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TBF Resident Artists
The TBF Resident Artists are some of the finest early music singers and players in the Pacific Northwest. The performers are both experienced ensemble artists as well as accomplished soloists and serve in both capacities at the festival. Members have performed at the Oregon Bach Festival, the Texas Bach Festival, with the American Bach Soloists, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other leading early music festivals and ensembles.
Erin Calata, mezzo soprano
Known for her vocal clarity, versatile singing, and moving performances, mezzo-soprano Erin Calata readily sings a wide array of genres, with a special interest in Early Music, Art Song, New Music and choral works. As a freelance vocalist, she performs with many organizations locally and nationally including the Texas Early Music Project in Austin, Pacific Musicworks Underground in Seattle, and has also sung in past seasons with Seattle's Vox16 (now Radiance) and Cantaré Vocal Ensemble, the Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Chorus, Bellevue's City Opera Ballet, the Arizona Opera, Scottsdale Choral Artists, and the Stuttgart Festival Ensemble in Germany. She was chosen as a 2014 New Young Artist with the Victoria Bach Festival in Victoria, Texas and participated in the American Bach Soloists Academy in 2017. Ms. Calata is on the faculty of Pierce College.
Veronica Deraleau, soprano
Veronica G. Deraleau is a Latin-Asian American soprano, garnering attention as an expressive singing actress, recitalist, and collaborative artist in genres spanning opera, oratorio, orchestral, chamber music, choral, contemporary, and film. She is thrilled to join the Tacoma Bach Festival’s 2025 season as a Resident Artist. Veronica’s 2024-25 season features oratorio and orchestral performances with West Side Presbyterian (Handel’s Messiah), Sacred Heart Bellevue (Fauré’s Requiem), South Puget Sound Community College (“Resurrection” from Mahler’s Symphony No. 2), Sno-King Chorale,
Kulshan Chorus, and Cantabile Chamber Choir (The Drop that Contained the Sea by
Christopher Tin), roles with Bellevue Opera (Annina in La Traviata) and Engage Opera
(Lieschen in a staged performance of Bach’s Coffee Cantata), recitals with Stage 7 Pianos,
Endless Sound Cellars, and Listen Live at Lunch, and additional appearances with Vashon
Opera, St. James Cathedral, and Resonance Ensemble. As a former musician for the U.S. Army, Veronica had the honor of performing across the country and abroad at various military and political events. Ms. Deraleau currently calls Lacey, Washington her home with her husband, Mike, and their dogs, Phil and Minka. For more information, please visit www.veronicaderaleau.com.
Jacob Herbert, bass-baritone
​A native of Portland, Oregon, bass-baritone Jacob William Herbert has been praised by the Oregonian for his "consummate musicality." While earning his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Arizona State University, Mr. Herbert had the great fortune to perform with the Phoenix Chorale (formerly the Phoenix Bach Choir) and can be heard as soloist on their Grammy Award winning album, "Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin." This season's highlights include a period performance of Messiah with Spire Baroque Ensemble in Kansas City, where the Kansas City Star commended Mr. Herbert's singing as "consistent, high to low." As a strong proponent of Bach, he has been seen on stage with Seattle Baroque and Seattle Pro Musica, the Oregon Bach Festival, Festivalensemble Stuttgart, Junges Stuttgarter Bachensemble, Academia Internacíonal Teatro del Lago, and the American Bach Series at All Saints'. Mr. Herbert has toured extensively with the Internationale Bachakademie in Germany, South America, and North Africa.
Justin Raffa, tenor
​Justin Raffa is active as a professional conductor and singer in the Northwest and beyond. Justin has sung as part of the Berkshire Choral Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Voces Novae et Antiquae, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and continues to perform with both the Festival Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival and True Concord Voices & Orchestra in Tucson of which he is a founding member. As a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir under Joseph Flummerfelt, Justin sang with some of the world's leading conductors and orchestras. Currently, Justin sings with Chor Anno, Male Ensemble Northwest, and Polyphony Plus, three regional ensembles made up of professional choral musicians in the Pacific Northwest. Justin is a passionate advocate for the arts and currently serves on the board of a number of arts organizations He is the current chair of the board of the Washington State Arts Commission. A South Jersey native proud of his Sicilian heritage, Justin holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education with a vocal concentration from Westminster Choir College in Princeton NJ and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from University of Arizona in Tucson.
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