Apollo’s Fire believes that the arts are most compelling when they truly represent our diverse communities, including people of color. Whether on stage or in the audience, the deep emotions of music resonate with all of us.
 
Conceived by Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell, AF’s MOSAIC Project was approved by the Board of Directors in 2019. Through this program, Apollo’s Fire seeks to nurture a new generation of baroque musicians of color, helping to build a more diverse pool of classical music performers and audiences within 5-10 years.
 
AF’s talented team of artists of color nurture children and youth in musical programs and events across the community. Since 2020, the MOSAIC Project has presented over 16 artists of color in our subscription concerts. AF’s MOSAIC artists have grown and flourished, performing with AF on tour in New York and London, and also being engaged by such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
 

Why Mosaic? Like early music, a mosaic is an ancient art form. Just as a baroque composition consists of small thematic gestures linked together in harmony, so a mosaic picture consists of small, varied, colored pieces assembled in a design. In mosaics and in early music, the diverse, multicolored bits work harmoniously together to create the beauty of the whole.

The Pathway:

The MOSAIC project seeks to nurture musicians of color at multiple touch points throughout their development. Over the course of 3-8 years, talented young musicians of color will be inspired through interactions and mentoring by AF’s artistic personnel at various levels, reinforcing the message that “we all belong” in this world of classical music.
 
The program includes:

• MOSAIC Fellowships, providing professional performance opportunities and mentoring for talented young classical musicians of color. The Fellows are drawn from a national pool. They work with Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell and AF core musicians, performing in Apollo’s Fire subscription and tour concerts and outreach activities.
• MOSAIC Outreach Internships – paid internship opportunities for college-age music students who perform in AF’s in-school workshops and Family Concerts. The Interns are drawn from the Northeast Ohio area. We are accepting applications on a rolling basis. If you are a college or conservatory student majoring in music performance, music education, or music therapy, you can apply – as an individual, a trio, or quartet. MORE INFO
• Small-group classical music coachings through AF’s Musettes Ensemble (treble youth chorus), the Rainey Institute in urban Cleveland, and AF’s Side-by-Side String Program in south-side Chicago.

Reggie Mobley, Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach

Reggie is a respected countertenor with an international solo career. His European engagements include the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir (John Elliot Gardiner), the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Bachfest Leipzig. In North America, he has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Calgary Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), and the Boston Early Music Festival, among others.
 
With roots in the Deep South and the struggles of the Black community, Reggie is dedicated to helping the classical music industry overcome its inequality issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality. A strong devotion to social and political activism is part of Reggie’s everyday life, adding to his strength in reaching diverse communities. His outreach experience includes designing programs of music by 18th-century African composers who worked in Europe. A versatile artist, Reggie has performed cabaret shows of gospel, jazz, and torch songs in jazz clubs. He serves as programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society, where he directs the “Every Voice” program.

Sophia Burgos, soprano

Puerto Rican-American soprano Sophia Burgos is respected internationally as a singer of outstanding intelligence and musicality. She has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the BBC PROMS, Musikfest Berlin, and Versailles; and with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle. With Sir John Eliot Gardiner she also performed as Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story at the Edinburgh International Festival to outstanding critical acclaim. Ms. Burgos is passionate about education and outreach through art, holding a degree in Music Education. Originally from Chicago, her earliest musical influences were Spanish folk song and dance, as she and her family are strongly tied to their Puerto Rican heritage. Sophia has performed with AF in Cleveland, Chicago, and Puerto Rico, as well as leading AF school workshops in Chicago. She will tour internationally in AF’s “O Jerusalem!” program in 2026.

Sonya Headlam, soprano

Sonya Headlam, soprano, is a frequent guest with Apollo’s Fire and also loves participating in AF’s Family Concerts. She first joined Apollo’s Singers in 2021 as a member of the ensemble. She made her solo debut with Apollo’s Fire in 2022 at Severance Hall, with critics calling her “the highlight of the concert… Headlam sang flawlessly and with seeming abandon” (ClevelandClassical.com). Sonya now has a flourishing solo career, having recently sung with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and the Hallé Orchestra in the UK. Born of Jamaican parentage, Sonya holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from Rutgers University.

Carmen Johnson-Pajaro, violin

A native of Alabama, Carmen is a community-based artist living in New York City. Raised in a family of music lovers, she began her musical studies with jam sessions in the living room and eventually found her way to the world of historical performance. She has worked with renowned early music figures such as Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, Reggie Mobley, Raphaël Pichon, Jonathan Cohen, Rachel Podger, and Richard Egarr, among many others. Beyond performing, Carmen’s commitment to community engagement has led to nonprofit work in schools, shelters, hospitals, and detention centers. Carmen holds degrees from The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, and the Eastman School of Music, where she was a Lois Rogers and Links Scholar. She has been playing with Apollo’s Fire since the 2024-25 season, and is thrilled to be joining AF’s Family Concerts and school workshops in 2026.

Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, tenor

Jonathan Pierce Rhodes has emerged as an exciting young presence in the world of opera, drawing admiration from audiences and critics alike. He has performed with Houston Grand Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera, and recently made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Oratorio Society of New York. Pierce is a recent graduate of the Washington National Opera’s Young Artist program, and was also a young artist of the Glimmerglass Festival for three summers. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from The Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester; and a Master’s in opera performance from Rice University. Pierce won the hears of Apollo’s Fire audiences in his February 2025 debut, and is happy to be joining AF for outreach concerts in 2026.

Andréa Walker, Artist Fellow

Mexican-American soprano Andréa Walker grew up in San Antonio, Texas. Recent solo engagements include her Lincoln Center debut in music of Telemann with Masaaki Suzuki and Juilliard415; touring in Germany as soloist with Yale Schola Cantorum; her solo debut with Apollo’s Fire in 17th-century German repertoire; and concerts at the Norfolk Chamber Choir Festival under the direction of Simon Carrington.

She is pursuing her Doctorate in historical performance practice at Case Western Reserve University. She holds a Master’s in vocal performance from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where she studied early music, oratorio, and art song. As a MOSAIC fellow with Apollo’s Fire, she is thrilled to help bring baroque and Hispanic folk music to new audiences in the Latinx community and beyond.

Diego Diaz, violin

Venezuelan violinist Diego Diaz served as a teaching artist in Apollo’s Fire’s “SIDE BY SIDE” strings program at the Matteson School District in South-side Chicago from 2021-2023. He has performed with several orchestras in his home country of Venezuela, and also participated in tours to Europe and Asia, under such renowned conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle, and Diego Matheuz.

Diego is a 2021-22 Chicago Sinfonietta Project Inclusion Fellow in both the Orchestral and Ensemble programs. He also serves as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He began his music studies at age 9 as part of the renowned “El Sistema” program of Venezuela. He recently received his Master’s in violin performance from Roosevelt University, as a student of Almita Vamos and Vamos. He was the 1st prize winner in the 2013 Juan Bautista Plaza Competition in Caracas.

Ashlee Foreman, Artist Fellow

Ashlee Foreman, soprano, has been hailed as “a real discovery… an important new singer. Her voice has a tremendous range and is deployed with theatrical assurance” (Seen & Heard International, UK). Her solo debut with Apollo’s Fire in 2020 was called “a tour-de-force” by Cleveland.com. She has also appeared as soloist with Apollo’s Fire on tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, the Heideberg International Spring Festival (Germany), and in Chicago and San Francisco.

Ashlee received her Bachelor’s in music from Cleveland State University and her high school diploma from the Cleveland School of the Arts. While an undergrad, she served as Apollo’s Fire’s first Artistic Outreach Intern, singing in school workshops and Family Concerts. In 2020 she joined AF’s professional chorus, Apollo’s Singers. She has also performed with the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Spire Chamber Ensemble (Kansas), and she sang the lead in Menotti’s opera The Telephone at the University of Akron.

Gabriella Martinez, Host & Producer, “I ♥️ Music” Educational Video Series

Gabriella (Gaby) Martinez joined the Apollo’s Fire team in 2018 as co-creator of AF’s first in-school workshop for elementary grades – Apollo the Spider’s Musical Adventure. She is currently co-director and co-host of I ♥ Music, AF’s new Discovery Series of videos for young children. Originally from Cleveland, Gaby earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Dance from Baldwin Wallace University, and recently relocated to Chicago. In addition to being a performer, she has worked as a Teaching Artist and Program staff for many arts nonprofits in Cleveland, including The Dancing Wheels Company and Center for Arts-Inspired Learning. Gaby strives to engage different communities through her work, in particular, youth in creative arts-related curriculums. Gaby is thrilled to be working with Apollo’s Fire!

Jonathan Woody, Bass-Baritone and Composer

Jonathan Woody’s singing has been praised as “charismatic” and “riveting” (New York Times). His past performances with Apollo’s Fire include national tours in 2014 and 2018. A thoughtful and thought-provoking composer, two of his compositions on themes of the Black experience in America have been featured in Apollo’s Fire programs (and one of them was commissioned by AF). His engagements with others period groups include the Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, Trinity Wall Street, New York Polyphony, Bach Collegium San Diego, and New York Baroque Incorporated. Festival appearances include the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), Carmel Bach Festival (as 2013 Adams Fellow), and the Oregon Bach Festival (as 2014 Vocal Fellow). Jonathan can be heard on CD recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival, New York Polyphony, and Trinity Wall Street. As a composer, he has been commissioned by ensembles including Apollo’s Fire, the Handel & Haydn Society, and the Uncommon Music Festival.