JACOB WINKLER,Artistic Director& CONDUCTOR PRIME VOCI
Jake Winkler grew up singing in the Northwest Boychoir under the direction of Joseph Crnko. He attended the University of Washington, where he studied piano with Holly Herrmann and Marc Seales, ultimately earning his Master of Music in orchestral conducting under maestro Peter Erös. Jake has served on the staff of the Northwest Choirs for fifteen years as an accompanist and director, advancing to the position of Associate Music Director before joining the Seattle Girls' Choir in the fall of 2009. Jake studied film composition with Grammy-winning composer Hummie Mann, and still gets to stretch his composition chops for the occasional video game soundtrack (he has written music on titles for the Apple iPhone and the Nintendo DS). He continues to sing actively as a choral singer in recording sessions for film and video games, and he is a member of the dynamic jazz/R&B vocal group Groove For Thought. Jake lives in Seattle with his wife Jessie, and their two sons Leo and Christopher.
Jerome L. Wright,Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus
Dr. Jerome Wright, Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, possesses over fifty years of professional conducting, 27 of those years include his leadership of Seattle Girls’ Choir. In the fall of 2009 he began the transition of leadership culminating in his retirement in January 2010. Not to worry, Dr. Wright will continue as an integral resource for the Seattle Girls’ Choir’s for years to come. (etc.) A native of the State of Washington, he received most of his musical education at the University of Washington, and majored at the graduate level in Symphonic Conducting under the late Stanley Chapple, while studying choral conducting with Rodney Eichenberger. He has five degrees, including two doctorates. He is a master artist-teacher who delights in seeing his students catch the spark of truly passionate, exciting, literate, creative music making. Dr. Wright has earned the respect of his colleagues because of his enthusiasm, energy, professionalism and musical results. In addition to his position with the Seattle Girls’ Choir, he guest conducts festival choruses, and adjudicates and conducts master classes and workshops.
Alex
Gagiu,ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR CANTAMUS
Alex Gagiu began his career with the Seattle Girls' Choir in the year 2000. He was born in Romania, and has been living in the United States since 1986. He received his Bachelor in Music/Piano Performance from The Juilliard School (New York City) while studying with Seymour Lipkin. At the graduate level he majored in Choral Conducting under Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt at the Westminster Choir College (Princeton, New Jersey) and is a Choral Conducting doctoral candidate at the University of Washington. . Alex directs the Cantamus Choir. He also actively participates in the instruction of the SGC Music Theory program with Tess Orozco. He teaches vocal and general music in the Renton School District and has been active as a church musician and piano teacher in the Seattle area since moving to the Northwest in 1994. Alex presently resides in Seattle with his wife Hellen and two children, Andrew and Irina.
Mary
Anne has been the conductor of Vivissimi since 2000. She has a
Master’s degree in Music Education with emphasis on vocal pedagogy,
performance and choral music. For over 20 years she has taught music in
public and private schools, including elementary vocal and high school
choral music. She has also served as Musical Director in summer stock
companies. Mary Anne gives private voice lessons at Roosevelt High School
and in her own studio. Mary
Anne has performed in musical theater, operetta and opera as a soprano
soloist. Recently, she was featured in an all Gershwin concert for the
Governor’s Chamber Music Series, and played Anne Page in The Merry Wives
of Windsor with Kitsap Opera. She has sung in several professional choirs
including the Norman Leyden Singers who sang and danced in Pops concerts
with the Seattle and Oregon Symphonies. She now sings in St. Mark’s
Cathedral Choir and occasionally performs in solo recitals with Ladies’
Musical Club. In her non-musical time, Mary Anne likes to travel,
downhill ski and cycle.
Tess
Orozco, Conductor allegra & Theory Instructor
Tess
Orozco began her choral experience in 1990 at the age of 8 when she joined the
Seattle Girls' Choir. Over the next ten years she was promoted through the
levels until she graduated in Rome, Italy, in 2000. She was a recipient of the
Jackson and Almeda Berkey Award. Other choral experiences include the St. Paul's
Episcopal Church choir in Seattle, and the professional choir, Choral Arts
Northwest, directed by Dr. Richard Sparks. Recently, Tess completed her
classical piano degree at Cornish College of the Arts where she studied with Dr.
Peter Mack. She is also proficient in the flute and Celtic harp. "Miss Tess,"
now an SGC alumna, works for the Seattle Girls' Choir as conductor for our Allegra choir and was trained by the late Karin Gause to succeed her as
our theory instructor. Tess is Artistic Director for “Ancora”,
a women’s choir made up primarily of SGC alumnae.
Sarra Sharif’s musical training began at the age of eight with the Seattle Girls’ Choir. After graduating from the girl choir Sarra pursued music education at the University of Washington’s School of Music. She currently holds a Bachelor of Music in music education, with an emphasis in vocal and general music. She directs the Dolcine choir at SGC and teaches sight-singing to girls in Cantamus and Prime Voci. Sarra also teaches choir and orchestra fulltime at Kirkland Junior High School and is the director of children’s music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Queen Anne, where she serves as section leader and cantor. When Sarra is not busy teaching, she performs professionally with the Tudor Choir and the Renaissance Singers.
Nancy
Otness Bent, Accompanist for Prime Voci, has played solo and
chamber recitals in the Midwest and New England including many performances
at Dartmouth College in both the Vaughn Recital Series, and the faculty
Chamber Works Series. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Fond du
Lac Summer Festival Orchestra, played piano, celesta, and cannon with the
Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and toured and recorded with Robert DeCormier
and Melinda O’Neal. She is a performing member of the Ladies' Musical
Club, past president of the Eastside Chapter of the WSMTA and the local
Federation Chapter, and an adjudicator for the Federation and National Guild
piano festivals.She maintains a private piano studio in Bellevue.
Ruth Draper recently completed Masters degrees in organ and music theory pedagogy at Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), where she studied with David Higgs. While at Eastman she taught undergraduate aural musicianship and served as the Assistant Organist at Third Presbyterian Church. She received her undergraduate degrees in organ and environmental science from Oberlin College and Conservatory (Oberlin, OH), where she studied with David Boe. Ms. Draper maintains an active professional life as a recitalist, accompanist and composer. She has worked with diverse choral ensembles, including the Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choirs, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Finger Lakes Community Chorale of Western NY, and Windsong, Cleveland's Women's Chorus. She is laureate of several solo organ competitions, including the 2007 Odense International Organ Competition in Denmark. In addition to working with the Seattle Girls' Choir, Ruth is Organist at Seattle First Baptist Church and a doctoral organ student at the University of Washington.
Jeremiah Oliver has been studying classical piano since 1993, and has been accompanying since 1996. He graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2006 with a BM in musical composition, having studied under the guidance of Janice Giteck, and worked with Jarrad Powell and Bern Herbolsheimer. He studied as a piano performance and French major at Pacific Lutheran University, where he began learning the pedal harp as well. He has accompanied at churches, private parties, vocal and instrumental recitals and has acted in and played piano for many musical theatre productions. He performs at the Washington State Renaissance Faire, as well as other similar venues, playing the lever harp, tamboura, and flute with the Kumpania Paramitsha. He has toured to Finland with The Esoterics under the direction of Eric Banks. http://jeremiaholiver.com
Lois White studied music in Seattle at the
University of Washington and the Cornish School of Allied Arts. She made her operatic
debut with the San Francisco Opera as "Cherubino" in The Marriage of Figaro.
Upon graduating with the Master of Music degree from Yale University, she was awarded the
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst grant for advanced study in Germany and received
the Diploma with Honors at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Radio, television, and
recital performances followed, including one for the President of Germany and
international diplomats. From 1971-83 she was the leading Mezzo Soprano in German opera
theaters. Simultaneously, she built and directed the voice department at the
Krefeld,
Germany, City School of Music. She was Assistant Professor of Voice at Arizona State
University form 1983 to 1986. Presently, she is voice instructor at North Seattle
Community College and for the Seattle Girls' Choir. She gives voice lessons privately in
her studio in Seattle and conducts many workshops.
Molly Knight has performed as a solo pianist and with orchestra throughout the U.S. as well as in France. Le Monde states,”...a dazzling performer whose great attention to subtle nuance and color rank her among the finest musicians.” Her reputation as duo pianist and chamber musician has resulted in live radio broadcasts and television appearances including Radio France, Antenne 2, NPR and KING FM. Ms. Knight moved to Seattle in 1994 from Paris, France where she studied with the late Gaby Casadesus. She was the first prize winner of the Diplome de Virtuosite at the Schola Cantorum, and subsequently taught piano there. She holds degrees in piano performance from the Cincinnati Conservatory of music, and the University of Washington. Her teachers include Bela Siki, Elizabeth Pridonoff, and Jacques Rouvier. She currently works in Seattle as a concert pianist, accompanist, and teacher.
In Memoriam: Karin Ellen Gause, Former Theory Instructor, Dolcine Conductor & Cantamus and Vivissimi Accompanist
Karin
Ellen Gause served on the SGC faculty since 1983. On November 3, 2004 Karin
lost a valiant battle with cancer. She was the director of Dolcine and
Dolcinettes, accompanist for Cantamus and Vivissimi, and was the director of
the SGC Music Theory Program. Karin wrote a comprehensive music theory
program; Music Theory for Singers which SGC, among other choirs,
utilize. Karin studied piano, organ, composition, conducting, vocal
repertoire, and ethnic music at the University of Minnesota, the David
Thompson Center for the Performing Arts in Canada, and the Cornish College
of the Arts, where she received a piano scholarship. She accompanied choirs
and voice classes and taught piano at Cornish College and the Grande Prairie
Regional College in Canada. Karin taught piano, music theory and musical
skills privately in her home. Her African Grey parrots and a Green-winged
Macaw brought her many hours of joy.
