SF Renaissance Voices - Little Marina Green - 102321 - 37
Thank you to Stan the Rocker for coming out and snapping these awesome pictures for us!  Pictured: Liesl McPherrin, Don Scott Carpenter, and Natalie Buck Bauer

Leadership

Don Scott Carpenter, Music Director
A frequent guest conductor with San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Don Scott Carpenter became their regular conductor October 2019.  Currently he is also Organist and Director of Music, Worship, and Arts at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in San Francisco where he oversees an active Royal School of Church Music program; and has been the Executive Director of the American Bach Soloists since 2011. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, he was General Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Artistic/Executive Director of the Louisville Youth Choir. He has also been on the faculties of Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville, as well as a lecturer in worship and music at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary. He has served as Principal Organist/Artist-in-Residence of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (Santa Fe), Music Director of the Temple Adath Israel B’rith Shalom and Organist/Director of Worship at Second Presbyterian Church in Louisville.
 
As a composer, conductor, and organist, Mr. Carpenter holds the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Louisville School of Music as well as the Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance. His choirs have been heard throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the Dom in Salzburg, Votivkirche in Vienna, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. He has prepared choruses for world premiere performances of operas, prepared choruses for major works with orchestras, and for touring Broadway musicals. As an advocate for new music, he has commissioned and conducted world premieres by several composers. Shalom, his debut album, celebrating the rich Jewish choral tradition, recorded live in performance with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, can be heard on the White Tie label. Mr. Carpenter is a member of the American Choral Directors Association; the American Guild of Organists; the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; and Chorus America.
Liesl McPherrin, Assistant Music Director and General Manager
Ms. McPherrin has served as a guest conductor with San Francisco Renaissance Voices and also sings soprano with the group.  As a soprano Liesl has been praised by SF Classical Voice for her “brilliant top notes and winning comic chops.”  She has performed a wide variety of repertoire in both opera, concerts, and musical theater including roles with Pocket Opera, Island City Opera, and been a chorister for professional ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and San Francisco Renaissance Voices.  She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from San Francisco State University and a Master of Music degree from Westminster Choir College.

Liesl has performed the role of Bianca with Island City Opera in their production of La Rondine in March, 2019 and was Lisette in San Francisco's Pocket Opera's of La Rondine in April and May of 2019 ("Her stage ease communicated wit and salt, and so did her rich and expansive voice." - Operawire). During the 2018 season, Liesl sang the role of Carolina in Cimarosa's The Secret Marriage with Pocket Opera, the tail-wagging Mutts in Mutts and Maribel Walk to the Moon an outreach chamber opera by Nancy Bachmann, and was also featured as a soloist with Sing for America, San Francisco Renaissance Voices, and as Michaela and the title role of Carmen in a concert suite with Yuba College Wind Ensemble as their faculty artist.  Liesl is also Music Director at Coastside Lutheran Church and is on the music faculty at Las Positas College.
In memoriam:  J. Jeff Badger, Executive Director
Previously Mr. Badger was Director of Development for American Bach Soloists.  He has worked as a Development Officer with San Francisco Opera, as Concerts House Manager for Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and as Managing Director/Board President of the California Bach Society, and in the spring of 2014 served as the Interim Chorus Manager for the San Francisco Symphony and most recently as interim General Manager for Pocket Opera.  He has served on the board of directors for the San Francisco Early Music Society and on the development committee for Early Music America.  Additionally, he has served on various non-profit boards including serving five years on the San Francisco Mayor’s Committee for Employment of Persons with Disabilities, and as Executive Chair of the committee for four of those years.  He is perhaps best know to Early Music audiences, performing throughout the Bay Area over the past 25 years as a baritone soloist and chorister with various vocal groups including American Bach Soloists, Carmel Bach Festival, the California Bach Society and San Francisco Bach Choir.
​Laura Canavan, Executive Assistant
Laura Canavan is a native of Massachusetts and earned her Advanced Bachelor of Arts degree in music history/theory from Occidental College in Los Angeles where she sang in the Occidental College Glee Club. Laura has also performed with the Los Angeles Bach Festival and at the Grand Teton Music Festival as a member of the San Francisco Festival Chorale. She is currently in her 22nd season as a soprano in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and also works there as the Chorus Office Assistant. Laura lives in Petaluma with her husband and 15 year old twin sons.
John Yeh, House Manager
Mr. Yeh is a native of Hong Kong, enjoys a career as a historical keyboardist and production assistant. Yeh performs as both a solo harpsichordist and a continuo keyboardist, specializing in the Baroque era. His recent solo appearances include Bach’s Concerto for 3 Harpsichords in C Major at the American Bach Soloists Academy and Bach’s Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C Major with the UC Davis Baroque Ensemble.Other countinuo works include Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Mass in C Major with the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and University Chorus, Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the American Bach Soloist Academy Orchestra, Handel’s and Michel-Richard de Lalande’s Dixit Dominus (America Premiere) with the UC Davis Early Music Ensemble. In addition to his performing activities, Yeh worked extensively with the production team of the UC Davis Music Department, and is also a production assistant of the American Bach Soloists. Yeh recently completed his B.A. degree in Music Performance at UC Davis, studying harpsichord with Phebe Craig and organ with David Deffner, with minors in Managerial Economics and Dramatic Art and was named as "Outstanding Senior" by the Music Department.