johnson – Baritone/Tenor
Wyatt is a lifelong music lover and enthusiast. He started on piano at around 7, and picked up cello at the end of elementary school. He shortly switched to trombone for high school, and continued avidly singing throughout. Wyatt was lucky to receive private vocal lessons from some incredible teachers, that helped him place 1st in the classical division for the Wyoming/Colorado division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in 2018. He went into college at the University of Utah with a Jazz Performance major emphasizing trombone, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and life circumstances, he transitioned to a music minor and prioritized Spanish and Environmental Studies. Having put down music for a while now, Wyatt is 24 years old and he is thrilled to be back in a group of singers, continuing to fine-tune his music and bring positive energy to the group!
Dr. James Libbon, Musical Director, Bass/Baritone
James is happy to have been able to join the Chorale and the Tones. He has twenty+ years of educational and professional choral performance experience, mostly vocal jazz and Rockapella, fifteen of which was leading, writing, and arranging for groups. When he’s not singing, he works as a geriatric physician and
in his spare time, pursues hobbies including photography, videography, swimming and spending time with his wife and daughters.
Dr. Randi Libbon, Alto
Randi is the general manager of the CherryTones and has been a member since 2021. She has been singing since high school, mostly in acappella groups. She loves encouraging singing and a love of music in her 2 daughters as well. When not singing, Randi works as an integrated care psychiatrist at CU Anschutz in the neurology department. In her free time she enjoys baking, swimming, book club, and her 2 dogs.
Leah Lucas, Alto
Leah has been singing with the Cherry Creek Chorale for fifteen years and also sings in Sounds of Praise at Bethany Lutheran Church. Professionally, she is a pharmacist.
Ruth Most, Soprano/Alto
Ruth came from a musical family and has been singing and playing piano since childhood. She has sung with many choral groups including the CSO Chorus. A favorite was The Perfect Blend, a local ladies’ jazz trio. Ruth retired from Cherry Creek Schools after thirty years as a social worker. She now enjoys her two granddaughters and traveling with her husband, and of course, the Cherry Creek Chorale.
Jenee Stewart, Soprano
Jenee joined the Chorale in 2008 and served on the board 2008-2014. She is an original member of the CherryTones. She was soprano soloist for The Mozart Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Faure’s Requiem, Maunier’s Pueri Concinite and for excerpts from Carmina Burana, Elijah and more. She has won various awards in vocal competitions and has performed for the Colorado Opera on Tap, Broomfield Symphony, Opera Colorado, Loveland Opera Theater, Arias at Avos, Empire Lyric Players, New Orleans Opera, and Colorado Avalanche hockey games. She is a Sr. Operations Manager at Lumen Technologies. Jenee holds an MBA from CU/Denver and a Bachelor of Music from CU/Boulder. She and Bob enjoy raising her step-niece, Katy, who is a talented visual artist and para-athlete in karate and equestrian dressage.
Jeannie Williams, Soprano
Jeannie is very happy to have recently joined The Cherry Creek Chorale and is looking forward to singing with The Cherry Tones part time. A native of Louisiana, she moved from Texas in 2024, where she was a member of The Texas Master Chorale for 34 years, and had the honor of singing in many European cities and New York. The most memorable was a High Mass in The Vatican City at St. Peter’s Basilica. Prior to her experience in Texas, she sang with Chorale Acadienne in Louisiana. No stranger to choral singing, she began singing at a very young age in weddings, funerals and Church related choirs. After earning her Bachelor of Music Education in voice and piano, she began teaching music at a K-8 elementary school in New Orleans, where she also began teaching piano after school.After starting her family with her husband Gene (together 53 years), she continued with private piano lessons at her home, retiring after 42 years. She is thrilled to be singing with such a talented group of singers and continuing with her love of The Masterworks and all the fun genres ahead!
Gia Viscardi, Soprano