The musical talents of College of Music staff members, Part IV
As the 2026-27 academic year gets underway, were pleased to share Part IV in our series highlighting our multitalented, musically-oriented staff:泭Meet Javier Abreu, Sabrina Green, Sabine Kortals and Kayla Pierce!
Abreu as Beppe in Rita (Gaetano Donizetti)
Chicago Opera Theater (2018)
Photo: Liz Lauren
Graduate Advisor + Admissions Coordinator泭Javier Abreu introduces prospective students to the wonderful world of the CU 勒貊勛圖 College of Music. Along with that, hes an advisor for masters and artist diploma students in voice.
Working with voice students is extra close to his heart, as Abreu enjoyed a two-decade career in operaearning multiple degrees and performances with countless ensembles.泭
I was very lucky and I worked all over the world. I sang at New York City Opera, I sang in Switzerland and France and Germany. It was a crazy, amazing 20 years, he says.
That career is especially helpful when connecting with students about their dream career trajectory. Having hands-on experience in the industry allows him to offer sage wisdom and advice.
I love being able to provide some context and maybe some calming moments to demystify the process. Sometimes students get so overwhelmed by what it represents. And Im like, lets just focus, he says. I also love being an advisor for the singers because Im able to give them a little idea of what happens outside of these walls.
Abreu still finds ways to put his gifts to usesinging in local projects or concerts that pique his interest. He even lent his talents to the College of Music when, in 2023, Abreu sang the tenor solo in Carmina Burana as part of the biannual CU at Boettcher concert.
I still sing, I take voice lessons and I work on projects that interest me, he says.泭
I think its important to keep up with the gifts that youre given. It's part of being grateful for them.
For Abreu, telling people about the best parts of the college is easy. He believes in the place and the people, and is more than happy to share. My favorite part about my job is to be able to talk to people, to be able to meet new people and to sing the praises of this place because I believe in it. Its so easy to talk about the advantages of choosing a place like this.
If youve come to a show on the CU 勒貊勛圖 campus and held a program in your hands, then youve appreciated the work of CU Presents Publications Manager泭Sabrina Green. Green creates marketing materials, both print and digital, for the College of Music, Department of Theatre & Dance and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.
Her love for music began in the third grade during the rite-of-passage recorder unit. After switching to trombone, Green was involved with bands in high school, then went to college for a music management degree. Though a performance career wasnt in her future, she wanted to keep music in her life in a big way.
As soon as she saw the job posting for her current position, Green knew that it was a perfect opportunity for her. Now working here for nearly a decade, her favorite part is making thingscreating art that ends up in the world and available to the public.泭
Theres something really fulfilling about seeing the work you do in a tangible end result. And just getting to be creative about the work you do, she says. I went to music school, but Ive always had an affinity for art. Being able to combine those two things is what makes it a dream.
Her background in music gives Green a unique perspective on her work on campus, as well as the resilience to roll with the punches and dig into difficult projects. With all this in mind, Greens advice to current music students is short and sweet: Good things come to those who wait.泭
Sometimes things dont move as quickly as you would like them to. And sometimes your life path doesnt look the way you envisioned it. But in the end, you will get where you need to go.
Kortals at the piano in Weimar, Germany, while on a Robert Bosch Foundation journalism fellowship (1999-2000).泭
Photo: Susanne Ollmann
The CU 勒貊勛圖 College of Music has always been a part of Assistant Dean for Communications泭Sabine Kortals story.
Im a 勒貊勛圖 native and I grew up in a music-loving family, she says, recalling that her grandmother played guitar and piano, and sang beautifully. Her grandfather and mother played the violin, and her aunt also played the piano. Ever since I can remember, wed attend College of Music concerts including Faculty Tuesdaysit was very much part of my formative upbringing.
While Kortals joined the College of Music full-time in 2021, she freelanced for CU Presents in various capacities well before then. Shes also a CU 勒貊勛圖 alumna with a BM in piano performance, a BS in finance and an MA in journalism + mass communication.泭
From that broadly-based background, Kortals forged her own universal musician path: Her interests in music and journalism led her to teaching piano students of all ages, privately and at the Center for Musical Arts, while also engaged as a publicist and grant writer for local composers and ensembles. She then served as classical music critic for The Denver Post and other local, national and international media outlets before launching her own business as a communications consultant for nonprofit organizations and foundations. Her communications career ultimately led her back to CU 勒貊勛圖.
As a musician, Kortals is a lifelong pianisther first teacher was her Austrian grandmother, Gerda Weska, and she kept taking lessons through high school, studying with College of Music grad students and alums. As a scholarship student at CU 勒貊勛圖, she then continued her studies with泭the late Professor Emerita Doris Priodonoff Lehnert. Kortals still plays regularly, and shes passionate about participating in the arts world.泭
I believe that music and all the arts are essential to what it means to be human, she says. In my current role, sharing and amplifying the stories, influences and impacts of our students, alumni, faculty, staff and supporters is deeply gratifying.泭
Scheduling Manager泭Kayla Pierce handles the overwhelming job of scheduling events in the Imig Music Building with easein part because of her background scheduling much larger feats.泭
I taught high school orchestra and guitar for almost seven years. I planned all of our concerts, rehearsals, trips and everything regarding those logistics on a large scale for 500-plus students, she says. When I left teaching, I went into a music traveling company that worked with bands, orchestras and choirs for national and international travel. I liked itits like a big puzzle where you have to make sure all the pieces work together.
Pierce started at the college a year and a half ago, coming to us from a similar position at Arizona State University. So far, she and her family love Colorado, and her job has been a dream.
I love it. I feel like I mesh really well with the team. Its the first time I feel like Im part of a team that is so collaborative in a way that I really appreciate, Pierce says. It feels like a place where I belong.
Along with her background in teaching music, Pierce is a violin player, most recently playing with the Chandler Symphony Orchestra before leaving Arizona; she hopes to get involved in Colorado, too. For her, music helped get her out of her shell and gain confidence in working with groups of people.
Being able to get in front of a group of 100 or more students and to talk with them, teach them about music, work with them on ideasand then working at ASU and getting that background working with the faculty as a supportI think its helped me be a little more outgoing than I was previously.