Gilbert & Sullivan Unbuttoned

Robert L. Chambers III is an internationally acclaimed trumpeter and soloist whose career spans principal orchestral positions, concerto appearances, and performances with professional ensembles around the world. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, he quickly established himself as a dynamic orchestral musician and featured soloist.

His early career included principal trumpet appointments with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, followed by service as Principal Trumpet and Resident Soloist with the Oradea Philharmonic in Romania. In the United States, he spent a decade as Principal Trumpet of the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra and has appeared with the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.

Chambers currently serves as Principal Solo Cornet of the Brass Band of Central Florida and performs regularly with your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as concerto soloist with more than twenty-five professional ensembles worldwide, including the Tokyo City Wind Ensemble and Kiev Symphony Orchestra.

American soprano Mary Anne Kruger has earned acclaim across Europe and the United States for a career encompassing more than forty major operatic and concert roles. A graduate of Indiana University, she studied with Margaret Harshaw before moving to Germany and establishing herself on the European opera circuit.

Kruger built much of her extensive repertoire during her tenure with the Hessisches Staatstheater Darmstadt and has appeared in more than twenty European houses, including the Bayerische Staatsoper–Nationaltheater Munich, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Theater Basel, and Latvian National Opera. Her repertoire extends from Pamina in Die Zauberflöte to Salome and includes numerous world and German premieres. Opernwelt described her Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro as “dazzling,” while Orfeus International praised her Salome as “worthy of the greatest houses.”

A longtime artistic partner of your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, Kruger has appeared frequently under Aaron Collins, including in the world premieres of Christopher Marshall’s Cançó del Mar and Mark Piszczek’s Brigit and the Banshee.

Kate Stenzel-Whitworth is a singer, actor, and teaching artist whose work moves between musical theatre, straight theatre, opera, and new music. She recently helped originate a role in Le Cirque Arcanus, created for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic at Universal Epic Universe.

Her stage credits include the national tour of A Christmas Carol as Belle and Mrs. Cratchit, and Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap as Mollie Ralston at Broadway Palm. Favorite roles include Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Sally Talley in Talley’s Folly, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Laurey in Oklahoma!, and Glinda in The Wizard of Oz. SCSO audiences most recently heard her as Julie Jordan in Carousel in Concert.

Stenzel-Whitworth holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and bachelor’s degrees in Voice Performance and Music Education from Florida State University. She teaches through her private voice studio and previously served on the faculty of the University of Illinois Springfield.

Sarah Purser, mezzo-soprano, earned her Master of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from the University of Central Florida, where she studied vocal performance and conducting. She currently serves as Education Director for Opera Orlando.

A familiar voice in Central Florida since 2001, Purser began her professional singing career with Orlando Opera Company and has appeared as a soloist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles throughout the region. She sings regularly with the Solaria Singers and the Basilica Choir of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. She is also a founding member of The Helena Collective, an all-women vocal ensemble devoted to amplifying female voices through narrative-driven programming.

Recent stage highlights include Abby Borden in Lizbeth, Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, and Jane Seymour in 6/VIII: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, winner of the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival.

Praised for her “action-star sass” by The Boston Globe, mezzo-soprano Samantha W. Petersen brings a vivid dramatic presence and a distinctive voice to opera and operetta. She holds degrees from Stetson University and the New England Conservatory.

Petersen discovered an early affinity for Gilbert and Sullivan as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance and Katisha in The Mikado. Her other roles include Mrs. Nolan in Menotti’s The Medium, Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon, the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and Miss Baggott in Britten’s The Little Sweep.

She spent three seasons with the Boston Lyric Opera chorus, was a young artist with Sarasota Opera, and performed with Passaggio Opera in Berlin. In 2025 she returned to Madame de la Haltière in Opera Orlando’s Cendrillon at Steinmetz Hall. Gilbert & Sullivan Unbuttoned marks her debut with your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.

Kristoffer “Kit” Cleto is a Chicago-born vocalist, teacher, music director, and vocal coach whose career spans opera, musical theatre, contemporary performance, and higher education. A longtime favorite of Space Coast Symphony audiences, he has appeared with your orchestra eight times.

Cleto earned his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Central Florida, studying with Dr. Jeremy Hunt, and his Master of Music in Voice Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with tenor Jerold Siena and served as a graduate teaching assistant in voice. His training also took him to Italy for operatic study and performance with La Scuola Italia per Cantanti Lirici.

His Central Florida credits include Opera Orlando, Central Florida Vocal Arts, Opera del Sol, Mad Cow Theatre, Athens Theatre, Garden Theatre, Titusville Playhouse, Central Florida Community Arts, and Theatre at St. Luke’s. Since 2016, he has served as an Adjunct Instructor of Voice at Valencia College. Cleto combines a foundation in bel canto technique with a deep understanding of contemporary musical theatre, bringing stylistic versatility and direct, character-centered storytelling to every performance.

Bryan Hayes is a vocalist, songwriter, arranger, and composer whose work crosses classical music, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, rock, and pop. A familiar presence with your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared with the ensemble on more than ten occasions.

Hayes earned bachelor’s degrees in Classical Voice Performance and Jazz Studies from the University of North Florida. His career encompasses opera, oratorio, musical theatre, touring, recording, and original composition. International appearances include productions in the Czech Republic with the University of North Florida and University of British Columbia opera ensembles, a tour of Italy with the UNF Chorale, and performances at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral with the St. John’s Cathedral Choir of Jacksonville.

Closer to home, Hayes performs frequently with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Orlando. He has shared the stage with artists and ensembles including the Royal Symphony of England, Reggie Wooten, Coolio, Ben Folds, and Andrea Bocelli. In 2015, he released his debut album of original music, This Is Me, showcasing his work as both composer and songwriter.

Andrew LeJeune returns to your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra after appearances in Best of Broadway, The Best of Country Music, Broadway’s Leading Men, and as Billy Bigelow in Carousel in Concert.

A native of North Carolina, LeJeune studied voice with Dr. Joseph Amaya at Appalachian State University before building a wide-ranging career in musical theatre, live entertainment, and vocal music. Favorite stage roles include Curly in Oklahoma!, Radames in Aida, Frederick Barrett in Titanic, Skip Henderson in Life Could Be a Dream, and Edward Rutledge in 1776. He also appeared as a singer, actor, guitarist, and percussionist in Mountain Home Christmas at Greenbrier Valley Theatre.

His theme-park credits include The Untrainable Dragon at Universal Epic Universe, The Blues Brothers at Universal Studios, Carolina Roots at Carowinds, and the singing, guitar-playing Dinoland Intern at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. His a cappella work includes The Ragtime Gals and Sing-It at Universal Studios, and The Conductors and Bayside Carolers at SeaWorld.

Stephen Mumbert is a versatile baritone, performer, and teacher whose career encompasses more than forty operatic roles and fifty concert-soloist appearances across the United States and Europe. The Guardian praised his Mozart performances for an “assured and stylish technique” and called him “vocally the most promising singer on stage.”

Mumbert holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Stetson University and a Master of Music in Opera from The Boston Conservatory. Performance highlights include Khan Kontchak in Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Steinmetz Hall; Mozart’s Requiem; Handel’s Messiah; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Magnificat; Fauré’s Requiem; and roles with Opera Orlando including Count Monterone in Rigoletto, Marco in Gianni Schicchi, and King Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors.

A founding member of the Bach Vocal Artists and a frequent guest of your Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, Mumbert serves on the voice faculties of Rollins College and Stetson University and maintains a private studio in Central Florida.