About Us

Amplifying Voices

Our Mission

This Spring

The FF Collective is dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices by creating and curating artist driven performances and opportunities.

Our Core Values

Diversity and Inclusion
Access and Education
Quality and Support
Ethical Leadership

Our Vision

The FF Collective's vision is to create safe, inclusive, and supportive spaces for high quality artist driven performances while amplifying underrepresented voices, establishing community collaborations, and providing accessible educational experiences.

Our Board

Carr Martin, President
Danielle Perrault, Vice President
Anna Binder, Treasurer
Elly Roseberry, Secretary
Evangelina Woo
Jordan Kuspa
Alan Hicks

Upcoming Concerts

More Info

Leadership

Katie Hickey
Co-Founder

Katie Colleen Hickey, whose voice “electrified…with operatic ecstasy (San Diego Story), began her professional career in Washington D.C., singing with some of the finest choirs and conductors in the city.

She performed regularly with The Woodley Ensemble, Chantry, and the Master Chorale of Washington. Katie has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (D.C.), the Washington National Cathedral, St. Giles Cathedral (Scotland), Seoul National Theatre (Korea), Cadogan Hall(London), Smetana Hall (Prague), and Eglise de la Madeleine (Paris), as well as at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (Wales).

Since moving to San Diego in 2011, Katie has been sought after as a soloist and choral musician regularly performing with the Bach Collegium San Diego, San Diego Pro Arte Voices, and SACRA/PROFANA. Recent solo appearances include Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Rutter’s Magnificat, Saint Saën’s Christmas Oratorio, Brahms’ Requiem, and Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (“Lord Nelson Mass”), and Rutter’s Magnificat with the Village Community Chorale, Handel’s Messiah and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, and Faure’s Requiem with the Escondido Center for the Arts Center Chorale.

Katie holds a bachelor's degree in Music Industry from James Madison University (VA), and a Masters in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

In addition to her work as Founder and COO of The FF Collective, Katie is the Executive Director of the Bach Collegium San Diego. She is the soprano soloist and section leader at the Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe. Katie also expands her vocal abilities through voice acting and voice over. Katie believes in strengthening the arts and humanity through collaboration and finds passion in celebrating creative brilliance wherever it is found.

Tasha Koontz
General Director and Co-Founder

Native Hawaiian soprano Tasha Koontz has been recognized by Parterre Box for her “sumptuous, gleaming lyric instrument” and by Opera Wire for her “secure silvery high notes”. An artist garnering attention from coast to coast, she lends her unique combination of nuanced and vocally exciting performances to a gallery of leading ladies in the operatic repertoire.

In San Diego Opera’s 2021 concert One Amazing Night “Soprano Tasha Koontz wowed with a knockout performance of “Dieu quel frisson” from Gounod’s opera, “Romeo et Juliette,” (San Diego Union Tribune) and performed the soprano solos in Bach Cantata 106 with the La Jolla Symphony. Ms. Koontz was also a featured soloist in the Del Mar International Composer’s Symposium where she performed new and recent works by up and coming composers like Nicolas Lell Benavides, Polina Nazaykinskaya, and Jordan Kuspa.

In the 2019/20 season, engagements included the soprano solos in Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the San Diego Symphony, the role of the High Priestess in Verdi's Aïda with the San Diego Opera, the soprano soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with the San Diego Festival Chorus & Orchestra, and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the California Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Koontz was also heard on the WFMT radio broadcast of the 2019 performance of Aïda with Chicago Symphony Orchestra in which she sang High Priestess. in In October 2020 she had the pleasure of covering Ana Maria Martinez in the role of Mimì in La Boheme in a groundbreaking drive in opera production by San Diego Opera.

Ms. Koontz recently performed as the soprano soloist for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the historic Spreckels Organ Pavilion with the San Diego Master Chorale, Spreckels Organ Society, and San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez. She will next appear with San Diego Opera in the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

www.tashakoontz.com IG: @TishTashKoontz

Sarah-Nicole Carter
Artistic Director and Co-Founder

Mezzo-Soprano Sarah-Nicole Carter has been hailed by the L.A. Times as "simply wonderful", by San Diego Story as a “fiery mezzo-soprano who added verve and vibrant color”, The Salt Lake Tribune as having a "velvety alto", and by critics as conveying a "sharp wit and wistfulness." She will next be seen as Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Ma Moss in The Tender Land, and the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater and as the alto soloist in the Mozart Requiem with Escondido Choral Arts Society.

Sarah-Nicole recently took part in a special performance in support of Peace, Dignity, and Democracy at the historic Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego. Over $15,000 in donations were received to provide humanitarian relief for Ukrainian refugees in partnership with San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez, the Spreckels Organ Society, the San Diego Diplomacy Council, and Forever Balboa Park. She was also featured in an interview with KPBS discussing the impact of the Pandemic on performing artists.

A frequent collaborator with San Diego Opera, Sarah-Nicole has sung Giovanna in Rigoletto, Kate in Pirates of Penzance, and the role of 2nd Frida in 2019 workshop performance of El último sueño de Frida y Diego, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz and Latin GRAMMY® Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank, in addition to multiple concerts.

Sarah-Nicole has performed in concert with Opera Saratoga, Bach Collegium San Diego, Eureka Symphony, La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, The Spreckels Organ Society, Musica Vitale, the Los Angeles Conducting Institute, San Diego Master Chorale, San Diego Festival Chorus, Loveland Opera, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, Center Chorale & Escondido Choral Arts, and Grossmont Symphony Orchestra. She is a staff singer at The Mission Basilica in San Juan Capistrano, a Co-Founder of the FF Collective, and has continued her education during the pandemic studying improvisation at the UCB Training Center and The Groundlings Theater & School. Visit her website at www.snrcarter.com or find her on Instagram @mobcapmezzo.