Theresa (Pancella) Flores, mezzo-soprano
Born and raised a Catholic in St. Louis as the oldest of three children and the daughter of a liturgical musician, Theresa Flores has been a musician for most of her life. She graduated from the University of Missouri St. Louis in December 2020 with a degree in Music Theory, which will not make her any money but does make her a huge nerd. She studied theory with Dr. Zachary Cairns, voice with Dr. Leslie Allnatt Mallory, and choral conducting with Dr. Jim Henry, but she has been largely self-taught on the piano, organ, and guitar. She was a Choral Scholar and cantor at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis for four years under the remarkable direction of Dr. Horst Buchholz and has been working around the Archdiocese of St. Louis as a cantor and accompanist since 2014. She captained her high school and college choirs as a section leader, and served as the secretary of UMSL’s choral program for the 2019-2020 school year. Theresa completed a graduate course in the Ward Method in the summer of 2021 at the Catholic University of America. She was the Alto Young Artist with the Bach Society of St. Louis from 2021-2023, and she is currently teaching music part-time at St. John Paul II Preparatory School, one of the top ten classical learning schools in the country. She also holds the position of Director of Music and Liturgy at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Columbia, IL.
She is a classically trained mezzo-soprano whose warm clear tone, young charm, aural skills, and exceptional sight-reading abilities have made her a welcome member of many choirs and scholas. She was a member of the now-defunct early music group, Pro-Arte Saint Louis, for two seasons and several concerts. She has years of experience as a church cantor, accompanist, liturgist, music director, and soloist at many area churches, including the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Little Flower Catholic Church, St. John the Apostle, St. Sabina, St. Cecilia Catholic Church, St. John Paul II Catholic Church, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church (Alton, IL). She is also blossoming into a delightful choral conductor. Theresa is very well versed in Gregorian chant and liturgical polyphony, which are some of her favorite things to sing and to teach; her performance arsenal includes a little bit of everything, from Victoria and Palestrina, to Handel and Bach, to Rodgers and Hammerstein and Jake Heggie, although her true love is vocal jazz. As part of her current career trajectory, she plans and executes music for weddings, funerals, and any other special events within the church; through this, she has received praise from many families and couples for whose special days she provided the soundtrack.
Although her college career closed with live-streamed concerts, a recorded vocal recital, and a virtual graduation, she is optimistic that her musical career will continue to blossom in years to come. If any of her students grow to love making music as much as she does, her career will be worthwhile. Above all, she is Carlos’s wife, a big sister to two and godmother to one, and they are her greatest joys.
(headshot by Cori Nations Photography)
Carlos & Theresa 