Adult

My name is Lauren Gatzka and I am a classically trained coloratura soprano. I have studied classical voice the last nine years and have also expanded my repertoire to include Broadway and pop styles. I have been teaching and coaching for the last five years and that all takes place in my student's homes. My primary teaching philosophy is to promote healthy singing for longevity in a singing career by use of the Alexander method of breathing. In my coaching, I work on phrasing, overall performance, connection with the audience and so forth.

Visit my website for student resources and more information: http://violariot.wordpress.com

An active member of the San Francisco musical community, Lewis performs locally with a variety of groups including San Francisco Academy Orchestra, Russian Chamber Orchestra, Classical Revolution, and Five Line Strings Quartet. Teaching engagements include masterclasses with the Academy Orchestra outreach quartet and at Myriad Music School in San Mateo.

Nicole Cooper is a San Francisco Bay Area based singer who has had the pleasure of performing with Opera Cultura, Lyric Theater of San Jose, Opera San Jose, Mission City Opera, Fremont Opera, the SongFest Young Artist program, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh Scotland. Nicole has also appeared as a soloist for local events and performed new works including the concert premiere of Dos Idilios written for her by Venezuelan composer Abi Romero Ramirez.

Lori Hennessy earned her reputation as a cello teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, a national epicenter of string playing and pedagogy. From 2012 to 2014 Ms. Hennessy served as the cello instructor for the Rainey Institute’s intensive El Sistema program, where she taught Suzuki-inspired group classes to various levels of aspiring cellists. Her string orchestra arrangements of songs from the Suzuki repertoire have been performed by the Rainey Institute’s El Sistema orchestra in venues across Cleveland, including the world-renowned Severance Hall. During this time Ms.

I have conducted 24 operas for North Bay Opera (Fairfield), and personally coached each cast member. I have guest conducted four operas for Berkeley Opera. I have also coached many singers individually. I was on the music staff of San Francisco Opera for three years, and wrote and edited the Opera's supertitle scripts for 17 years. I worked as an opera coach at Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore) and Indiana University School of Music, where I also accompanied singers in the studios of Margaret Harshaw, Eileen Farrell, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, and Virginia Zeani.

Leah Irby is an active teacher, dancer, musician, and composer. Please visit her website at epicarts.net to listen to recordings and read testimonials.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she relocated to Marin County in 2014. During the school year of 2013-2014, Leah lived in Tamil Nadu, India. She performed, and taught orchestra and private lessons at Kodaikanal International School.

Mike Shuldes has been practicing French Horn for 17 years and holds a Masters degree in French Horn Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His primary teacher, Bruce Roberts, is associate principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony, one of the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the United States, recognized worldwide.

In the summer of 2014 I relocated from Southern California to the Bay Area. Since arriving in the Bay Area I've performed numerous times with the Pacific Chamber Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, Merced Symphony, One Found Sound, Pied Piper Players, among many others. While in SoCal, I performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic multiple times, recorded and performed with the San Diego Symphony, and performed with many other orchestras, ballets, and operas.