About
Performing with Voces Novae in 2018. Photo: Merrill Hatlin
Biography
Abby Henkel Roman is a soprano and composer living in Bloomington, Indiana. She is a member of Voces Novae (Susan Swaney) and Bloomington Chamber Singers (Gerald Sousa), and has sung for churches in Bloomington and Indianapolis and projects at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She has also sung with Malcolm Dalglish’s Ooolites. Her recent compositions have been sung by VoxO in Orlando, Florida, Voces Novae in Bloomington, the Earlham College Chamber Singers, the Bloomington Chamber Singers, and the Bloomington Unitarian Universalist Church choir.
In addition to a busy schedule of performances, Abby is the Assistant Director of Advancement for the Environmental Resilience Institute at Indiana University. She lives with her wife in downtown Bloomington.
Soloing with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir in 2000 (left)
Musical Training
Born in 1986 in Indianapolis, Ind., Abby began learning music theory and ear training at age 5 through Yamaha piano lessons under the guidance of Amy Tharp. Abby’s parents are both talented musicians and supported her musical education from an early age. At age 10, Abby joined the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, where she further honed her sight-singing skills and choral acumen. Through ICC, Abby sang under conductors Henry Leck, Ruth Dwyer, and John Nelson, and performed in Notre Dame and the San Denis Festival in Paris, the Brazilian National Choral Director’s Convention in Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Carnegie Hall, and across Indiana. Abby sang under the direction of Kitty O’Donnell at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
Performing with Malcolm Dalglish’s choir, the Ooolites, in Bloomington in 2019. Photo: Kevin Atkins
Abby majored in music at Earlham College (BA 2008), where she concentrated in music theory and composition. She performed with the Earlham College Madrigal Singers, Concert Choir, Orchestra, String Quartet, and Gospel Revelations. She studied music there with Dan Graves, Forrest Tobey, Wei Cheng, Marc Benamou, and Chris Rutkowski. Her musical achievements earned her several awards, including the Len Holvik Award for voice, the Anna Morriset scholarship for private lessons, the Distinguished Accomplishment in the Arts award, and Earlham College Honors. She studied voice with Ellen Denham, and later with Katherine Summerset. After composing and conducting her senior recital in fall 2007, Abby spent her final semester in Austria on the Vienna Choral Program through Earlham College, studying music, German, central European politics, and art. She performed at Karlskirche and Marianamenkirche in Vienna, and in Germany and the Czech Republic. Recently, Abby received a grant from the Bloomington Arts Commission to study composition with composer-conductor Dominick DiOrio of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Abby has also sung with Encore Vocal Arts in Indianapolis, and studied three summers at the Tallis Scholars Summer School directed by Peter Philips.
Musical Specialties
Abby’s vocal specialties center around precision, expressiveness, intuition, and clarity. She has relative pitch, a high soprano range, and versatility as both a soloist and choral singer.