Dr. Benjamin Hansen
Artistic Director
Dr. Benjamin Hansen is the founder and Artistic Director of The Helios Ensemble. He holds degrees from Yale, CCM, Catholic University, and the University of Arizona. He has conducted such works as Handel's Dixit Dominus, Bach's Mass in B minor, Brahms' Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Mass in C, Shoenberg's Friede auf Erden, Duruflé's Requiem, Howells' Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Poulenc's Mass in G, and Vaughan Williams' Three Shakespeare Songs. He has studied conducting with Leo Nestor, Jerry Blackstone, Bruce Chamberlain, Elizabeth Schauer, Mark Gibson, Earl Rivers, Fiora Contino, and Robert Sund. Hansen and his husband Heehun live in west Tucson and enjoy food, travel, and their sweet dog Cooper.
Jeffrey Evans
Assistant Director
Jeffrey Evans is a conductor, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to being an educator, he is also an active singer and performer. While living in the Pacific Northwest, Jeff was a staff singer with the Oregon Repertory Singers when they released their American Prize-winning recording entitled "Shadows On the Stars," which included the music of Morten Lauridsen with the composer accompanying the choir at the piano. You can also hear Jeff on their critically acclaimed Naxos recordings from 2017 and 2020, featuring the music of Ēriks Ešenvalds. Jeff has premiered his original compositions and arrangements for choir in both the United States and abroad, and his works have been programmed across the country by numerous ensembles.
Since returning to the Tucson area, Jeff has taken a staff singer position with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus under the direction of Dr. Marcela Molina and the position of Assistant Director of the Helios Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Hansen. He holds a BM in Music Education and an MM in Choral Conducting from Portland State University where he was mentored by Dr. Ethan Sperry. Jeff is an Alumni of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus under the direction of Dr. Julian Ackerley, and he currently teaches music theory and directs the five choirs at Catalina Foothills High School, where the choirs consistently receive superior ratings at state and national levels.
Chia-Chun Ko
Collaborative Pianist
Chia-Chun Ko is a collaborative pianist and piano teacher. She has served as the teaching artist for OperaTunity at Arizona Opera and the collaborative pianist for The Helios Ensemble since 2019. Dr. Ko has performed actively in solo and chamber music concerts and has also participated in various competitions. She was the winner of the University of Arizona President's Concerto Competition and performed as soloist with the Arizona Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Additionally, she won First Prize in the Lois Trester Piano Competition in 2013 and Second Prize in 2011. In 2014, Dr. Ko performed in the Dove of Peace concert series, featuring Beethoven sonatas, and presented several shared recitals in the Southwest as UA Pianists on Tour in 2014. She was thrice invited to be a guest artist in the Viola Voice Festival in Mexico City (2017, 2018, 2019), and she served as the rehearsal accompanist for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus from 2015-2018.
Chia-Chun Ko received her DMA in Piano Performance from the University of Arizona, where she studied with Prof. Tannis Gibson. She is the recipient of various scholarships from NTUE, University of Arizona, the Yamaha Music Foundation, and Ivancovich Music Scholarship.
Bethany Jargstorf
Helios Administrator
Chicago-born soprano, educator, and arts administrator Bethany Jargstorf is currently completing a DMA in Voice Performance with a minor in Applied Intercultural Arts Research at the University of Arizona. At home on both the opera and concert stage, her latest engagements include Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), and as soloist in Rautaavara's Vespers and Bach's BWV 80 with The Helios Ensemble. Other recent credits include Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Antonia (Les contes d'Hoffmann), Bellinda (Dido and Aeneas), First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and soloist (Mendelssohn's Psalm 42).
Since 2023, Ms. Jargstorf has served as Director of Operations for the Tucson Desert Song Festival and as Administrator of The Helios Ensemble and the Opera Guild of Southern Arizona since 2024 and 2025, respectively. While pursuing her master's degree at U of A, she was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Applied Voice and has maintained a vibrant private studio as well as acting as a Voice Instructor with the Tucson Girls Chorus. Additionally, Ms. Jargstorf is passionate about new music and interdisciplinary collaboration, and she was a founding member of Neoteric Chamber Choir, an Tucson-based ensemble devoted to performing the work of living composers.
Ms. Jargstorf is a two-time finalist in the Rieman Opera Competition (2025, 2023), two-time recipient of the Quest for the Best Scholarship awarded by the Opera Guild of Southern Arizona (2025, 2023), a finalist in the Marguerite Ough Voice Competition (2022), and a recipient of a Medici Scholar Grant awarded by the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts (2024).
