About Us

Deke Polifka is Director of The Virginia Consort. He also serves as full-time Director of Music & Organist at St. Paul’s Memorial Church (Episcopal) and Assistant Conductor & Accompanist for the University Singers and Chamber Singers at The University of Virginia.

A Virginia native, Deke lived in Colorado for eleven years where he was Organist and Choirmaster at Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs and Assistant Conductor and Accompanist of The Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble. An active performer, he has presented organ recitals in venues such as the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and has appeared with orchestra for performances of Barber’s Toccata Festiva, the Poulenc Concerto and organ symphonies by Widor and Guilmant.

Deke holds degrees in piano performance from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he also studied organ, voice, and choral conducting. He holds an Artist Diploma in Organ Performance from The University of Denver. Deke has been professionally involved with choirs for over 25 years, as singer, accompanist, and conductor. He maintains a passion for the unparalleled beauty of choral singing and the way it reaches people.

Victoria Redfearn Cave, M.Ed., Artistic Director, graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with a piano concentration and received her Masters in Education Leadership from Mary Baldwin College. In 2014, she received the award for the top student in the Graduate Teacher Education Program where she focused her thesis on assessment processes with adolescents. For over 28 years, Victoria has been teaching music, movement and choral studies to children. Victoria has taught primarily in independent schools in Washington, DC and Charlottesville, VA but has also been a choral director at the Levine School of Music and the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera. Victoria apprenticed in a children's choir conducting program with Dr. Mary Goetze while at Indiana University. She has also received conducting training from Doreen Rao’s Choral Music Experience and Dr. Harlan Parker. Victoria received her Orff training at George Mason University and received a scholarship from the Orff Foundation to study at the Special Course in Salzburg, Austria. In addition to being a faculty member at the Mason Orff training program, she has also trained teachers through the Orff Program at the University of Northern Colorado. Victoria is a national and international presenter and has written articles for the Orff Echo on creative movement topics for children. A passionate believer in professional development for teachers, she is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Opera America, and the Music Teachers National Association. She lives in Charlottesville, VA where she is the Artistic Director and founder of Mosaic Children’s Choir, offering choir, group classes, and piano lessons.

Coming to us with ten years of elementary music experience, Ashley has also directed childrens and adult church choirs, as well as multiple musical theater productions in Ohio and Virginia. Most recently from Ohio, she relocated to Charlottesville in 2012, joining The Virginia Consort in 2013. She remains an active singer with The Virginia Consort Chamber Ensemble.
Mrs. Hoffar studied voice in her undergraduate work and received her Bachelor of Music in Education from Wright State University in Ohio. She actively continues post-graduate work and attended
 George Mason University for her Level 1 Orff Training.

Karen Dalton began her role as Manager in the 2022-2023 season. Karen has been active in the Charlottesville music community since 1995. She has served as Music Director for various churches. She has accompanied the Virginia Consort, the Oratorio Society, Heritage Theater, and the UVA Drama Department.

Karen continues as an adjunct faculty member of the UVA Music Department, accompanying the University Singers and voice students. She also serves as Administrative Assistant for the choral program. In addition, Karen was Department Manager for the Statistics Department at UVA for 18 years.

Karen received her Bachelor of Arts at Samford University (piano), Birmingham, AL, and her Masters of Church Music at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (organ), Louisville, KY. While in Louisville, Karen was Company Manager of Kentucky Opera. Karen and her husband, Gary, reside in Keswick, VA and are proud parents of a son, Thomas, and daughter, Emily.

Alice Layman has served as accompanist for the Virginia Consort since its founding in 1990. Mrs. Layman received a B.A. degree in Organ Performance from Hollins College (now Hollins University), Roanoke, VA, and a Masters of Music in Organ Performance from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Mrs. Layman has served as organist and choir director at Episcopal churches in Charlottesville since 1977, most recently Christ Episcopal Church since 2012. Since moving to Charlottesville in 1977, Mrs. Layman has accompanied various choral groups (Oratorio, District Choirs, All-State Choir), instrument and voice studio recitals, soloists for competitions, community theater musicals, and UVA music theater productions, and she taught music at the Lower School of St. Anne’s-Belfield School for 19 years.