Core Singers and Artistic Director
Zoë Kales
Born and raised in Chicagoland, mezzo-soprano and composer Zoë Kales is a first-year master’s student at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music studying voice with Theresa Brancaccio. She recently made her Northwestern University Opera Theater debut performing the role of Mercédès (Carmen).
Kales graduated last May with a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and received the Van Denman Thompson Award for most outstanding senior in the School of Music. At DePauw, she performed several operatic roles including Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), The Little Prince (The Little Prince), and Aeneas (Dido & Aeneas). Kales is an alumna of the Brevard Music Center, where she sang the role of Stewardess (Flight) under the direction of Dean Anthony.
She has also performed with the Grand Teton Music Festival Choir and as a soloist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. As a composer, Zoë recently finished writing her first operetta, The Devil You Know, which will be performed in a semi-staged production with Cosmia Opera Collective at Northwestern this June. Outside of music, she enjoys baking, reading, and spending time at the lake. Zoë is a founding member of Archaic Invention.
Mezzo-Soprano
Ken Dulay
Ken Dulay is a Filipino-American countertenor from Northern California. He recently earned his Master’s degree in Voice and Opera from Northwestern University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Sacramento State University.
As an emerging artist, Dulay has performed as a concert soloist with groups in the Sacramento area. He is proud to have been the first countertenor soloist with the Sacramento Choral Society in their 2023 Stained Glass Concert, which included Handel’s Jubilate, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, and Zelenka’s Dixit Dominus. He also sang as the countertenor soloist in the world premiere of Concerto Da Requiem by Carlos McMillan Fuentes with Camerata California. Dulay has also been seen on the opera stage as Ottone in the Northwestern Opera Theatre’s production of L'incoronazione di Poppea and Cascada in The Merry Widow.
Dulay is also very passionate about ensemble singing and sings in the chorus for Music of the Baroque and Stare at the Sun in Chicago. He has also sung with Roots in the Sky, Montana’s premier chamber ensemble. Ken is one of the founding members of Archaic Invention.
Countertenor
Indian–American tenor Tejas Kishan Gururaja (he/him) is a Chicago-based singer of opera, oratorio, and musical theatre. Originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he is currently at Northwestern University pursuing Bachelor’s degrees in Voice and Opera Performance at the Bienen School of Music and Neuroscience at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
Performance highlights include the title role in Orpheus in the Underworld, El Remendado in Carmen, Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Fabrizio Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza, Raoul de St. Brioche in Die Lustige Witwe, and Ein Soldat in Der Kaiser von Atlantis. As a concert soloist, Tejas has performed the tenor solos in Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s cantatas BWV 5 and 131, and the role of Max in Schumann’s Der Rose Pilgerfahrt.
In addition to his work in Western classical music, Tejas maintains an active career in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, performing regularly as a vocalist and violinist throughout the United States and India. Tejas is a founding member of Archaic Invention.
TenorTejas Gururaja
BaritoneStephen Miller
Stephen Miller, baritone, is a second-year Master of Music student in Voice in Opera at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where he studies with W. Stephen Smith. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, he received his Bachelor of Music degree from New Mexico State University in 2023 before moving to Chicago in the summer of 2025.
His previous roles include Crebillon in Puccini’s La Rondine, Baritone Soloist in Mendelssohn’s Psalm 115, and Morales in Bizet’s Carmen. He is a member of Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and a founding member of Archaic Invention.
Conductor, composer, and baritone Aiden Kocian is a second-year master’s student at the Northwestern University Bienen School of music studying choral conducting with Dr. Andrew Megill. Before beginning graduate school Aiden was the artistic director of the Synergy Musician’s Collective, a community orchestra in Northfield, Minnesota. In addition to his time with Synergy Aiden has enjoyed guest appointments with Spiritus Novus and the Northfield Justice Choir. Aiden’s compositional works span from solo violin to full choral orchestral works that augment period music for a contemporary world’s ears. Most recently Aiden received distinctions in counterpoint and keyboard harmony from the European American Musical Alliance where he studied with Dr. Philip Lasser and Abbie Betinis.
Aiden currently serves as graduate assistant to the Northwestern Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Andrew Megill and sings bass with the Wilmette Quartet.
Aiden is the founder and artistic director of Archaic Invention and intensely passionate about vocal chamber music.
Artistic Director