Julie Blade has sung virtually all her life, with her first choral experience being in the fourth grade. When Julie first heard Voci perform, 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. After nearly 30 years as a learning and development consultant, Julie is applying her talents as a personal historian, a story teller…one life at a time. She has three grown “children,” ages 40, 41, and 44 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 Yale’s all-women’s a cappella group, The New Blue. This is her seventh year singing with Voci. During the day, Elizabeth is Chief Operating Officer of the Global Health Group at UCSF. 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, 23 and 25, one daughter-in-law, two grown stepchildren, and one granddaughter.
Mezzo-soprano Constance DeFotis has conducted and sung concerts in the U.S., Australia, and Europe. Among her chorus preparations were collaborations with Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Antol Dorati, and Charles Dutoit with the Berlin Philharmonic. Currently, she is savoring her participation in the Berkeley Feldenkrais program, while she pretends to be working on a monograph entitled "The Dramaturgy of the Choral Rehearsal: Techniques for the Phases of Work and a novel entitled Holding." She is delighted to be singing with Voci, where she has the opportunity to connect with the interlacing of different modes of meaning in music such as music's imagery or symbolism functioning as an affirmation of the creation and recreation of human potential.
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!”
Arsinoe Ferry has been singing since she was a small child and has a love for many different types of music. In addition to her love for choral music she has sung with several other Bay Area groups, including vocal jazz with Seven Steps, a cappella music with Ro-Sham-Bo, and folk music with the Acoustic Soul trio. In college she sang with the San Francisco State University Chorale as well as the San Jose State Alumni chorus. She is thrilled to be back singing with Voci after a 15 year hiatus, and to be surrounded by such a talented group of women. She loves travel, cooking, adventure and spending time with her husband and three year old son.
Lisa Gartland has many passions in addition to singing. First, there’s her family - husband, son, cats, chickens and a 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 Avenue. Finally, she’s an expert in energy conservation, currently working in the field of efficiency program evaluation.
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 sixth year singing with Voci and deeply enjoys the repertoire, the musicianship, the friendship of these awesome women, and, of course, our fabulous director. Susan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music with emphasis in piano and voice from San Francisco State University. She always sang as a child, beginning choral singing in high school. In addition to being a folk singer back in the day, Susan sang for ten years with the Masterworks Chorale in San Mateo, and has sung with numerous chamber choirs in the area over the years. Having retired after thirty-two years on staff at SF State University, Susan is now Program Coordinator for Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley. Her other passions are sewing, knitting, and her delightful grandchildren.
Edna Huelsenbeck (see Voci Leadership)
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!
Jayne Kappesser, a recent addition from Santa Cruz, has an insatiable appetite for music and is thrilled to be singing with Voci to help ease the hunger pains. When she’s not longing for fresh ocean breezes and towering redwoods, she keeps busy as a choir director, private voice instructor and church musician in Walnut Creek. In her spare time, Jayne enjoys gardening, cooking, playing the ukulele, and learning all about do-it-yourself home renovations with her husband and two dogs.
Pauline Ma-Senturia was born in Guilin, China and grew up singing at her mother's church in Taiwan. She holds degrees in both Music and Interior Architectural Design. She has sung with various choral groups in the Bay Area, and worked as a Design and Construction Project Manager for the US General Services Administration for 18 years. Since retirement, she is busier than ever enjoying her seven grandchildren, singing, dancing, doing craft projects and traveling near and far.
Katherine Marble has participated in many musical adventures over the years, including folk, rock, jazz, and classical genres. A healthcare career put an end to a music major, during which she sang daily for two years with Jane Hardester’s concert chorale. She is a pediatric RN married happily to another one, plus the 2 cats. Since 2002 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.
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.
Johanna Rothe lives in Oakland and pursues a doctorate, while making a living working as a teaching assistant in Santa Cruz. Johanna's most formative choir experiences before joining Voci in January 2011 were with the Berlin Girls' Choir, with whom she sang for many years, and more recently with UCSC Chamber Singers. Having been a long-time recorder player, Johanna has a special place in her musical heart for Early Music.
Karla Sagramoso is very pleased to be part of Voci, having participated in choral singing of all sorts on and off since childhood. She is convinced that if the world's people all belonged to choirs and ate regular infusions of chocolate they'd all be much happier and healthier, though perhaps not slimmer. She especially enjoys singing in small ensembles such as Voci, loves house concerts, and learning repertoire from many centuries and countries. When not singing she works as a clinical psychologist and enjoys her family.
Lisa Sanders is very excited to join Voci this fall and to sing with such a talented group of women. Over the years, she has sung in several operas with Festival Opera and Livermore Valley Opera choruses, and participated in the Opera Scenes Workshop at Holy Names College with Musical Director, Monroe Kanouse. On weekends, Lisa cantors at St. Perpetua Church in Lafayette. When not singing, Lisa keeps busy teaching technology at St. Mary School in Walnut Creek, as well as keeping up with two twenty-something daughters and a traveling husband.
Susan Sands has been in singing groups all her life - with Voci for 19 years. She is a clinical psychologist in private practice, who also teaches, writes articles, and supervises other therapists. She is married, with a son in college. In her former life, she was a print and television journalist.
Fran Smith grew up singing, with her family and in school and church choirs. She has sung in large choirs, 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 also works with Kairos Youth Chorus. She has a sweet 26 year-old son who visits on weekends from his group home.
