DR. PATRICK PHALEN

has been involved in education and music education for over 30 years. Phalen earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin; a master’s degree in Education Leadership from Marion College; a master’s degree in Trumpet Performance with a jazz emphasis from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; and a Doctoral Degree in Education Leadership from Edgewood College in Madison. His most recent post was serving as the principal at Mountain Bay Elementary School.

Phalen is currently a professional musician and educator. As a professional performer, Phalen has had the privilege of playing for several Broadway tours, and has backed up such artists as The Temptations, Frankie Vallee, Burt Bacharach, and The Manhattan Transfer. He performs regularly with local acts Hip Pocket, Brass Differential, and Big Mouth & the Powertool Horns. Phalen also keeps active in music education by giving jazz and trumpet clinics at the high school and college level.

As an educational leader, Phalen led his school, Mountain Bay Elementary School, in receiving a National Blue-Ribbon School Award. This is a distinguished award presented to a select few schools in the entire country based on high achievement and excellence in education.

Phalen’s dream was to put together a group that would honor the band Chicago. As the driving force behind the genesis of Alive Again, he serves the band in many different capacities as it’s music director, arranger, and booking agent.

WILLIAM (BILL) HILL

is a Crivitz native who currently resides in Green Bay. He cites his influences as James Pankow (obviously!!), Wycliffe Gordon, Conrad Herwig, and Troy Andrews.

After receiving his Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2002 from UW-Stevens Point, he accepted the band director position at Notre Dame de la Baie Academy in 2003 and held the position until 2016. Hill is a founding member of Green Bay Brass Band and Brass Differential in addition to being a regular member of Hip Pocket, Alive Again, and Green Bay Jazz Orchestra. He has recorded with Jive Deluxe, River Cities Jazz Orchestra, Brass Differential, Chocolateers, Feed the Dog, Fox Menagerie, and Stephen Cooper and the Nobody Famous.

Aside from his local ties to the music scene in northeast Wisconsin, his professional performance credits include: 1999-2000 national tour with Jive De Luxe; 2010 European tour and Montreux Jazz Festival with the River Cities Jazz Orchestra. In 2018, Hill was a nominee for Jazz Artist of the year by WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry). He is currently serving as director of bands for the Brillion School District.

Ken Barhite

grew up in Florida but has made Green Bay his home for over 23 years. His mom chose the clarinet for him to start in sixth grade because it was one the few instruments she thought her scrawny son could haul around. By high school he was doubling on sax and flute. He still looks back fondly on his band geek days. Barhite spent a few years as a music major in college and ended up with a BS in accounting, and now works by day in IT, having never let music out of his life.

He has performed with many groups including professional orchestras, big bands, variety bands, pit orchestras, and small jazz ensembles. His musical influences have come disproportionately through saxophonists named Bob—Reynolds, Mintzer, Franceschini, Berg, and Sheppard.

He’s married to a patient woman named AmyJo with whom he has three amazing sons.

Joe Fittante

is from Antigo and consistently thrills fans with his vocals and R&B influences as a featured vocalist with Otis and the Alligators and with some of Wisconsin’s premier bands including MoJoe & Flipside, Joe Bucher and the Top Raiders, MLC Blues Band, and currently the 9-piece show band Hip Pocket.

Throughout his professional career, he has been invited to share the stage with the likes of Siegel Schwall and BB King.

Fittante soulful vocals and undeniable passion for the R&B genre emanate from his many influences as he reinvents time honored classics by Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Santana, Delbert McClinton, Sting, and many, many more.

Outside of the realm of music, he has attained the status as one of the most recognized taxidermists and fish replica artists in the country. His artistry has been delighting international sportsmen as well as sportsmen from across the United States for the last 45 years.

Tony Pesavento

has been playing bass for over 17 years having started on the upright bass. As far as vocals, he has been singing for as long as he can remember. He is very active in the Northeast Wisconsin entertainment scene performing in several other bands in the Green Bay area including Only the Sun, Planet Radio, Panic Station, 18 Days, Hip Pocket, Fat Brass, Daddy D Productions, and John Kelley and the Fusion Xpress Orchestra. Pesavento enjoys teaching lessons, hosting open jams, and playing for local musical theatre shows. Alive Again has been a really fun challenge for him in performing the vocals of Peter Cetera which, admittedly, is pushing him to new heights as a musician. His favorite Chicago song is Feeling Stronger Every Day. For Pesavento, every song has been a joy to learn!

David “Duke” Duquette

started playing guitar at age 14 and got into his first rock band at 16 then played in bands all through high school, college, and grad school. A highlight in his musical experience was when his group Spice was the house band at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach NH in the summer of 1970. The band opened for a number of nationally known bands, including Chicago. As a result, Duke had the opportunity to meet and chat with the members of Chicago, most notably Terry Kath and found him to be a very interesting guy.

After a period of time Duke decided to continue with academics and left the band to enroll in a graduate program in Philosophy, first at Rensselear Polytechic Institute in Troy NY and subsequently at the University of Kansas in Lawrence KS. After getting his Ph.D. in 1985 he acquired a faculty position at St. Norbert College and headed to De Pere WI. While at SNC, he put together a trio of fellow faculty musicians called the Norbertones that played occasional gigs on campus.

Duke retired from SNC in January 2018 after 33 years as a faculty member. He then found his way into the music scene in the Green Bay area, getting to meet a number of musicians while going to the open jams at the Blue Opus, playing some impromptu gigs here and there. He eventually got connected to Alive Again, largely through a recommendation by trombonist Bill Hill. He is thrilled to be a part of Alive Again and feels privileged to be able to play and sing with such talented musicians--and in particular to be able to perform some Terry Kath songs for which he has great fondness.

Sara Rifleman

has been playing throughout Wisconsin for over 20 years. She studied under Christine Salerno, Arthur Cohrs, John Salerno, and Lovell Ives while earning her degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Throughout that time, Rifleman played many Broadway and other touring shows at the Weidner Center and Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. She earned her Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich., studying with Stephen Zegree and performing with the renowned vocal jazz group Gold Company. Over the years, she has performed with The Diamonds, Bobby Vinton, The Drifters, Slim Man, Bay City Swing, River City Six, R&B/funk band AJA, Denise Sauter, John Greiner, The Wisconsin Jazz Orchestra, Evidence Jazz Trio, and her own group, Sara Rifleman Jazz Trio. She is from Wisconsin Rapids and her favorite Chicago Song is Saturday In The Park.

Pat Kiel

is originally from Whitelaw and now residing in Wrightstown. He brings a wealth of professional experience to Alive Again. After touring the Midwest in bands such as The System, The Visitors, and Champagne Jam, Pat joined forces with The Groove Hogs, a popular 10-piece horn band that produced 4 albums and played shows throughout the U.S. and Canada. When Kiel plays, all of that previous experience comes to life through the notes and riffs he plays, seemingly jumping out of his amplifier. It’s as if all of his guitar influences, way too many to name here, are standing behind him in continuous support of his immense talent.

A consummate professional, Kiel stepped into Alive Again without missing a beat. When people hear him play his guitar they will suddenly be very aware of the depth of Pat's talents. He brings to the table everything from rhythm playing to soloing. The power, nuance, and intricacies of Chicago’s music are not lost on Kiel and he conveys them to the audience with a practiced skill and technique.

He is an electrical engineer by day, as well as dedicated husband and father. Alive Again is very happy to welcome him to the band and very fortunate to have his skills and professionalism as part of this unique group of musicians!

Danny Lueck

began playing drums at age 10 and became a club-playing musician by ninth grade.

He received a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Wisconsin in 1998 and subsequently moved to the Dallas area to pursue graduate work in Jazz Studies at the prestigious University of North Texas.

After returning to Wisconsin in 2004, Lueck continued his career as a drummer with Big Mouth & The Power Tool Horns, John Harmon, Bay City Swing, Janet Planet, Steve March-Torme, Woody Mankowski, and Ziji. Danny has taught over a thousand percussion lessons, clocked hundreds of hours of studio recording, played on numerous albums for artists across the country, and has been contracted to play for artists such as Martin Short, Clem DeRosa, and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.

Lueck currently serves as AV Design Engineer at Camera Corner in the Green Bay area where he lives with his wife and two boys.

Tony Giovannini

started on drums when he was 6-years-old. He began his professional playing career at 16 and has accumulated over 37 years of playing experience in a variety of different settings. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from St. Norbert College in 1992 and a Masters of Business Administration from St. Norbert College in 2018. His performance credits include The Gerry Mattern Quartet, Juggling Penguins, The Receeders, AJA, and The Groove Hogs, covering several different genres as well as regional theatre shows and support of national acts. Giovannini credits his extended family and music educators for his love of music and performance. As far back as he can remember, he was exposed to a multitude of performance opportunities which turned him into a certified band geek. Giovannini enjoys supporting the local arts scene, and he currently serves on the board for Play By Play Theatre. He is an active private instructor as well as clinician.

Parker Drew

is originally hails from Mountain Lakes, N.J. He began training in classical music at age seven and has performed in orchestras and concert bands in the US and Europe. As a drummer he has performed extensively in musical theater, rock, and jazz, including the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. A veteran radio and television broadcaster and stage actor, Parker was the original voice of WIXX-FM in Green Bay, and hosted shows on WISN and WOKY in Milwaukee. His one-man show Mark Twain Revisited has toured to 37 states and over six hundred performances for which he received critical acclaim. For 16 years, Drew was the statewide television host for the Wisconsin Lottery.