Volti San Francisco

Kusnadi

Barbara — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:06:15 +0000

Julian Kusnadi is thrilled to be joining Volti this season as a tenor and baritone. He previously served as Director of the Fleet Street Singers and has vocal directed several musical theater productions. In 2011, he was cast in a two-month international tour of a theatrical production. After singing with the Stanford Chamber Chorale for five years, Julian now sings with Bay Area ensembles Volti and Convivium, and serves as tenor section leader at The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin. He earned his M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University, where he studied religious studies, philosophy, and human biology. He works at a law firm in San Francisco by day and is blown away by the talent of his choral colleagues by night.

Frame

Barbara — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:04:34 +0000

While Monica Frame, mezzo soprano, has sung with ensembles ranging from the National Chamber Choir of Israel to the San Francisco Choral Artists, her singing on Valve electronic games and commercials enjoy the most YouTube hits. She is the alto soloist and section leader at Saint Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco, and is also a member of San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Marin Baroque Ensemble, and Lacuna Arts Ensembles. A licensed psychotherapist, Monica specializes in school-based mental health services. She combines her passions at The Crowden Music Center, where she is the counselor for musical children and their fabulous faculty. Monica is very pleased to join Volti.

Smith

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:32:50 +0000

Colby 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, with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Colby also participated in the select ensembles Westminster Choir and Kantorei under the direction of Joe Miller and Andrew Megill. Through Westminster Choir, she took part in the Spoleto Festival, singing in the chorus of contemporary opera Amistad, composed by Anthony Davis and conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.

McBride

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:30:01 +0000

Joyce Todd McBride, alto, has been performing music from the 12th to the 21st century in the Bay Area for many years. She is a composer, arranger, and conducts the women’s chorus Conspiracy of Venus, which performs music from Joni Mitchell to Bjork. She is also a jazz pianist, and sings at St. Thomas Anglican church. Joyce teaches piano and voice. She recently completed a commission for a musical with Bob Moog, which will hopefully be produced in 2013.

Guha

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:26:22 +0000

Alto Sharmila Guha frequently performs as a soloist and ensemble member in various musical settings, from classical to jazz to folk. In 2008, she released her debut solo jazz album, featuring classics from the American Songbook alongside new jazz arrangements of eclectic repertoire, like songs by Henry Purcell and The Cure. As a session musician, she has sung for several film soundtracks, including Spiderman 3, Avatar, and Eat, Pray, Love, as well as a solo for Gangster Squad. Sharmila is also a current member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and has performed with Gustavo Dudamel, Bramwell Tovey, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. A recent transplant to Oakland, Sharmila performs and teaches voice lessons in her native Los Angeles as well as in the Bay Area. This is her first season with Volti.

Fallihee

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:23:33 +0000

A frequent oratorio and concert soloist, Shauna Fallihee, soprano, has sung with San Francisco Choral Society, Masterworks Chorale, Albany Chamber Orchestra, NothingSet Ensemble, Pacific Collegium, S.F. Composer’s Chamber Orchestra and AVE. She made her Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2003 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a featured singer in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy under Bernard Haitink. Shauna has served as a voice instructor and vocal clinician for numerous Bay Area high schools and choruses. She is currently a voice instructor at Miramonte High School and Pacific Collegium’s boy choir. Shauna teaches privately in Oakland. Her vocal pedagogy videos are featured on the Chorus America website. Shauna holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy from Holy Names University.

Diamant

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:21:39 +0000

Joshua Diamant, tenor, joined Volti last year. A native New Yorker, he moved to Berkeley in 2011. He is the music teacher at Stratford School in Pleasanton and runs a growing private piano studio. He holds a B.A. in music from Columbia University, an advanced certificate in music education from Brooklyn College, and level 1 mastership certification in elementary general music from the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. In New York, he sang with Choral Chameleon, and the Zamir Chorale. Josh also conducted the Long Island chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir from 2007 to 2011. When not making music, Josh is an avid reader, hiker, home cook, and Yankees fan.

Combatti

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:20:13 +0000

Yuhi Aizawa Combatti, a Japan-native soprano, is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College. Yuhi made her operatic debut at Spoleto Festival in 2005 as the Swallow in the U.S. premiere of Braunfels’ Die Vögel. She has also performed as a soprano soloist in various masses and oratorios including Haydn’s Missa Brevis and Lord Nelson Mass, Messiah, Jephta, Fauré’s Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. As a member of Westminster Choir, she performed with New York Philharmonic under the direction of Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Harry Bicket, and Joseph Flummerfelt. Specializing in Baroque and Renaissance performance, she has performed numerous works by composers including J.S. Bach, Scarlatti, Buxtehude, Vivaldi and Daniel-Lesur in New York and Princeton with Westminster Kantorei conducted by Dr. Andrew Megill.

Chapman

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:19:38 +0000

Joel Chapman, bass, is originally from Eugene, Oregon. Currently a junior at Stanford University, he is studying music, and also particularly enjoys math and computer science. Joel studies voice with Greg Wait and coaches with Laura Dahl at Stanford. Last year, Joel was the music director of an all-male a cappella group on campus, Fleet Street, a group that devotes itself to writing original music and making people laugh, often at the same time. Joel also sings in the Stanford Chamber Chorale and is the assistant conductor of a new chamber choir, Convivium. This is Joel’s first concert set with Volti, and he is honored to be a part of the ensemble.

Bohlin

Barbara — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:17:49 +0000

Sue Bohlin, rehearsal pianist, enjoys a career as accompanist, freelance pianist, composer, vocal coach, and conductor. A music performance graduate of the Conservatory at University of the Pacific, she taught oboe at the National Conservatory in Mexico City and played with several orchestras. She was Music Director with George Coates Performance Works Theater for a decade, and she has toured and worked with Robert Geary’s choirs extensively since 1984. She founded and conducts the Anchor Bay Children’s Choir, and has written several pieces that have been published by Alliance Music and Santa Barbara Music.