Carleen Widhalm - Soprano
Carleen's sweetly sinful soprano has been gracing audience's ears ever since she can remember. From select ensembles in high school and college, culminating with a degree in Vocal Performance from Colorado State, Carleen has shared her love for vocal music wherever the wind has taken her. She's enjoyed leading roles as "Philia" in "A Funny Thing...Forum," "Lily" in "The Secret Garden," and a featured soloist in numerous operas. As a lead arranger for Curious Gage, her songs have been featured on national recordings, and she's enjoyed regional recognition as the recipient of the Deke Sharon "Best Original Arrangement" award. She is also proud to still be the shortest member of Curious Gage.
Along with Nic, Carleen has a beautiful daughter named Alexa who spends time encouraging her mom to sing "boo bop!" (Also known as "Don't Stop Believing").
Along with Nic, Carleen has a beautiful daughter named Alexa who spends time encouraging her mom to sing "boo bop!" (Also known as "Don't Stop Believing").
Lindsay Rom - Alto
Lindsay Rom has been singing since age 4, starting with school and church choirs. She lettered in Vocal Music and Theater in high school: a soprano 1 and an alto 2 for two years in the Madrigal choir, an alto 2 in Varsity Voices, and the only student to be in the Performing Arts Company for four consecutive years. Some of her notable performances were as Countess Aurelia in "The Madwoman of Chaillot", Zaneeta Shinn in "The Music Man", and Millie Owens in "Picnic".
An avid reader, a life-long lover of film and television, a music enthusiast, and a dance devotee, she has been truly immersed in the artistic world. Living in Colorado has also given her a fresh perspective on health, politics, and philosophy- other tremendous passions of hers. (She is also rarely seen without her iPhone close by, and fusses when it's more than 30 feet away.)
An avid reader, a life-long lover of film and television, a music enthusiast, and a dance devotee, she has been truly immersed in the artistic world. Living in Colorado has also given her a fresh perspective on health, politics, and philosophy- other tremendous passions of hers. (She is also rarely seen without her iPhone close by, and fusses when it's more than 30 feet away.)
Nic Widhalm - Tenor
Nic has been performing in a cappella groups for half his life. As a founding member of Curious Gage he creates a one-man vocal drum explosion that has been known to make audience members grow weak at the knees (or so Nic has heard). As a vocalist he has been seen all over Northern Colorado, from the Rialto, to the Lincoln Center Main stage; but his proudest musical accomplishment was meeting his wife, Carleen, while performing at the Carousel Dinner Theater. He's also a freelance writer, and together with Carleen has two beautiful kids. You can learn more about Nic's writing at nicwidhalm.com
Tom Miles - Bass/Vocal Percussion
Rattling the floorboards, laying down sub-sonic grooves, breaking ladies' hearts--these are but a few of the duties Tom performs as bass in Curious Gage. But this majestic maestro came from humbler backgrounds. As a featured vocalist in high school ensembles, Tom first dipped his toe in the whirling vortex that would eventually be his musical career. Later, while attending Augustana College, Tom furthered his knowledge by embracing the two great loves of his live: music, and economics. Now, having returned to Colorado, Tom is thrilled to apply a lifetime of musical experience to blowing minds and changing lives in Curious Gage.
The History of Curious Gage
In the beginning…
In 2003 five friends who had some free time and a common desire to create a unique vocal experience sat down to discuss what their ideal singing group would be like. The format was a cappella, the medium was the human voice, and the consensus was to perform and create challenging music that inspired and informed those who heard it. And if it could rock, that would be an added bonus.
What’s in a name
There was a medium, a vision, and a shared plan, but designing a name that was both catchy, descriptive, and not already taken proved to be a hurdle. Eventually the five members found themselves at a bar, and after a few drinks started talking about their favorite kid’s stories. Curious George came up. Another member mentioned an interesting story they had heard about a man in the early 1900’s who had a rail-road spike shot through his head and lived to tell the story—though he experienced limited control of his emotions for the rest of his life. His name was Phineas Gage.
The combination of the two created a distinctive sound—the right kind of ring. A “gage” is defined as a pledge or challenge, “curious” is defined as unduly inquisitive, and arousing interest because of novelty or strangeness. “Curious Gage” ended up sticking.
The Undertaking
For the next few years Curious Gage continued expanding their repertoire and performing wherever free space and willingness joined forces. They arranged their own music, they bought their own sound equipment, they hooked up their own sound equipment (badly), and even managed to pen a few original songs. They recorded their first demo, performed at their first competition, and hosted their very first concert. They lost some members, gained some members, then lost a few more. Still, they managed to take their music everywhere from festivals to local parties, theatres, charity events, clubs, and schools.
Harmony Sweepstakes
In 2006, only five weeks after adding their first female voice to the group, Curious Gage competed at, and won, the Rocky Mountain Harmony Sweepstakes competition. As Rocky Mountain Champions they were flown out to San Rafael, CA to compete in the national competition with seven other a cappella groups from across the country.
After coming back they proceeded to continue their mission to explore a cappella harmony and share their music with Northern Colorado. Since then they have begun work on their feature length recording, built a strong local following, provided guest lectures and clinics at near-by schools, and returned as hosts to the 2007 Rocky Mountain Harmony Sweepstakes. Though the group and sound has changed, the vision that brought five friends together many years ago is still hard at work in Fort Collins, CO, and the future promises to be very bright.
In 2003 five friends who had some free time and a common desire to create a unique vocal experience sat down to discuss what their ideal singing group would be like. The format was a cappella, the medium was the human voice, and the consensus was to perform and create challenging music that inspired and informed those who heard it. And if it could rock, that would be an added bonus.
What’s in a name
There was a medium, a vision, and a shared plan, but designing a name that was both catchy, descriptive, and not already taken proved to be a hurdle. Eventually the five members found themselves at a bar, and after a few drinks started talking about their favorite kid’s stories. Curious George came up. Another member mentioned an interesting story they had heard about a man in the early 1900’s who had a rail-road spike shot through his head and lived to tell the story—though he experienced limited control of his emotions for the rest of his life. His name was Phineas Gage.
The combination of the two created a distinctive sound—the right kind of ring. A “gage” is defined as a pledge or challenge, “curious” is defined as unduly inquisitive, and arousing interest because of novelty or strangeness. “Curious Gage” ended up sticking.
The Undertaking
For the next few years Curious Gage continued expanding their repertoire and performing wherever free space and willingness joined forces. They arranged their own music, they bought their own sound equipment, they hooked up their own sound equipment (badly), and even managed to pen a few original songs. They recorded their first demo, performed at their first competition, and hosted their very first concert. They lost some members, gained some members, then lost a few more. Still, they managed to take their music everywhere from festivals to local parties, theatres, charity events, clubs, and schools.
Harmony Sweepstakes
In 2006, only five weeks after adding their first female voice to the group, Curious Gage competed at, and won, the Rocky Mountain Harmony Sweepstakes competition. As Rocky Mountain Champions they were flown out to San Rafael, CA to compete in the national competition with seven other a cappella groups from across the country.
After coming back they proceeded to continue their mission to explore a cappella harmony and share their music with Northern Colorado. Since then they have begun work on their feature length recording, built a strong local following, provided guest lectures and clinics at near-by schools, and returned as hosts to the 2007 Rocky Mountain Harmony Sweepstakes. Though the group and sound has changed, the vision that brought five friends together many years ago is still hard at work in Fort Collins, CO, and the future promises to be very bright.
