Singers*
J. Jeff Badger * Naomi Braun * Cheryl Cain * Elisabeth Eliassen * Shauna Fallihee * Claire Kelm
Rita Lilly * John Mansfield * Lisa May * Kaneez Munjee * Jeff Phillips * Diana Pray * Colby Smith * Joey Valkevich
*(See singer bios below)
J. Jeff Badger * Naomi Braun * Cheryl Cain * Elisabeth Eliassen * Shauna Fallihee * Claire Kelm
Rita Lilly * John Mansfield * Lisa May * Kaneez Munjee * Jeff Phillips * Diana Pray * Colby Smith * Joey Valkevich
*(See singer bios below)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Singers
J. Jeff Badger, baritone
See bio above
See bio above
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J. Jeff Badger, baritone - see bio above
Naomi Braun, alto Ms. Braun earned her B.A. in music from U.C. Davis where she was the Assistant Director of the University Chorus and conducted a 14-voice mixed ensemble. She has taught music in elementary schools in San Francisco and Berkeley and is the Training and Kinder Department Director of the Piedmont Children’s Choirs. Naomi has sung at numerous churches and temples around the bay area and was the alto section leader at St Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco for 12 years. She sang for 19 years with Volti (formerly the SF Chamber Singers) and has also sung with Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, George Coates Performance Works, San Francisco Children’s Opera, Berkeley Opera, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, West Edge Opera, Pocket Opera, American Bach Soloists and the San Francisco Opera Chorus. |
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Cheryl Cain, soprano
Ms. Cain is an accomplished lyric coloratura soprano, violinist and teacher, as well as a native San Franciscan. With her Bachelor of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and her Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, she continued her studies in opera at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy and sang for several more years in Florence, Italy. She has sung as a professional chorister with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She has performed in operas in both San Francisco and New York City and as a soloist throughout North America and Europe. She is a regular soloist at the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church and teaches voice, violin and when not singing with San Francisco Renaissance Voices, sings in the choruses of San Francisco Symphony, American Bach Soloists and the extra chorus of San Francisco Opera. |
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Elisabeth Eliassen, mezzo-soprano/alto
Ms. Eliassen has performed regularly throughout the Bay Area as a soloist and chamber musician since 1982. Musical styles have ranged from early music through late 20th Century and new music. In addition to her work with San Francisco Renaissance Voices, she has sung as soloist and ensemble member with many organizations, including the American Bach Choir, Sanford Dole Ensemble, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, AVE (Artists' Vocal Ensemble), Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices, the Baroque Arts Ensemble, and the California Bach Society. She is a freelance soloist/ section leader at various churches and synagogues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ms. Eliassen has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Koch International, Delos and Dorian Sono Luminous labels. A poetic diarist currently at work on a new collection and a poetic novel, Ms. Eliassen's work from the collection Songs of a Soul Journey and unpublished manuscripts has been set to music by composers James Hurd, Ken Malucelli, Sanford Dole and Carson Cooman. |
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Shauna Fallihee, soprano
Soprano Shauna Fallihee has performed a wide range of repertoire with leading San Francisco Bay Area ensembles. A frequent concert soloist, Ms. Fallihee made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2003 in Beethoven's Chor Fantasie with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink. She has recently been heard with San Francisco Choral Society, Masterworks Chorale, and the Albany Chamber Orchestra. Shauna’s passion for new music has led to numerous performances with The Opus Project, NothingSet Ensemble, San Francisco Composer’s Chamber Orchestra, and the acclaimed chamber choir Volti. Operatic roles include Barbarina and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Frasquita (Carmen), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors) and Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica). As a voice teacher and clinician, Shauna has the pleasure of teaching recreational and professional singers of all ages. Ms. Fallihee holds a B.M with Performance Distinction from New England Conservatory of Music and an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy from Holy Names University. |
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Winona Hendrick, alto
Winona Hendrick is a credentialed music educator who graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelors of Music Education and an emphasis in Voice. Winona has a vast variety of vocal and instrumental ensemble experience ranging from Opera, to Wind Ensemble, to Steel Drum Band, to Afro-Cuban Ensemble. She is half of the group The Letterboxers, the other half being her husband tenor John Mansfield. |
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Claire Kelm, soprano
Soprano Claire Kelm enjoys singing a wide variety of repertoire. She has been heard as an oratorio soloist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, San Francisco Boys Chorus, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Bach Choir, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Schola Cantorum, Magnificat, and the Stanford University choral ensembles. She has sung with fine choral ensembles including Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices, Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE), Sanford Dole Ensemble, American Bach Soloists Choir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and the San Francisco Opera Chorus, where she is a full-time member. Her favorite opera roles include Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Anna (The Merry Widow), and Gilbert & Sullivan heroines Princess Ida (Princess Ida) and Elsie Maynard (Yeomen of the Guard), the latter with Lamplighters Music Theatre. Once in awhile she gets to do musical theater too. She holds degrees from Stanford University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. |
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Rita Lilly, soprano
Ms. Lilly has appeared as a featured soloist with the American Boychoir, American Classical Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Artek, Bachworks, Bach Aria Group, Concert Royal, Levin Baroque Ensemble, and the New York Consort of Viols, among others. As the soprano soloist of the Waverly Consort, she toured throughout the United States and abroad, including performances at Alice Tully Hall and Metropolitan Museum of Art. She made her N.Y. Weill Recital Hall debut in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with Voci Angeli and has toured in recital with the renowned harpsichordist, Anthony Newman. When not singing as a member of San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Ms. Lilly has been a featured soloist with AVE, Baroque Choral Guild (now Cantabile), California Bach Society, City Concert Opera, New Music Works, Magnificat, San Francisco Concert Chorale, Chora Nova, and numerous early music concerts at MusicSources. Her recordings include three with the Waverly Consort; Handel and Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus with the American Boychoir; Scarlatti's St. Cecilia Mass on Newport Classic; Sowerby's Medieval Poem with the Fairfield Orchestra; A German Baroque Christmas with American Classical Orchestra; Orff's Carmina Burana with the San Francisco Concert Chorale, and Palestrina for Eight Voices with the Schola Adventus. |
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John Mansfield, tenor
Tenor John Mansfield, previously entered the early music scene by singing with the newly founded ensemble Ut Re Mi. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Music Education and teaching credential from San Francisco State University, Mr. Mansfield was hired by the San Francisco Unified School District. He currently teaches recorder, band, orchestra, chorus, drumming, Kodaly-based general music, and ukulele to students ranging in age from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. In addition to his public school instruction, Mr. Mansfield also teaches private voice lessons and leads congregational music in local churches and is a professional member of San Francisco Symphony Chorus. |
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Lisa May, soprano
Ms. May has sung with choral and opera/theater companies throughout the Bay Area, including San Francisco Opera Chorus, Lamplighters Music Theatre, San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Lyric Theatre of San Jose, 42nd Street Moon, and Opera San Jose. Recent oratorio and concert performances include Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and Danny Elfman's Serenada Schizophrana. Lisa teaches on the music staff of the Lamplighters' Gilbert & Sullivan Summer Camp at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is also co-music director and soprano soloist at Saint Thomas' Anglican Church in San Francisco and holds a master’s degree in voice and opera from Northwestern University. Liesl McPherrin, soprano - see above |
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Kaneez Munjee, soprano
Ms. Munjee is the founder and music director of the Baroque chamber ensemble Briarbird, which focuses on the vast repertoire of non-operatic music written in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for one, two, or three voices with instrumental accompaniment. An active choral singer as well, she has sung with the American Bach Choir, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Marin Symphony Chorus, California Bach Society, Chalice Consort, San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Pacific Collegium, and many other San Francisco Bay Area groups, and for several years was the soprano soloist and assistant conductor at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Menlo Park. She recently completed a joint Ph.D. in music and humanities from Stanford University with a dissertation on the figure of Orpheus in French Baroque cantatas, and is active in the Bay Area musical community as a writer for San Francisco Classical Voice and as a program annotator. Currently, she is also the Managing Director of the Young Women's Choral Projects. |
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Jeff Phillips, bass/baritone
Mr. Phillips began an early singing career, ranking among the top four middle school cambiata tenors in western Tennessee; in Memphis he also made memorable contributions in guitar choir (and if you’ve never heard 40 middle schoolers play “Proud Mary” on guitar, count yourself lucky). He gratefully relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he sang with the Oakland Youth Chorus, the U.C. Berkeley Chamber Chorus, Baroque Arts Ensemble, Sacred & Profane, San Francisco Choral Artists, Chalice Consort, and Euouae, prior to joining San Francisco Renaissance Voices. Mr. Phillips received a B.A. in Music from U.C. Berkeley, and an M.F.A. in Vocal Performance and Literature from Mills College. He enjoys spending his moments of free time with his family of eight females (two young daughters, cats, chickens, and his wife Katie). |
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Diana Pray, soprano
Specializing in early, baroque and modern music, Miss Pray cantors at St. Ignatius Church (San Francisco) and makes her recital and professional choral career with groups that include American Bach Soloists, San Francisco Renaissance Voices and sfSound. Miss Pray recently debuted with the Redwood Symphony in Steve Reich’s Tehillim, and charmed Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra audiences as the soprano Angel in Schütz’s Weihnachtshistorie. Highlights of her Bay Area leading operatic roles are Handel’s Bellezza and Atalanta, Purcell’s Cupid, and Menotti’s Lucy. On the grand stage, those with keen eyes have enjoyed her portrayals of various peasants in the San Francisco Opera Chorus. A feature of many of San Francisco’s special events, Miss Pray has brought classical song to audiences at the York Hotel Plush Room, the Julia Morgan Ballroom, and the Asian Art Museum. In 2009 she delved into her Hungarian heritage musically, joining the concerts of musicians, instruments makers, and ethnomusicologists Ferenc Tobák and Lilla Serlegi. |
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Maura Sipila, alto
A Bay Area native who grew up singing with the San Francisco Girls Chorus, she has performed with Ars Cantus, the California Bach Society, Bay Area Classical Harmonies, the Josquin Singers, the San Francisco Lyric Opera, and the Christmas Revels and their Revels Solstice Ensemble in addition to San Francisco Renaissance Voices and many other groups. She has served as the director for the Blue Fire Choir and also performs theater and comedy and is a frequent co-host of Bad Movie Night at the Dark Room. Currently, she is also the alto section leader/soloist for St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley. |
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Colby Smith, soprano
Ms. Smith, is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College where she had the privilege of performing in world renowned music halls such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kimmel Center and NJPAC under the batons of Joseph Flummerfelt, David Robertson, Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, and Bernard Labadie. In these performances Ms. Smith collaborated with the New York Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Smith participated in the select ensembles Westminster Choir and Kantorei under the direction of Joe Miller and Andrew Megill and through Westminster Choir, she performed in the Spoleto Festival, where she took part in the chorus of contemporary opera Amistad, composed by Anthony Davis and conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. |
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Joey Valkevich, bass
A native of Lafayette, CA, Mr. Valkevich graduated in 2011 with a degree in finance and a minor in jazz trumpet from Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA). He has sung with the Gonzaga University Choir and Chamber Choir Singers, Spokane Opera (Tosca '08 and The Magic Flute '09) and was the bass soloist for Mozart's Requiem with the Spokane Symphony. Most recently he sang for three seasons with the San Francisco Choral Artists and is the bass section leader for St. John's Presbyterian Church, Berkeley (CA). |
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Thomas Wade, tenor/baritone
Thomas is a graduate of The San Francisco Conservatory with a degree in vocal performance as well as an alumnae of the Ragazzi Boys Chorus. He currently sings with Ragazzi Continuo, and has performed with West Bay Opera and other organizations in the Bay Area. |