Meet The ProMusica Arizona Management Team
Patti Graetz
Artistic Director/Principal Conductor
Patti Graetz’s music career has spanned more than 30 years, as an award-winning soprano, acclaimed educator, and skilled conductor.
Ms. Graetz has sung lead roles with Houston Grand Opera and Arizona Opera. She was principal soprano for “Opera-tunity” and the Royal Renaissance Singers from 1990 – 2002, singing in hundreds of performances. She was Director of Music at Scottsdale Presbyterian in the early 1990s and at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran from 1995-2004. She also headed vocal departments at the Arizona School for the Arts from 1998-2000 and the Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics in 2003.
In Australia from 2004-2012, Ms. Graetz 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 Conductor of the Murray Conservatorium Choir and the Murray Conservatorium Youth Choir.
After returning to the U.S. she rejoined the Royal Renaissance Singers and was recruited for the Sonoran Desert Chorale, with whom she still sings. She joined ProMusica Arizona in 2015 as Assistant Conductor and Conductor of Women in Song, and became Artistic Director and Principal Conductor in 2017. She continues to teach private voice and piano at home.
Karen Rasmussen
Executive Director
Karen Rasmussen has sung with PMAZ since 2017, served on its Board of Directors from July 2019 through June 2025, chaired the Board during the 2024-2025 performance season, and was named Executive Director effective July 1, 2025.
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 communications. 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 and 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.
Mallory Volkmann
Administrative Assistant and Box Office Manager
Beth Mabee
Marketing Coordinator
Beth Mabee earned her MBA in Marketing and Information Technology from New York University’s Stern School of Business, and has been a freelance website designer, graphic artist, and branding consultant in the Valley since 2006. She has been singing with the ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Women in Song since the fall of 2019 and has been on our Board of Directors since May of 2020. Since joining the Board she has done much of our graphic design, layout, and website work. Beth was hired at the beginning of 2025 as our Marketing Coordinator, and now also handles our social media and other promotional activities.