PEV/PME has been a huge part of my life since 1989, when our founding director Dick Grant invited me to coach the women for that year’s Jazz and Pop set.  I enjoyed it and began singing with the group the following fall. Over the next year or two, I got the chance to conduct a few things.  Then, I made a big change in my life and decided to go back to school: first, for a Master’s degree here in the Bay Area, and then to Bloomington, Indiana for a Doctorate. 

Since I’d been conducting for PME, I was lucky to be able to use one of those concerts as part of my Ph.D. thesis. After five years away, getting my doctorate and then starting a tenure track position at Sonoma State University, Dick invited me back to help prepare the group for the Bernstein “Mass” project in Berlin.  It was a perfect homecoming, because I’d conducted a fully staged production of the Mass while at IU-Bloomington.  It was a high watermark for the group and in my life – we  got a Grammy® nomination!

That was just one of many amazing opportunities we’ve had as part of PME/PEV.  We performed at Carnegie Hall with Meredith Monk; we sang the first choral excerpts of John Adams operas; we recorded two CDs of Dave Brubeck’s music; we traveled to Cuba; performed with artists like Bobby McFerrin and Sweet Honey in the Rock; we commissioned new works; and we became known for singing African-American spirituals.  All amazing musical experiences for which I’m eternally grateful.

I feel lucky. I grew up in Berkeley and got tremendous training as a young musician privately, in public schools and in local youth orchestras.  I have the good fortune to still know and work with many of the colleagues I met in those old days.  And I am fortunate to have had this long association with PME/PEV as a singer, a conductor and then Music Director from 2005 until 2020.   It shaped my life and allowed me to contribute to the field of choral music through refined performances, recordings and the creation of new works.  I am happy and thankful.

It was with this feeling of gratitude, and no regrets, that I stepped down in 2020. I am now equally grateful to return as guest conductor to lead PEV this December in the musical celebration we never got to experience together in that crazy year. Finally! Good things come to those who wait, right? I look forward to seeing you there.