Julie Blade has sung virtually all her life, with her first choral experience being in the fourth grade. Julie heard Voci perform last year and was so enamored of the ensemble’s repertoire and beautiful delivery that she decided it was tops on her list to be a part of the group. In addition to choral singing, Julie has performed in a number of musical stage productions and has dabbled in jazz and opera. Julie has worked as a learning and development consultant specializing in instructional design and development for more than 25 years. She has three grown “children,” ages 39, 40, and 43 and four beautiful grandchildren, and lives with a Scottie dog and two cats – her “guys.” In addition to singing, Julie’s passions are live music in many forms (opera, symphony, jazz), the theater, ballet, gardening, hiking, and always learning, learning, learning.
Elizabeth Brashers, Voci Co-Administrative Director, has enjoyed singing all her life. She sang with the San Francisco Girls Chorus in her teens, and in college sang with and directed the all-women’s a cappella group, The New Blue of Yale. This is her sixth year singing with Voci. When she’s not working or singing, Elizabeth loves being out-of-doors, in the garden, the Sierras or the hills of Mendocino.
Kate Buckelew has sung all her life in choirs and with family and friends, and she loves singing with the women of Voci. She is an artist who paints and draws. She is married, with two sons, 22 and 24, one daughter-in-law, two grown stepchildren, and one step granddaughter.
Denise Sawyer Deneaux has dipped her finger into many musical pies, including cabaret in San Francisco, recording and performing as a singer/songwriter, teaching children’s choir, writing a play and choral pieces for young children, and participating in church choirs. Denise and her family love to spend time in a small cottage on the border of Oregon and California, near bears and Chinook salmon. She is thrilled to be singing with Voci’s vibrant group of women’s voices.
Vicky Faulk has been singing, and loving it, since she was a small child. As a young adult she studied voice for seven years and has performed with choirs and smaller ensembles almost continuously, including several years with the well-known San Mateo Masterworks Chorale. Vicky works with Coldwell Banker as a real estate agent. She has assisted with marketing and selling homes in the Oakland/Piedmont area since 1987. Says Vicky of singing with Voci, “Nothing is as soul-satisfying as standing in the midst of a glorious choral chord, the vibrations swirling around my head. It is transformative!”
Lisa Gartland has many passions in addition to singing. First, there’s her family - husband, son, six cats (anyone want to adopt a kitten?) and one dog. Then there’s her total fixer of a house, a 1912 Oakland Craftsman that is - slowly - being renovated top to bottom. Next is the fitness center she owns & runs, Inside Outside Fitness on Piedmont Ave. Finally, she’s an expert in energy conservation, and her book “Heat Islands, Understanding & Mitigating Heat in Urban Areas” was recently published.
Sally Goodman is a former electrician who got her BA at 49, and now works in public transit. She loves to sing, and is grateful for the support of her life partner, Denice, and for the wonderfully affirming energy of the women of Voci.
Susan Hall is in her fourth year with Voci. She holds a BA in Music from SF State, where she studied both piano and voice. She has always sung, but first got involved in choral music in high school. Since then, she has sung with the Masterworks Chorale and the Skyline College Choir, as well as numerous smaller ensembles throughout the Bay Area. Her other loves are sewing, drawing, and her four grandchildren.
Edna Huelsenbeck (see Voci Leadership)
Catherine Johnson, a.k.a. Cricket, joined Voci in the Fall of 2009. She feels at home and inspired to be a part of the group and loves the uplifting and diverse repertoire she has encountered thus far. When not singing with Voci she occasionally performs solo with her original folk music, calling herself Cricketsing. She also enjoys teaching yoga and spending time with her family, which includes one adventuresome husband, Keith, two spunky children, Faye and William, and two playful Labrador Retrievers, Lula and Rosy.
Debbie Rosen Kanofsky, is very grateful to be making beautiful music with such a wonderful group of women, and Jude. When not busy singing or sticking needles in people, she seeks meaning in life through being in nature, dancing and being with her wonderful family and friends--you know who you are!
Mariam King is singing in her sixth year with Voci. She works as a psychologist in San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay.
Catherine Mac Guinness grew up in Ireland, was one of seven children in a musical family, played the cello in a junior orchestra, and has always loved singing. Having worked in West Africa as a nurse for almost twenty years, she found her way to California over ten years ago, worked as a hospice nurse, and continues her healing work through Rosen Method and various forms of body therapy. She is delighted to build on her musical tradition since she joined Voci. Singing makes her heart dance.
Katherine Marble has made and enjoyed music all her life. A healthcare career put a stop to a music major, during which she sang daily for two years under the direction of Jane Hardester. She lives with her husband and two cats, enjoys yoga, and is enjoying her daughter, temporarily in California. Since 2003 she has found a satisfying musical home with Voci.
Susan Martin has been singing for as long as she can remember, and has been active in many choruses, both in California and, long ago, in Indiana. When she’s not singing, she divides her time between her work as a veterinarian and her family. She lives in El Cerrito with her husband, their two musical children, and their dog.
Kathleen Merchant has enjoyed sharing music in many ways throughout her life. She earned her undergraduate degree in music with an emphasis in piano performance many years ago, and has studied voice, organ, and composition. For several years, she enjoyed serving as a church musician and continues to stretch her vocal skills singing with Voci.
Terry Meyers, Voci Co-Administrative Director, grew up in L.A., the youngest child of two musicians. In a former life, she danced, made art and played the violin. Terry joined Voci as a founding member in 1991 while working on her dissertation and raising two young children. Today she is a clinical psychologist and her daughters are adults. Her husband, John, has been a long-time supporter of Voci. As Administrative Director, Terry has an outlet for her yen for organizing.
Margot Murtaugh has sung in a variety of groups and in a variety of styles, for many years, from Renaissance music to jazz, and is already in her seventh season with Voci. During the day, she is an investment manager at a private firm in San Francisco, and during her “free” time, she just barely manages to keep up with her irrepressible and free-spirited 12 year-old son, Casey.
Michelle Persoff is excited to be in her first season with Voci. She started showing her love of music from a young age and furthered her education by later earning a BA in Vocal Music from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. She has been involved in other Bay Area Choirs including the San Francisco Choral Society and the Symphony of Silicon Valley Choir.
Wilma Schroeder grew up in Ohio (back when Mass was sung in Latin), near enough to the Mason-Dixon line to appreciate country and folk music, and has been involved in choirs and community theatre from childhood. This is her fifth year with Voci.
Fran Smith grew up singing, with her family and in school and church choirs. She has sung in large choirs, in small madrigal and chamber groups and in a few musicals. For several years she sang with the California Bach Society. Fran currently teaches music at Holy Names University, Contra Costa College, The Renaissance School, and privately. She has a sweet 25 year-old son who visits on weekends from his group home.
Barbara Venook has sung in various community college ensembles for over 25 years. Highlights include singing in the 1,000-member chorus in the 1984 Olympic opening ceremony at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, as well as singing Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” with the Nuremburg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. She has also played the flute, and most recently the french horn with several community ensembles since 1992.
