RESOUNDING ACHORD PRODUCTIONS - Key Persons
Originally from Southern California, Albee received an Associate of Arts degree from Fullerton College and later moved to the Bay Area to pursue a Bachelor of Music at San José State University with a double concentration in music education and vocal performance. While at SJSU, he studied voice with tenor Joseph Frank and conducting with Dr. Jeffrey Benson. He was a section leader, student conductor, and also founded and directed SJSU's all-male a cappella ensemble, "Pitch, Please!"
Albee currently teaches choir, musical theater, and guitar at Woodside Priory School. He is also an Associate Conductor with Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, and can be heard singing with Resounding Achord, Chromatic Convergence, and the award-winning Fog City Singers.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director & Founding Member )
Jan runs the organization's administrative function (operations) and helps set the long-range strategy for the organization. She provides the push for developing a corporate infrastructure that will support the organization as it grows and become more versatile. She also works to ensure that the organization follows nonprofit best practices. Jan was Resounding Achord's initial Board of Directors Chairperson. When the initial Executive Director left the organization in 2014, Jan took over as acting Executive Director. In 2017, she relinquished the Board Chairmanship and became the official Executive Director.
Jan has been involved in singing organizations since the age of 8, usually involved in three or more choirs at a time, and has spent much of that time promoting the choral arts. Soon after she joined The Choral Project in 2006 as a singer, she became involved in the group's management. She spent a year as Development Director, a year as Outreach Director, and then served as President of the Board for 2½ years. She worked with the organization to establish and grow its student outreach programs. She was also very involved in the organization's fundraising activities.
Jan has a 30-year career in the high-tech industry, where she started off as an Artificial Intelligence programmer. In 1990, she and a business partner started Expert Support, a documentation, training, and application-development consulting firm. As COO, Jan ran the firm's day-to-day operations, hired most of the staff, and managed a large part of the business, which averaged about $2.5 million in annual income over her tenure. Jan has since retired from her COO job. She is now a part-time consultant and pistachio farmer.
Jan has a BA in Zoology from UC Santa Barbara, where she also almost finished a BA degree in Music - Vocal Performance. At Stanford University she earned two Master's degrees, one in Biological Sciences and the other in Computer Science.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Treasurer & Founding Member )
Jason has been singing since he was 6 years old. As he grew, so did his interest in classical and choral music. He sang in choir, played in band, studied voice and piano privately, and went on to study music at the university level. From 1999 to 2011, Jason lived in Seattle and served as a cantor for St. Monica Parish and performed with The Esoterics, a world-renowned contemporary a cappella vocal ensemble, the Seattle Choral Company, and Illumni Men's Chorale. He also performed as a soloist in many concerts in the Puget Sound region. In 2011, Jason moved to the Bay Area and joined the world-class choir, The Choral Project, and continues to sing with them.
Prior to moving to San Jose, Jason served in the roles of Technology Consultant, Vice President, Acting Treasurer, and President of the Board of Directors of the Seattle Choral Company. During his time with the SCC, he planned and implemented several initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce expenses through technology. He also helped to implement a plan to repay organizational debt.
Jason has 14 years of experience working in the software industry as a tester, developer, and project/program manager. At Microsoft, he worked as a Software Development Engineer in Test on Internet Explorer and Windows Presentation Foundation. Later, he was a Technical Program Manager for Windows Live Messenger and Exchange Server. At HTC, he worked as a Technical Program Manager focused on delivering customized user interfaces and features for mobile operators all over the world. At Apple, he works as an Engineering Project Manager for Internet Technologies. Jason also does freelance web development and technology consulting work from time to time.
Jason earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Music from Millikin University and a Master of Science degree in Information Technology (specializing in Systems Design & Programming) from Capella University.
Josephine "Jo" grew up in rural Illinois and began singing at the age of 7 at the only choir available at the Methodist Church. Since then she sang throughout high school and college, studying voice with several professors at the University of Illinois. She also studied flute from grade school through college. After a 10-year hiatus, which included moving to California, she began studying voice again and joined one choir after another, including the Choral Project. She earned a music certificate at Ohlone College. She joined Resounding Achord at its inception as a soprano.
Jo earned degrees from the University of Illinois in law, employee relations, and business, and she has practiced law in law firms, for the government, and in the private sector for the Boeing Company in Seattle. She has also taught contract law at a small local law school.
Jo has served on boards and committees of several nonprofit organizations, including Simonds Elementary School Music and Technology Foundation as Vice President of Music Programs. She communicated with parents and teachers, and volunteered in many capacities to raise funds for this organization with a $250,000 yearly budget. Currently, she also sings with the Choral Project and acts as its Box Office Manager.
Joanna's love of music was formed as she experienced WQXR (the classical radio station from NYC) playing as her father sat in the living room grading problem sets of his Cornell engineering students. By the age of nine, she was taking piano lessons and by eleven was also playing the flute. She was fortunate to be part of an excellent public school music program in high school in Ithaca, New York. Somewhat to the distress of her parents, she chose to pursue a career in music and was fortunate to be able to attend the Royal College of Music in London for three years, followed by getting a degree in musicology from Stanford University.
Due to some challenges with chronic asthma, she has maintained her involvement with music by supporting a number of wonderful music organizations - San Jose Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, Opera San Jose, San Francisco Chamber Music - and more recently attending almost every concert of Resounding Achord. Although not as familiar with the choral repertoire, the programming of Resounding Achord has been a joy to experience.
Coming from a family of educators has inspired Joanna's interest in supporting educational institutions both philanthropically and with hands-on involvement. She has served on boards of institutions related to the Episcopal church and, for the last twenty-five years been involved with Santa Maria Urban Ministry, a social service agency in downtown San Jose, providing food, clothing, and educational programs for all ages to those living on the margins.
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director
- Artistic Director, RA Conductor )
Kristina is one of the founders of Resounding Achord Productions and has been the Artistic Director since its inception in 2012. As Artistic Director, Kristina sets the organization's overall artistic vision and branding, both musically and visually. She collaborates with all levels of the organization's membership to ensure that the artistic vision is executed appropriately. She strives to embody the mission, vision, and core values of the organization.
Kristina has been performing and directing in Silicon Valley since 2001. Besides serving as Artistic Director for Resounding Achord, Kristina is the Artistic Director of Vivace Youth Chorus of San José, and she previously worked at St. Francis Episcopal Church of Willow Glen, Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Carden Hall School in Newport Beach, and she directed two choirs at UC Irvine. Her choirs consistently received superior rankings at California Music Educator's festivals and Gold awards at Heritage Festivals in Anaheim. She has also worked as the musical director for several productions, including The Wedding Singer, Once on This Island, The Pajama Game, Working, and Once Upon a Mattress, among others.
Kristina sang and served as the Assistant Conductor for The Choral Project from 2005 to 2012 where she participated in many world premieres: "Keramos" by Stephen Schwartz, Divide Light by Leslie Dill and Richard Marriott at Montalvo Arts Center, and Choose Life by Mona Lyn Reese with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. While Kristina sang with the choir, The Choral Project won the First Prize at the 2007 International Choral Festival in San Luis Obispo and was invited to participate in the 2011 International Concorso Corale in Tolosa, Spain. She can be heard on their recordings Winter, One is the All, Tell the World, and Yuletide.
As a soloist, Kristina has performed cabaret shows at Society Cabaret in San Francisco and San Jose, Theatre on San Pedro Square in San Jose, and also at Limelight Theatre in Gilroy. She was featured in the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus production of Enchantingly Wicked with Stephen Schwartz at Davies Symphony Hall, and has performed with Foothill Musical Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, and the Silicon Valley Gay Men's Chorus.
Kristina graduated in 2001 with a degree in Vocal Performance from UC Irvine and finished a Master's Degree in Choral Conducting from San José State University in 2005. While at SJSU, she was honored to study conducting with Dr. Charlene Archibeque and sang with the world-famous Choraliers. With Dr. "A" and the Choraliers, Kristina competed in the Spittal International Choral Festival in Austria and the Seghizzi Choral Competition in Gorizia, Italy.
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Member at Large
Mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and stage director, Layna Chianakas has been hailed for her "vocal talents which are matched by her poignancy as an actress" (Des Moines Register) in her betrayal of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. She has portrayed many leading opera roles including over 80 performances of Carmen, as well as Amneris in Aida, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Sesto in Giulio Cesare, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, The Woman in Poulenc's La voix humaine, the title role in La Perichole, and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with countless opera companies throughout the country. Most recently, she was heard as The Secretary in Menotti's The Consul with Dayton Opera.
Her stage directing credits include, Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Cavalli's L'Ormindo, Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, the National Opera Association's award-winning Argento's Postcard from Morocco, Ravel's The Bewitched Child/L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, a fully-staged and conceptualized Mendelssohn's Elijah, and Die Fledermaus/The Revenge of the Ba t for the San José State Opera Theater. For Opera San José, she directed La voix humaine, Hansel & Gretel, Carmen, and Il barbiere di Siviglia.
As an active participant in the San José music community, she was the Director of Opera San José's Summer Program for Singers and Pianists as well as Stage Director for Vivace Youth Chorus' Summer Youth Opera, which saw her productions of Menotti's Chip and His Dog and Krasa's Brundibar.
Ms. Chianakas recently made her Carnegie Hall debut, sang the alto solos in the Lord Nelson Mass with the Limerick Music Festival in Limerick, Ireland, was the mezzo-soprano soloist for Dayton Opera's Season Opening Spectacular, and returned to the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra last January as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony No. 1. She also performed the second soprano solos in Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, and was the mezzo-soprano soloist for the San Jose Wind Symphony's Symphony No. 4 by Johan de Meij.
Ms. Chianakas is the principal voice teacher for the Valley Christian Conservatory of Music as well as the Artistic Director of the Assyrian Arts Institute. She lives in San Jose, CA with her husband and two children-her greatest productions.
Michelle has been singing in choirs since middle school and has never looked back from music! She joined Resounding Achord as a singer in the Fall of 2015 and enjoys the music, the camaraderie, and the travel opportunities. She holds a BM in Vocal Performance from San Jose State University, and sings both professionally and for fun. She has been the Youth Music Director at St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception in Los Gatos for over 12 years and often sings for weddings, funerals, and as a professional choir member for touring shows.
While studying at San Jose State, she had the opportunity to premiere a new opera through the opera workshop program and also became the chapter president of Mu Phi Epsilon, an international professional music fraternity. With a desire to make a difference in her community, Michelle received her MA in Arts Administration from Indiana University, and has worked in nonprofit management full time for the past three years. Michelle is currently the Executive Projects Manager, Communications and Development at Digital Promise, an organization working to improve education for all leveraging the power of technology.
Michelle brings expertise in volunteer management, event planning, box office management, communications, and development to the board. She also sits on the genARTS steering committee, whose mission is to empower creative individuals and emerging arts leaders in Silicon Valley.
Prior to her current role, Michelle worked for the San Francisco Symphony supporting all large-scale fundraising events and managing major donors and sponsors lists. She has also worked as the assistant box office manager at the Bing Concert Hall with Stanford Live.
Molly grew up in Livermore, California, where she studied piano from the age of 6 until 17 with Eugene Masluk, who placed a huge emphasis on sight-reading and sight-singing. Molly played the oboe in the Livermore High School orchestra as well as in the LHS Honor Band. She was also the accompanist for various choirs and soloists at school, and played in many pit orchestras in the Livermore community as the pianist or an oboist.
While still in high school, her first job was playing piano accompaniment for voice classes at Chabot College. At UC Berkeley, Molly studied languages, botany, anthropology, and geology, ending up with a degree in physical geography. She also sang in the University Chorus as well as the Collegium Musicum. Molly was also an accompanist in solo recitals and competitions at Berkeley.
After college, Molly followed her boyfriend to Ithaca, New York, where she worked part-time as a cartographer with the EPA, and part-time as the pianist for the Cornell University Theater Department, playing for musical productions, chamber-music classes, and ballet classes.
Molly has two single-subject teaching credentials: music and science. She was the music teacher at New Brighton Middle School in Capitola, CA, for 5 years, before switching to science, which she has been teaching at NBMS since 2004. In 2015, she finished her doctorate at UCSC in science education. Molly is also a lecturer at UCSC in the education department. In addition to middle-school teaching, Molly has been the union president in her district for several years. She is also a uniformed volunteer at Henry Coe State Park.
Naomi is currently the Music Director for the Theater, Visual and Performing Arts department at Presentation High School in San Jose. She has a BA degree in Music Education and a MA degree in Choral Conducting from San Jose State University.
Job Titles:
- Member at Large
- Outgoing Chairperson
Sarah began her career as a serious hobby musician at the age of 5 when she started studying the piano. She later broadened her instrumental interests to include cello and guitar, but her passion for choral singing was kindled in the 6th grade when she joined the Eastman Children's Chorus in Rochester, New York and sang in the legendary Eastman Theater. Since then, there has hardly been a time when she has not been part of a choir and she currently is a proud member of Resounding Achord's alto section.
Having earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Boston University, Sarah worked at The Cambridge Hospital as a medical and psychiatric social worker and held a Harvard teaching appointment before moving to California. Once here, she shifted careers and for the past 15 years has worked as a recipe tester for Sunset Magazine as well as a freelance recipe tester and editor for cookbook and magazine writers.
Sarah has accumulated more than 20 years of experience serving on boards and committees of non-profit and charitable organizations. Among those, she was the Palo Alto High School Music Boosters President for 3 years and was an officer and volunteer for 4 more, organizing fundraising efforts and developing a robust parent support organization. To keep her foot in the door of her original profession, she served on the Dean's Advisory Board at the BU School of Social Work and volunteered for 22 years, including 12 years on the board of directors, at the Northern California and Northern Nevada Alzheimer's Association. During that time she served as a board officer, member of the strategic planning committee, national chapter assembly delegate, and chair of the program committee. She also chaired the Memories in the Making Art and Wine Auction for several years and was chair of the 2012 San Francisco Walk to End Alzheimer's, which raised close to $1,000,000.
Sarah was the Chairperson of Resounding Achord's board from August 2016 to June 2019.
Born and raised in Secunderabad, India, and encouraged by his parents from a very young age, Wil developed an immense fondness and a keen sense for harmony and singing, which aided in him learning to play the keyboards and read music, mostly on his own. He went on to become the Director and Accompanist of two local church choirs while still a teenager. After securing a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering, he came to the US in 2000 to pursue a career in Software Technology. This opportunity also introduced him to several other musical genres and forms of harmonic expression, predominantly through a cappella.
Over the years, Wil has lived in various cities along the West Coast for work, and sang with numerous award-winning choral ensembles including the Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland, The Choral Project and Voices in Harmony Barbershop Chorus in San Jose, the Sacramento Master Singers, the Fog City Singers in San Francisco and most recently, singing virtually with Resounding Apart. He studied voice privately with Dr. Robin Fisher, Professor of Voice at Sacramento State, and has founded and sung in several Barbershop Quartets including Western Addition (the 23rd placed Quartet at the 2019 Barbershop Harmony Society's International Convention in Salt Lake City), as well as small vocal jazz groups including Prime Time, 2015 SF Bay Area Regional Champions and Finalists at the National Harmony Sweepstakes Contest held in San Rafael, CA that same year.
Today a proud voting citizen of the United States, Wil is fortunate to still be employed as a Software Engineer, while also grateful for the many singing and touring opportunities he's had with many of the ensembles mentioned above, which have only augmented his passion for the Performing Arts, as well as opened his eyes to new cultures and schools of thought. He is delighted to be serving on a Board of Directors for the first time with Resounding Achord, and is looking forward to putting his many years of acquired experience in serving Arts organizations in various capacities, to good use. He hopes to be associated with this group for many years to come, and hopes to meet you, our many patrons, in the months and years ahead.