Faculty Bios

Our outstanding Preparatory Division faculty and noted guest artists provide the individual attention and professionalism needed to nurture young talent.

Gilbert and Sullivan Scenes
Composition
Musicianship
Strings
Piano
Winds

Ellen Kerrigan (Program Director) was named winner of America's top singing award, the National Metropolitan Opera Auditions and recipient of a Martha Baird Rockefeller Vocal Study Grant. As a winner of the San Francisco Opera Auditions Grand Finals, Ms. Kerrigan was chosen to participate in the Merola Program performing the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor, and named a San Francisco Opera Affiliate Artist/Adler Fellow. She has long delighted Bay Area opera audiences, most prominently in the roles of Norma (West Bay Opera), Madama Butterfly (Oakland Opera), and Gilda (Pocket Opera). A native San Franciscan, Ms. Kerrigan began her performing career singing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in high school, and thereafter joined the Lamplighters, where she sang nearly all the soprano lead roles. An active arts education consultant, she serves as coordinator of the San Francisco Opera Guild's Opera à la Carte program, which brings an abbreviated version of well-known operas to over 30,000 Bay Area students yearly. As Education Director for the Lamplighters, she has been instrumental in coordinating student and family matinees, produced the educational program, Gilbert & Sullivan: A Blast from the Past, and will coordinate the new Lamplighters G&S residency program at Aptos Middle School in the spring of 2009.

Jane Erwin Hammett (Stage Director). Since her debut in 1983 as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Jane has sung nearly every comic heroine in the G&S canon, plus many other operetta and musical comedy leading ladies for the Lamplighters, as well as staged Patience, The Gondoliers, Iolanthe, Pirates and Ruddygore, and most recently The Secret Garden. In 2003 she was invited to direct Iolanthe at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England. Other directing credits include Pocket Opera and San Francisco Opera Guild's educational outreach program, Opera à la Carte. She is on the faculty of American Conservatory Theater, teaching classes in singing, acting, directing, and musical theater. She has performed many leading roles for West Bay Opera and Pocket Opera. The Bay Area theatrical community has recognized her outstanding performances with two Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Awards and a Drama-logue Award. For nearly four years she performed across the U.S. and in San Francisco with two national companies of The Phantom of the Opera (directed by Harold Prince). Her solo CD, Home, A Healing Journey, with pianist Daniel Lockert, can be sampled at http://cdbaby.com/cd/jhammett. She is a 2008 graduate of the Certificate Program in Sound, Music and Voice Healing from the California Institute of Integral Studies and teaches voice privately in San Francisco and the East Bay.

Baker Peeples (Music Director) is Music Director of the Lamplighters Music Theatre, where he has sung or conducted hundreds of performances of Gilbert and Sullivan, Offenbach and Viennese operettas, and Broadway musicals. An accomplished tenor, he won the Best Male Singer Award in the 1995 and 1997 International Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals in Buxton, England. He holds a degree in French from Yale, where he was a member of the renowned Whiffenpoofs. Mr. Peeples was a finalist in both the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera Auditions. He serves as Music Director for the San Francisco Opera Guild's popular Opera à la Carte program, Mother Lode Troupe's educational presentations of historical California music, and is the Artistic Director of West Bay Opera's Opera in the Schools program. In addition, Mr. Peeples has written and directed collaborative school productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, which the Lamplighters have presented in Bay Area schools.

Clark Suprynowicz was recently named Composer-in-Residence by the Berkeley Symphony, and has penned three new works for the symphony's 2008 Under Construction series. With an extensive background in jazz, his music has been lauded for its individuality. His most recent opera, with librettist John O'Keefe, was commissioned by Berkeley Opera, and premiered as part of their 2006 season. It received enthusiastic notices: Chrysalis was hailed by the San Francisco Classical Voice as "An important event, signaling the arrival of a new, fresh, authentic voice." Mr. Suprynowicz has written theme music and incidental music for National Public Radio; chamber music, songs, choral music and a number of full-length works for the stage. He earned his B.A. in music from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and received additional training in composition from Elinor Armer, David Conte, Ken Durling and Joel Lindheimer. With a long-standing commitment to teaching, Clark is also on the faculty at the Crowden School in Berkeley, where he teaches musicianship and composition and works with young people through the John Adams Young Composers Program.

Clare Twohy is an active performer and composer in the Bay Area. She holds a B.M. in violin performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied violin with Camilla Wicks and composition with Elinor Armer. Ms. Twohy is a member of the San Francisco Composers' Chamber Orchestra. Recently, she has attended summer festivals including the Music Academy of the West, Roundtop and Bowdoin. Currently she is on the Musicianship faculty for both the Preparatory Division at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley.

Clark Suprynowicz (see composition)

Kerrilyn Renshaw (see piano)

Susan Bates, viola, received the 1992 award for "Excellence in Chamber Music Training" from Chamber Music America. She has served as chair of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Chamber Music Program and Summer Music West, in addition to founding and directing both California Summer Music at Pebble Beach, and the Lake Tahoe Music Festival Academy with the Miró Quartet. As a chamber music coach and instructor of viola at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, San Domenico School Virtuoso Program, and other music programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Bates has trained numerous young chamber musicians who are now pursing careers as professional musicians. A member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, Ms. Bates received her M.A. and B.A from CSU, San Jose.

Daniel Carlson is Associate Principal Second Violin of the San Francisco Symphony. He previously served as rotating concertmaster for the New World Symphony during the 2004-05 season. Mr. Carlson has performed and toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, been a member of the first violin section of the Phoenix Symphony, and participated in the Kneisel Hall, Tanglewood, and Marlboro festivals, as well as the Marlboro Music Tours. He has also performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and worked on chamber music compositions with Bright Sheng, George Pearl, Hans Werner Henze and Thomas Adès. Mr. Carlson holds M.M. and B.M. degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Joel Smirnoff and Dorothy Delay.

Randolph Fromme, cello, is an avid chamber musician whose collaborations include performances with Frederica von Stade, Donald and Vivian Weilerstein, and guitarist Paul Galbraith. He has also performed in the Other Minds festival, featuring the works of contemporary composers. He is a former member of the Mendota, Oberon and Del Sol string quartets. Mr. Fromme has performed in the Sandpoint and Round Top summer festivals and coached at Bravo! and San Diego chamber music workshops. Currently, he performs recitals with pianist Shu Li and records audio and video of solo cello works for their website, http://frommeduo.com/. Mr. Fromme received an Artist Certificate in chamber music from the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied with Mark Sokol and Clive Greensmith. He also earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a M.A. from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, where he studied with Paul Kosower and Tanya Remenikova, respectively.

Violinist Doris Fukawa (Program Director) is equally adept as a performer, conductor, and educator. A native of Berkeley, California, she received her bachelor of music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and her master in education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her teachers include Raphael Bronstein, Ariana Bronne, Anne Crowden, Syzmon Goldberg, Colin Hampton and Lillian Fuchs. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony on their subscription concerts and international tours, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Opera San Jose, Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Skywalker Orchestra (recording industry), and has served as concertmaster for the Shorenstein's Broadway theater productions in San Francisco. Ms. Fukawa has also served as concertmaster for such recording artists as Linda Rondstadt, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Journey, Barry White, Stevie Wonder, and Rod Stewart. In addition to performing, Ms. Fukawa is known for her work as a dedicated educator and conductor. She has been guest conductor for the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Conservatory Preparatory String Orchestra, and music festivals throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Cazadero Performing Arts Camp and Summer Music West. Ms. Fukawa is Director of Ensembles and a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, and is also on faculty of California ASTA's Summer Institute of Chamber Music. She serves as Executive Director and faculty member of the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley.

Andrew Luchansky, cello, received his M.M. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his B.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music. He studied cello with Laurence Lesser and Timothy Eddy, and chamber music with members of the Guarneri and Juilliard Quartets and Beaux Arts Trio. Mr. Luchansky has performed with The Classical Band and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and as soloist at the Festival International de Musica in Deia and Palma, Spain. Mr. Luchansky performs in the summer with Camerata Deia throughout Spain, Italy and Denmark. A former faculty member at Florida State University, he is currently director of string studies at the CSU Sacramento School of Music and cellist in the Sun Quartet.

Grammy nominated pianist, Machiko Kobialka, has received international acclaim for her dynamic and elegant performances as a soloist and chamber musician. Performing internationally for over 40 years, she has appeared at major music festivals and concert celebrations, including the Karuizawa Festival, Suntory Hall-Fulbright 40th Concert, the Mid-Summer Mozart Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Britt Music Festival, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, as well as toured extensively throughout Europe, Japan, Taiwan and the United States. After graduating from the prestigious Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Machiko came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar and received her Bachelor of Music from the Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford, and her Master of Music from Catholic University of America. Her enthusiasm for contemporary music resulted in the commission of new music written for her by Pulitzer Prizewinners William Bolcom and Wayne Peterson. She premiered these compositions at Carnegie Hall, Georgetown University, the Las Vegas International Contemporary Festival, the Schoenberg Institute and the Strasbourg Institute. She has also recorded for Sonic Arts and Desto Records.

Kerrilyn Renshaw has been on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1980 in various roles: collegiate opera coach and accompanist, musicianship instructor in the Preparatory Division, Piano Chamber Music Coordinator for Summer Music West, as well as both musicianship and piano faculty member with Summer Music West. Her own piano studies included master classes with Leon Fleisher and private studies with Aube Tzerko and Mack McCray. Ms. Renshaw has performed widely in the United States, including a Carnegie Hall debut in 1998 as accompanist for mezzo soprano Sally Munro. She was featured both as soloist and as a member of the Holland Renshaw Piano Duo in concerts aboard World Explorer Cruises, and as a guest chamber artist with Royal Viking Cruises. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the Santa Barbara Symphony, the Prometheus Orchestra, the Palo Alto Symphony, the Roundtop Festival Orchestra, and the Redlands Symphony. Ms. Renshaw was a pianist in the San Francisco Symphony during several seasons - most recently in 2008. She has recorded CDs as a solo pianist with Sugo Records.

Richard Rogers received his M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; his B.A. from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and studied with Seymour Bernstein, Marthe Motchane and Paul Hersh. He has performed with the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra and in the Conservatory's Chamber Music West Festival, as well as with the Paul Dresher Ensemble in the music of John Adams. He is a former faculty member at Summer Arts Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska and currently teaches piano and ensembles in the Conservatory's Preparatory and Adult Extension Divisions.

Dr. Yueh Chou is known for her work on modern and historical bassoons. She holds a Certificate Diploma on both baroque and classical bassoons from the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag, the Netherlands; a bachelor's degree in music from the Juilliard School, and both master's and doctorate degrees in music (with minors in baroque bassoon and music education) from the University of Southern California. Ms. Chou has extensive performance and teaching experience, including teaching master classes at Fu-Jen University in Taiwan. She has taught bassoon and chamber music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division since 2001. Besides her love of modern and historical instruments, she also enjoys contemporary music. She premiered the solo bassoon pieces: Under the Open Sky by Veronika Krausas in Los Angeles in 1997 and Group on a Row the Same by Lou Harrison in Santa Cruz in 2003. She has performed in Deventer, Voorschoten; Den Haag, Amsterdam (Muziekgebouw aan't IJ) the Netherlands; Geel and Chimay (Theatre du Chateau)in Belgium; Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center in the U.S.; and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan.

Bruce Foster serves as principal clarinet with the West Bay Opera. As a freelancer he works with the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, the Santa Cruz Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, the California Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony and the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. Formerly, he held the principal clarinet position with the Air Force Band of the Golden West and was a member of Citywinds, a San Francisco based woodwind quintet. Mr. Foster has held positions at San Francisco University High School, Santa Clara University and the San Francisco School of the Arts. He received a B.M. in clarinet performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a M.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Esther Landau, served for fourteen years as flutist and managing director for Citywinds, a critically acclaimed new music wind quintet which commissioned more than 100 new works for winds. Ms. Landau received her B.M. in flute performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and her M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is an advocate for new music, and has had the privilege of working with such composers as Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter and Chen Yi. Ms. Landau currently teaches flute privately and through the San Francisco Conservatory's Preparatory Division. She also serves as Director of Development for The Walden School, a summer music program for creative young people. She enjoys folk dancing and is the president of her local international folk dance club.

Laura Reynolds is principal oboist with the California Symphony as well as a member of the Santa Rosa and Marin Symphonies, where she has appeared as English Horn soloist. Ms. Reynolds freelances throughout the Bay Area, including performances with the San Francisco Symphony and is a member of the faculty of both the Preparatory Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and UC Davis. Also a chamber music enthusiast, Ms. Reynolds was a founding member of Citywinds, a San Francisco based woodwind quintet dedicated to contemporary repertoire. A former member of the Virginia Symphony, Ms. Reynolds has attended the Music Academy of the West, the National Orchestral Institute, the Sarasota Music Festival and the Bach Aria Festival and Institute at Stonybrook. A student of Harry Sargous and William Bennett, she received her B.M. from the University of Michigan and her M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Yaada Weber, flute, received a B.A. from Mills College and has been on the faculty of the Conservatory's Preparatory Division since 1954. She studied flute with Herbert Benkman and Doriot Dwyer, chamber music with Ferenc Molnar, and composition with Darius Milhaud. Ms .Weber also studied physiological aspects of performance with Amos Gunsberg in New York. A former member of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, she is a founding member of Duo Linus with pianist Philip Manwell. Duo Linos performed throughout the Bay Area and won the European International Festival Contest, which garnered the duo a recital of American 20th century music in Geneva, Switzerland.


Faculty subject to change