21 Flights West is a Berkeley based music collective
with roots in jazz and influences from rock, funk, and hip-hop.
The group's lineup is constantly changing, but at its core are founders
Amy Shen (woodwinds) and Jack Tang (keys). This incarnation of 21
Flights West features Joyce Kwon, an up-and-coming jazz vocalist
and music student at UC Berkeley.
Group Members:
Amy Shen, Tenor Saxophone & Flute
Joyce Kwon, Vocals
Jack Tang, Piano
Carol Alban, Flutist, Composer, Singer-Songwriter.
Carol Alban is an active teacher (flute, piano and guitar) and performer
based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Carol performs with various
small ensembles including the Alban Tyler Duo, the Oakland New Music
Ensemble and San Francisco Flute Quartet and serves as the Principal
Flutist of the Bay Area Chamber Symphony. She has performed at regional
flute festivals and was the featured flutist at the 2008 World Flute
Fest Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Carol has performed
at such notable venues at the prestigious Berkeley Piano Club, the
Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Yoshi's World Class Jazz Club in
Oakland, Freight & Salvage in Berkeley and the notorious CBGBs
in New York City. Carol also composes concert and film music. Recently
her music was used in the documentary about the parrot trade, "Wild
Beauty Betrayed" and in the short film "Annie's Secret"
which was recently submitted to film festivals. The song, "Down
in the Delta" which she co-wrote with lyricist/vocalist Alvenson
Moore was used in the film "Character is Destiny" (Dreamweaver
Films) and Carol composed the soundtrack for "Goodbye, My Love".
The title track was co-written with lyricist/vocalist Alvenson Moore.
Alvenson and Carol are currently writing a musical and recording
solo albums. In 2008, Carol performed at a sold out benefit concert
for Christopher Rodriguez and his family, which was held at Yoshi's
World Class Jazz Club in Oakland, California. (Christopher is a
ten-year-old boy who was shot while taking a piano lesson and is
now paralyzed from the waist down). Carol has volunteered her time
performing on benefit concerts for such worthy causes as the International
Bird Rescue and Research Center and a benefit Concert for the with
all proceeds going to support IDA's campaigns (In Defense of Animals).
Carol is a member of the San Francisco Flute Trio
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Sara Klotz de Aguilar, pianist and vocalist
has been performing 1920s jazz, blues and swing in the Bay Area
since 1987 as a soloist and bandleader of "Sara and Swingtime".
She is a regular attraction at vintage-themed festivals such as
the Ahwahnee Heritage Holidays in Yosemite and the Queen Mary Art
Deco Weekend.
She also is a nationally known expert on the fashions of the 20s
and 30s. Sara would like to dedicate her performances in the Aids
Lifecycle concerts to the memory of Mark Jones, Couturier. Sara's
Web Site
Photo Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Bay Area Chamber Symphony
The newly formed Bay Area Chamber Symphony is made up of some of
the finest players in the Bay Area, including musicians who play
with (or previously played with) the Oakland East Bay Symphony,
Berkeley Symphony, San Jose Symphony, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra,
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and many
other fine orchestras. NEWS: Our Principal Flutist Carol Alban recently
founded the San Francisco Flute Quartet (and Trio). Featured
guest Artists at Orinda Community Church on Sunday, April 5 2009.
Website
Marcie Brown, has a Master's Degree
from the Manhattan School of Music. She has a Master's Degree in
progress from the University of Massachusetts in improvisation and
composition. Ms. Brown's most recent performance posts were with
the Cirque du Soleil from 2002-2004 and with the Tucson Symphony
Orchestra in 2005. She has performed with many fine artists such
as Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Andreas Bocelli and Luciano Pavaratti.
She currently lives in Alameda and plays with her new group AGAVE!,
a guitar and strings ensemble, and with Ramana Vieira and her Portugese
Fado Ensemble. Website
Photo Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Isabelle Brown-Lyden is 7 years old
and has been playing the cello for a year and a half. She has performed
for art openings, benefit concerts and retirement homes in the Bay
Area. For the most part, she studies with her mom, playing fun games
such as cello bingo and cello hot potato in her lessons.
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Brandilyn Davidson is an award winning clarinetist
from Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from
The University of North Texas and is regarded as a renowned teacher
and band clinician in her home state. Since moving to the bay area
4 years ago, Brandilyn has developed a full-time career as a free-lance
performer and teacher. She currently manages a music studio in Oakland
where she trains woodwind students and coach's small ensembles.
She is also the band director at COVA Conservatory, a new music-oriented
charter school in the Oakland hills.
Since her residency here, Brandilyn has been captivated by the
vibrant musical climate of the bay area and honored to have been
appointed into some leading roles of music making. Some of these
appointments include: Associate Conductor of the Urkhardt Memorial
Concert Band (2005-07); Musical Director and Solo Clarinetist in
A Shirtwaist Tale (2007); Clarinet Soloist at Ghirardelli Square's
weekly spotlight (2007-08); Solo Clarinetist for the Christopher
Rodriguez Benefit (2008); Lead Clarinetist in Fiddler on the Roof
(2008); Lead Clarinetist in the Fishtank Combo (2006-current); Solo
Clarinetist and Saxophonist for the Albany Big Band (2008-current).
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Carlo Antonio Delconte, tenor is originally from New York,
this 27 year old Actor, Singer, Dancer has been living in the SF
Bay Area for the past 8 years, during which time he has starred
in numerous productions across the bay, including 2 separate productions
of "West Side Story," both in SF as Tony, and in Hayward
as Bernardo, playing the famous Matt from the 2nd longest running
show "the Fantastiks," and numerous other roles, including
the life reenactment of the famous blind Spanish composer, Joaquin
Rodrigo, for a production at Santa Clara University. As a result,
he was twice nominated for the Irene Ryan acting award, and presently,
sings Tenor II with the SF Bay Area Chamber Choir. He is currently
studying at Novus University Law School with the hopes of one day
practicing civil rights defense. Carlo will be accompanied by Valdez
Hill for all concert dates.
Photo Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Bob Fowler has been an active musician
since age 9, when he began singing in the youth choir at Christ
Episcopal Church in Los Altos. Piano lessons followed soon after.
He received a B.S. in Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College in 1971.
Bob has played numerous piano recitals and has accompanied hundreds
of vocal and instrumental soloists, choruses and other pianists.
He has created dozens of translation and pronunciation guides for
choruses, based on the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Bob is the composer of several original pieces for solo voice and
chorus. He currently pays his rent by programming computers. His
other interests include Astronomy, Astrology, Mathematics, Calendars,
Nutritional Health, DNA, Space Pictures, and The Future. Bob is
generously donating his talents to AIDS/Lifecycle and the SF AIDS
Foundation. Bob will be accompanying several artists and performing
as a soloist.
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Wendy Frado is a graduate
of the Boston Conservatory of Music, has toured the U.S. and Europe
professionally in various productions and is a new resident of the
Bay Area." (On Right)
Andrew Sherman is a graduate
of the Ohio State University's Theatre program, has sung professionally
in the U.S. and Europe, and with his partner Wendy is happy to be
settling down in the Bay Area.
Photo Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Blaine Gorman is the co-producer of the concert series
and an ALC member as well. His love for music started at an early
age, when he picked up several instruments and really loved the
sound of an alto and tenor saxophone. Playing both of these through
high school he formed his love for jazz, classical and contemporary
music. Later, learning to play a soprano saxophone and the drums,
as music seemed to come natural for him. In college, he left all
of those things behind to pursue other dreams, but never left his
roots of music as he would jam periodically with bands from time-to-time.
Music is where his heart is.
Photo Credit-
Valdez Hill
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Wanda Goree, gospel singer is a native
of Texas, is a member of Beth Eden Baptist Church. Wanda loves to
sing the praises of the Lord, so it was no surprise that she joined
the Joyful Sound Choir, under Director Rev. Wendell Ferguson and
earned soloist status with the choir. She has performed with the
choir in Napa Valley events, for President Clinton at Jack London
Square and at the Paramount Theater for Best Choir Awards. She has
been a guest soloist at the NAACP Presentation Banquet for the Business
and Professional Women’s Auxiliary of North Oakland Baptist Church,
various programs, and other special events. She has sung with such
artists as Mr. Neva Jackson and Mr. Trent Morante. Ms Goree loves
her family, church and the community. She would like to mention
her pastor, Dr. Gillette O. James and first Lady, Dr. Rosa James,
for their support through the years. Photo Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Yolanda Harden, dramatic Soprano made her professional
debut in 1992, appearing as Senta in a concert version of Wagner's
Der fliegendeHolländer, sponsored by the Wagner Society of
Northern California. Her performance was dubbed "a sympathetic
Senta whose ringing soprano soared through the music with ease."
Following her operatic debut, the soprano continued her exploration
of the Wagnerian repertoire, performing the role of Brünnhilde
in The Tale of the Wälsungs (an adaptation of Wagner's Die
Walküre).
The following year, Miss Harden made her symphonic debut in a performance
of Vivaldi's Magnificat in G Minor with the Solano Symphony. A native
of San Francisco and graduate of the University of California at
Berkeley, Miss Harden has performed extensively throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area and has been heard in many cities across the
United States, Germany, and West Africa, performing selections from
Aïda, Manon Lescaut, Turandot, Otello, Cavalleria rusticana,
Suor Angelica, Lohengrin, Amahl and the Night Visitors. Although
she focuses on operatic literature, the soprano relishes every opportunity
to share with others her passion for Negro spirituals.
Miss Harden has been featured on radio broadcasts such as A Salute
to the Joy of Making Music and has received awards and recognition
from the California Music Educators Association, the National Association
of Teachers of Singing, and the National Association of Negro Musicians.
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East Bay Harmony is an a cappella chorus of women
and men that embraces popular music as a source of enjoyment and
connection, that can be shared by all. EBH offers an opportunity
to all to experience the joy of singing in harmony with others,
to learn and improve musical skills, and to promote music in a warm,
welcoming community.
EBH Music Director Mark Bernfield graduated cum laude with
a B.A. in Vocal Performance from UC San Diego, where he directed
the UCSD Madrigal Singers for three years and sang in various other
choirs and a cappella groups. When the opportunity came to direct
East Bay Harmony, Mark jumped at the chance, as he immediately saw
how much joy and sense of community EBH brought to its members.
In recent years Mark has sung in local groups Flying Without Instruments
and RoShamBo. Mark directs the after school choir at Prospect Sierra
school in El Cerrito and teaches private drum students in his Oakland
studio.
Website
Performers:
Bass:
Michael Murray, Robert Belknap, Tse-Sung Wu
Tenors:
Peter Siegel, Elaine Brown, Mike Slemmer
Altos:
Adisa Willmer, Marcy Weiss, Linda Muller, Regina Butler, Roberta
Baker
Sopranos:
Patty Sullivan, Amanda Biesen, Giana Rodriguez, Alia Santini
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Wendy Howe & James Meredith, Cello/Piano
Wendy Cilman Howe received her music education at
the University of California - Berkeley and the California Music
Center in Belmont. Her primary cello instructor was Irving Klein
who was a member of the Claremont String Quartet and co-founder
of the North Carolina School of the Arts. She also studied with
Michael Grebanier, former principal cellist of the San Francisco
Symphony. Since 2005, Ms. Howe has been the Executive Director
of Young People's Symphony Orchestra, the oldest independent
youth orchestra in California, and the second oldest in the nation.
She is the founder and Artistic Director of IDEA, Institute for
the Development of Education in the Arts, a non-profit that connects
seniors and children through the arts. In 1981, Ms. Howe founded
Fiddlesticks, a string quartet created with the purpose of bringing
live music into schools and senior centers. From 1982-1986 she also
managed a brass quartet, Bay Area Rapid Brass, which performed on
seashells and kelp as well as modern brass instruments. From 1988-1997
Ms. Howe was Concert Coordinator for the Mills College Music Department.
During 1997 she was Outreach Coordinator for Oakland East Bay Symphony.
She was Program Manager for Piedmont Choirs from 1997-2004. Ms.
Howe holds a Master of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from
San Francisco State University. Her composition, "Tones",
is a string quartet with poetry; "Making Waves" combines
dance, photography, a brass quartet and environmental sounds. A
member of the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Sacramento Symphony, the
Women's Philharmonic, and the Modesto Symphony for ten years, Ms.
Howe has performed with many other local orchestras and chamber
ensembles. She has performed either solo or in ensemble for over
250 weddings and special occasions. Ms. Howe was on the instrumental
faculty at Mills College for eight years. She created the Moonlighter
Orchestra through Piedmont Adult School. Ms. Howe lives in Piedmont
with her husband, trombonist Don Howe, her daughter, Sydney, and
son, Brendan.
Photo By Doug Dunderdale
James Meredith, Conductor
James is one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most well-rounded musicians,
James Meredith conducts the country's acclaimed Sonos Handbell Ensemble.
This group's nationally recognized classical music stations throughout
the US have played CDs. A native of North Carolina, Mr. Meredith
received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Tulane
University. He is a musical partner with mezzo-soprano Frederica
von Stade and dramatic soprano Olivia Stapp. He has been conductor
of the Oakland Symphony Chorus, was on the faculty of Merritt College,
and is currently on the voice/piano faculty at UC-Berkeley with
the award-winning Young Musicians Program. Mr. Meredith is the author
of many arrangements and transcriptions. He is CEO of Meredith Music
Press which publishes advanced music for handbells sold nationwide
and internationally. James is also a member of the Young People's
Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors.
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Daniel Richard Mandel, singer and composer, was born
iin 1961 in Cleveland, Ohio. Everywhere I've lived, California,
Minnesota, Utah. I gradually realized that I was happiest when music
was central in my life. My songwriting fits into the Adult Contemporary
Folk Rock style, being inspired by Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens,
and Freedy Johnston. August of 2004 I assembled my home studio and
September of 2005 I had completed my first independent release MIGHT
BE YOU. It ended up as the culmination of all my songwriting work
to that point. I am very proud of the result. In 2006 and together
with the collaborative guidance of Nancy Spanier and Paul Oertel
created a performance based on my songs called Brave Open Love.
In 2007 I set up my artist web site www.DanielRMandel.com and I
joined the ASCAP performing rights organization. 2008 I released
my new CD, entitled Jongleur! At about the same time I formed my
current band, THE BRAVE! I am currently promoting Brave Open Love
and focusing on establishing a regional presence based in Northern
California. As this is original acoustic music I am exploring alternative
venues, home concerts and corporate events.
Website
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Larry Marietta, Conductor, Music Program Director
at First Congregational Church of
Berkeley, Artistic Director/Conductor of the San Francisco City
Chorus, Resident Conductor of the California Chamber Symphony and
Accompanist for the Bay Area Professional Singers' Forum. An active
Bay Area conductor, accompanist, and vocal coach, he serves on the
faculties of Contra Costa Community College and The Crowden School.
He has appeared as a featured piano accompanist for such distinguished
singers as Renée Fleming, Arleen Auger and John Shirley-Quirk,
the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops with Marvin Hamlisch, the Metropolitan
Young Artists Program, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Ballet
and the Manhattan Opera Company. His recent Bay Area conducting
performances include the Requiems of Verdi, Mozart, Brahms, Handel's
Messiah, and Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music among others.
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Inara Morgenstern & Bryan Baker-Piano Duets
Inara Morgenstern has taken an active role in the
San Francisco Bay Area classical music scene for more than three
decades - in both teaching and performing roles. In addition to
teaching piano and musicianship to students at San Francisco State
University, she teaches piano to adults in private studio. Her philosophy
is to provide a fun, supportive learning environment that lets students
gain skills to express themselves through music. Inara is well known
for her solo and duo piano performances. In her solo piano performances,
she has championed compositions by the Russian composer Nicolai
Medtner as well as American composers, such as Amy Beach, Charles
Griffes and Leo Ornstein. She has long partnered with SFSU colleague
Victoria Neve on frequent programs of duo piano music by a wide
range of classical and modern composers. In addition, Inara is renowned
for her facility in accompaniment. She is in constant demand for
vocal and instrumental programs. She frequently is heard in recitals
at the University of California at Santa Cruz Music Dept. and is
the principal accompanist for the Masterworks Chorale of San Mateo.
Inara is interested in animal causes and shoes. She volunteers at
Congregation Beth Israel-Judea in San Francisco, where she often
can be found on Shabbat mornings at Torah with Rabbi Rosalind Glazer.
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Janis Mercer and John Smalley, Piano/Voice Duo
Janis Mercer is a pianist and composer living in San
Francisco. She is also the founder schwungvoll, a new music chamber
ensemble she directed for several years. She has a strong interest
in the music of the Second Viennese School, as well as in the works
of contemporary composers such as Anthony Braxton, whose solo piano
music she has presented in concerts and lectures in California,
Illinois, and New York. Ms. Mercer holds artist residencies at Villa
Montalvo Center for the Arts (California), Ragdale (Illinois), and
Centrum (Washington). Her current compositional projects involve
new works for piano and tape, as well as the release of her first
CD on Centaur Records.
Ms. Mercer has given piano recitals of new music throughout the
United States and has appeared frequently as accompanist. Her performance
of Paul Rudy's Church Keys can be heard on the New Music Circle
Season Highlights Volume I: 2002-04 CD. Her recording of Brian Belét's
Four Proportional Preludes appears on SCI's Chamber Works CD, available
on Capstone Records. Ms. Mercer's own chamber music composition,
Beloveds, is featured on einklang records and her percussion solo,
Air is published by Media Press. She will perform later this year
in concerts of Russian and Armenian songs with John Smalley, baritone.
They also plan to perform concerts of music by Cage, Eisler, and
Schumann.
Website
Photo Credit - Jeanine Reisbig
John Smalley, baritone, is a native of San Francisco.
He received his B.A. in Classics from Santa Clara University and
holds an M.A. and M.Phil. in Historical Musicology from Columbia
University in New York, where he taught for six years. He studied
piano with Thomas Schultz, William Corbett-Jones, and Janis Mercer,
and voice with Dorothy Barnhouse. As a vocal soloist, he has sung
in various early and new music ensembles in San Francisco and New
York. In 2008 he performed Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
with the San Francisco Community Music Center Orchestra and Frederic
Rzewski's Coming Together with the Wooden Fish Ensemble. Mr. Smalley
also has lectured extensively on 20th-century music, particulary
the music of John Cage. Future concerts, with pianist Janis Mercer,
will feature the music of Russian and Armenian composers, and the
songs of Hanns Eisler, Cage, and Schumann.
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Ann Licater, Native American and World Flutist. Fresh
from her first performance at Carnegie Hall, and a former student
of R. Carlos Nakai, Ann is a recording artist, featured performer
at the World Flute Fest, and a San Jose Chamber Orchestra soloist.
She facilitates healing workshops for Kaiser Permanante Wellness
Centers and holds an M.L.A. in Spirituality. Her CD "Following
the Call," solo wood and clay flute music was nominated "Best
Native American Album" and "Top Twelve Best Contemporary
Instrumental Album" of 2007 in the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards.
It was co-produced by GRAMMY-nominee Gentle Thunder. Ann's music
is heard on NPR stations on the "Hearts of Space" syndicated
show as well as on cable and radio stations world-wide. In concert,
Ann performs on a dozen or more flutes made of wood and clay. She
connects with her audience by incorporating stories of origin about
each of her flutes using her warm style and engaging stage presence.
Ann also teaches "Flute for the Soul" workshops where
participants explore how contemporary replicas of ancient wood and
clay flutes can be used as tools for personal discovery, spiritual
practice and relaxation. By journaling, meditating and reflecting
on an issue while listening to the ancient sounds of Native American
and World flute music, she believes it is possible to tap into your
intuition and discover more about yourself and your journey. Ann
is a regular workshop facilitator and performer at one of the nation's
largest Health Providers, Kasier Permanante. Ann holds a B.A. from
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN and a Master of Liberal Arts
degree in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University. She resides
in the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California. For more information
on Ann's workshops and appearances, which are booked through her
Cul de Sac Mystic Productions. Ann resides in the San Francisco
Bay area in Northern California. Ann is a member of the San Franciso
Flute Trio. Ann and Jeff Oster will be performing several flute
and horn duets.
Website
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Alex Lee is a freshman in high school
and a violist with Oakland Youth Orchestra,Oakland Youth Orchestra
(OYO), under Conductor Michael Morgan and Bryan Nies. His private
violin teacher is Mr. Jay Liu. He also enjoys learning the piano
and currently studies under Mrs. Peggy O'Dell. He received California
State Solo/Ensemble Festival Command performance Gold Award in 2008,
Superior performance Plague in Music Teachers' Association of Contra
Costa Baroque Festival 2009" Alex has many interests outside
of music; some of his interests include his passion for computers,
car designing and car racing games.
Photo By
Valdez Hill
Oakland Youth Orchestra (OYO)
Oakland Youth Orchestra, founded in 1964 as the educational arm
of the Oakland Symphony, is recognized as an important musical organization
in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay area. An independent non-profit
organization since 1986, the orchestra has a history of commissioning,
premiering and recording the works of American composers. Consequently,
the orchestra has been recipient of numerous awards from the American
Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers for service to contemporary
music.
Today, in our 42nd season, the Oakland Youth Orchestra consists
of seventy-eight talented young music students aged 12-22 years.
These young people represent forty-six different schools, and over
30 cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We rehearse a wide range
of serious and challenging works and present several classical,
pops and youth outreach concerts each season. The orchestra is coached
by professional orchestral musicians and is open by audition to
all qualified young people. No young musician is excluded for reasons
of financial need.
Oakland Youth Orchestra
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Jeff Oster, horn, began playing music at the age
of eight. He attended college in Oregon College and moved to L.A.
to try to break into the music business. He worked as a limo driver,
often playing his song demos for the captive audience in his car,
wrote songs, played in cover bands in L.A., Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe,
and even tried his hand at standup comedy. For the last 20 years
he has been a successful stockbroker and financial planner, while
continuing to compose and record songs and releasing them online,
where his work started to attract as many as 40,000 downloads a
month. His album "Released" was the 2005 Album of the
Year and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the NAR Lifestyle
Music Awards. He is now releasing his second album, "True,"
an artful blend of ambient grooves with his warm, jazz-inflected
trumpet and flugelhorn playing. Both TRUE and Released were voted
album of the year and best contemporary instrumental by broadcasters
at NAR...True in 2007 and released in 2005. Jeff and Ann will be
performing a flute adn horn duet.
Website
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Nancy Tyler is a classically trained flutist and
is an active performer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nancy
plays in many ensembles, including the Alban Tyler Flute Duo, and
the San Francisco Flute Trio. She serves as co-principal flutist
with the Oakland New Music Ensemble and the Bay Area Chamber Symphony.
She was a featured flutist at the 2008 World Flute Festival at Carnegie
Hall.
Nancy is a member of the San Francisco Flute Trio & Bat Area
Chamber Orchestra.
Website
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Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus, incorporated in
1980, is a 24-singer a cappella choir. It aims to provide an inspiring
and educational experience for audiences as well as chorus members
through innovative programming, intensive musical preparation and
high quality concert performance. S& P strives for diversity,
from the ethnic, musical, and professional backgrounds of its singers
to the languages in which they sing to the styles of music performed.
Concerts combine seriousness and humor, the early and the modern,
the sacred and the profane. They feature challenging works from
the choral tradition, works by local and living composers, music
from around the world, and an occasional premiere. Though primarily
an a cappella ensemble, S&P occasionally enjoys the participation
of guest instrumentalists as well as collaborations with other ensembles.
Website
.
Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman, Music Director is a Bay
Area native. She is a lecturer in the Music Program at the University
of San Francisco, where she conducts the Chamber Singers, the University
Choir, and the Women's Choir, and teaches private voice and courses
in music history and music theory. She directs the East Bay chamber
choir Sacred and Profane. Rebecca holds a Doctor of Musical Arts
in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa.
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The USF Classical University Choir was initiated
in the fall of 2001 in order to foster performance of classical
art music for choir at the University of San Francisco. The choir
perform high quality accompanied and a cappella music from all periods
for mixed or women's ensemble, including major works and shorter
choral gems. The choir has performed such master works as Benjamin
Britten's Ceremony of Carols, Rheinberger's Stabat Mater, Purcell's
Welcome, All the Pleasure, Saint-Saën's Christmas Oratorio,
Mozart's Missa Brevis in D, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and Fauré's
Requiem.
Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman, Music Director is a Bay
Area native. She is a lecturer in the Music Program at the University
of San Francisco, where she conducts the Chamber Singers, the University
Choir, and the Women's Choir, and teaches private voice and courses
in music history and music theory. She directs the East Bay chamber
choir Sacred and Profane. Rebecca holds a Doctor of Musical Arts
in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa.
Sopranos Carmen Kestekyan, Bernadette Lawrence, Adrianne
Lentz, Anna Mele, Greer Michael, Katie Phillips, Hayley Zuercher
Altos Katie McAtee, Moriah Biederman, Claribette Del Rosario, Alaina
Mariano, Natalie Melton, Haley Smith
Tenors Jason Aaronson, Daniel Drane, Alex Fostar
Basses Stephen Castillo, Yu-Kai Chen, William Richmond, Daniel S.
Sherman
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Victoria Varieur & Jason Emanuel Britton- Vocal Duets
with Frank Johnson, Piano
Victoria Varieur has been active in opera, sacred
and early music in the Bay area. Operatic roles include Donna Elvira,
The Countess, Rosina, Dorabella , Galatea and Dido. She is a soloist
with the Resmiranda Vocal Ensemble whose focus is sacred and secular
music from Baroque and Renaissance composers. In 2006, Victoria
and Jason met in a revival production of Harold Rome's Pins and
Needles. In 2008, they performed a concert of American musical masterpieces
for the Berkeley City Club. They present material from that concert
for the Aids/Lifecycle Benefit Concerts. Website
Jason Emanuel Britton, Bariton performs regularly
throughout the Bay Area in concerts, nightclubs and musical theatre
pieces. His solo cabaret shows include A Step Beyond The Rain, Stairway
to the Stars, Finding Home, and Putting It Together. Mr. Britton
has performed at many venues including The Empire Plush Room, The
Purple Onion, Martuni's, Larkspur Café Theatre, The Berkeley
City Club, and The Metropolitan Club. Details of Mr. Britton's current
projects can be see on the web at: Website
Frank Johnson earned degrees in performance and composition
at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
He has composed, arranged, written, produced, performed, conducted
and stage directed opera, musical theater, orchestral concerts,
chamber music and recitals, avant garde, jazz and cabaret, rock,
modern dance, concert series, festivals and many public and private
events. Among positions he has held are Artistic Director of the
Pittsburgh Philharmonia, Executive Director of Music at Gretna,
and General Director of Mississippi Opera. In the Bay Area, he has
worked with Theatreworks, American Conservatory Theatre (including
as faculty of their MFA program), Marin Theatre, Woodminster, Berkeley
Repertory Theatre, Pocket Opera and many others, and served as Assistant
Conductor for "Beach Blanket Babylon." Compositions include
score/sound design for a "Lord of the Flies," "The
Importance of Being Earnest," "Romeo & Juliet,"
other stage works, songs, chamber and orchestral works, and electronic
and media works.
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History of the San Francisco City Chorus
The San Francisco Recreation Chorus was founded in 1979 by Adrian
Horn as an activity of the Music Division of the San Francisco Department
of Recreation and Parks (SFDRP). The SFDRP provided financial support
with stipends for the Director and Accompanist and use of public
school space for the weekly rehearsals. The Recreation Chorus averaged
50 singers and performed three free concerts each year. Adrian Horn
provided both musical and administrative direction until he left
the position in 1984.
Upon Adrian Horn’s departure, the Chorus’ first elected
Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer)
was charged with finding a new director. Led by a search committee,
the entire Chorus selected Frederick Goff in September 1984.
Under Fred Goff's direction, the Chorus improved the quality of
its performances, increased its visibility in San Francisco, and
developed a more professional approach to concert rehearsals and
performances. The chorus changed its name to the San Francisco City
Chorus in 1989. In 1996, the chorus became a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization now known as the San Francisco City Chorus Association.
When Fred Goff decided to leave the chorus in 1997, SFCC asked
Larry Marietta to become its new Artistic Director. Under Larry’s
leadership, SFCC’s membership has grown to approximately 60
members, its reputation for musical variety and artistry has reached
exciting new heights, and concert audiences continue to grow. Currently,
three formal concerts are presented each season.
In spring 2005, the Board of Directors sought to expand the Chorus'
musical offerings while strengthening the quality its musicianship,
and created a chamber ensemble, Vox Dilecti. The group of 16 singers
comes from the larger chorus and performs two concerts each year,
concentrating on Early and Baroque music.
In addition to its regular concert season, SFCC brings the sounds
of the holidays to audiences throughout the Bay Area. Between Thanksgiving
and Christmas, Chorus members may be seen and heard caroling throughout
San Francisco and Berkeley as they participate in SFCC’s major
fundraising activity.
Our annual Summer Sings series is an outreach and fundraising opportunity
for Bay Area singers to learn more about SFCC, while singing along
to choral favorites directed by favorite local conductors. Summer
Sings are held at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in San Francisco
every July and August. Our Sing-Along Messiah in December, another
important fundraiser and outreach event, features a diverse, local
orchestra of adults and high school students.
Riccardo La Spina, Tenor, has been presented
as soloist in recital and sacred music, throughout Europe and the
United States. He is Director-Founder Camerata Ottocento, a consort
of soloists dedicated to the historically informed performance and
preservation of rare nineteenth-century vocal chamber works, of
which the Quartetto Lirico is but one component. La Sina is also
a musicologist who has extensively researched the history of Italian
opera and its reception on Spain, and the Italian influence on vocal
composition in Nineteenth-Century Mexico. He has presented papers
at major international conferences, including the 4th Biennial International
Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music (University of Leeds, 2002),
and the Premier Foro Internacional de Música Méxicana
(CENEDIM, Mexico City, 2004), and is a contributor to the Grove
Dictionaries of Music. Riccardo attended the Bucharest Conservatory
(Opera/Vocal pedagogy), Université Libre de Bruxelles (Musicology),
and Royal Holloway University of London with several academic and
scholarly awards for Postgraduate Research Studies in Music.
Quartetto Lirico "Camerata
ottocento" R. La Spina, Director/Founder
Elise K. Mills, Soprano, has appeared with many Bay
Area opera companies including Opera San José, San Francisco
Lyric Opera as Frasquita in Carmen, Golden Gate Opera as Nella in
Puccini's Gianni Schicci, Festival Opera, Oakland Lyric Opera and
Berkeley Opera among others. She has appeared as soloist with the
Oakland Symphony Chorus, Golden Gate Park Band, and the Classical
Philharmonic. Elise has also sung in concert, musical/stage, and
choral settings with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, Oakland Symphony
Chorus, and Oakland Youth Orchestra among others. Currently she
sings with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and can be heard regularly
as section leader and soloist at Trinity Methodist Church of Berkeley.
Nadja Matisoff, Mezzo-soprano, has performed operatic
roles with the Opera Piccolo of San Francisco and the Dublin-Pleasanton
Opera Company. She has been a featured soloist with the Russian
Chamber Orchestra of San Francisco, the SFSU Symphony, the Pacific
Mozart Ensemble and many other local choral groups. She was alto
soloist and section leader of the Saint Mary's Cathedral Choir,
S.F., for 19 years. Nadja spent 15 years as a professional chorister
in the San Francisco Symphony and also 12 seasons in the professional
auxiliary chorus of the S.F. Opera. She holds a masters Degree,
in vocal performance, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
and a Bachelors Degree from the Peabody Conservatory.
Richard Mix, Basso appears with nearly a dozen Bay
Area opera companies singing a repertoire that embraces Wagner and
Monteverdi as well as Scelsi and Stockhausen. A former cellist,
he made his singing debut as Truelove in Berkeley Contemporary Opera's
1992 production of The Rake's Progress and went on to the Darmstaeter
Sommerferienkurse für neue Musik, to which he was re-invited
with the Patenring Award in 1994 and 1996. West coast premieres
range from Arthur in Maxwell Davis' The Lighthouse to C.P.E. Bach's
1789 Matthaeuspassion. He will be appearing in Peter Josheff's Inferno
at the Berkeley's Live Oak Theatre June 17, 18 & 21.
Steve Wedgwood, Baritone is section
leader and bass soloist at Northbrae Community Church in Berkeley.
He began vocal study with Jackie Hairston at Laney College, and
later studied with Marco Sorisio, and Amanda Kairis in Oakland.
He sang Samuel Barber's "Dover Beach" at Old First Church,
San Francisco in 1994 with the Greening/Anderson String Quartet.
He has worked with Margery Tede and George Buckbee and has appeared
in operas under Ina Chalis at the S. F. Community Music Center.
He has presented numerous song recitals in the Bay Area and sang
for the wedding of Jerry Brown and Anne Gust with the Gregorian
group Exaudi Nos. Recently he received enthusiastic applause from
his Harvard classmates in a concert at Sanders Theatre, Cambridge.
He holds a degree in German, and is retired from the U.S. Postal
Service. Steve is currently a student of Mark Goodrich. Steve is
riding in AIDS/Lifecycle this year for the third time. Photo
Credit- Miguel
J. Flores Photography
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Andre dos Santos Morgan, one of the
Bay Area's most soulful composer/singers, can be found performing
his personalized arrangements of standards and original compositions
the 3rd Saturday of every month at 8pm and 10pm at The Purple Onion,
in San Francisco's North Beach district. His music is representative
of his appreciation of all forms of music and includes hints of
classical, jazz, soul, rock, funk, blues, theater, folk, and even
country. His original music was described by a local Bay Area magazine,
as "a sentimental journey through time and space. Part African
Groove, part Caribbean beat, part American jazz, and filled with
soft soothing vocals."
André has toured with singer/activist Holly Near, and can
be heard on her CD, Edge; in tribute to poet/activist June Jordan,
Andre is featured on the CD, Collaboration--by Adrienne Torf and
June Jordan. His most recent CD is "Andre dos Santos Morgan
- Live from the Purple Onion" with Vick Johnson on bass and
Lance Riley on drums.
The Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) was founded
in September 1999 as an outgrowth of an education class sponsored
by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS). This ensemble,
now an affiliate of SFEMS, consists of 14 women who are dedicated
to promoting and performing music of the medieval, Renaissance,
and Baroque periods. From its inception WAVE's mission has been
to perform in as authentic and skilled a manner as possible, while
always striving to communicate the heart and soul of this incredibly
rich musical heritage. WAVE has performed concerts in the greater
San Francisco Bay Area as well as many public service concerts and
outreach programs for communities in need such as hospitals, senior
citizens, and the inmates at Santa Rita Jail. Members of WAVE give
of their talent to support those in need as well as engender an
appreciation of early music through their performances. Website
Members:
Barbara Miller, Susan Overhauser, Susan Russell, Charlene Woodcock,
Sara Stutz, Nancy Marsh, Tanya Drlik, Marcia Hofer, Alison Thomas,
Celia, Leslie Petersen, Meryl Sacks, Alisa Gould Sugden, Dorothy
Manly (not pictured)
Cindy Beitmen, Music Director began her career singing
opera in Washington, D.C. After six years of teaching, performing,
and conducting in Vienna, Austria, she moved to Seattle and began
specializing in early music as a student of Margriet Tindemans.
Cindy received her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from
the University of Washington, during which time she performed as
soloist with the Seattle Chamber Singers, Broadway Symphony, Vancouver
Early Music Festival Ensemble, and the Early Music Society of the
Islands in Victoria, B.C. Performance opportunities led her to New
York City where she sang with Pomerium, the Virgin Consort, Symphony
for the United Nations, and Ensemble Fortuna based in Boston, as
well as the British ensemble Circa 1500. As a member of the New
York Ensemble for Early Music, she toured throughout the U.S. in
the medieval liturgical drama Herod and the Innocents and performed
the Resurrection Play of Tours at the New York Cloisters. She taught
voice and vocal diction at Northern Arizona University and currently
directs the early music vocal ensembles at Mills College and is
the music director at St. Albert Priory in Oakland, CA. Website
