Nanette McGuinness
Artistic Executive Director, soprano
Soprano and E4TT co-founder and Artistic Executive Director NANETTE MCGUINNESS has been hailed in the press for her "creamy golden tone" and "glorious soprano" across a repertory that ranges from 1600 to the present. A passionate advocate of music by living composers and women artists, she has performed operas, concerts, and recitals in 13 languages on two continents in over 25 operatic roles with the Silesian State (Czech Republic),
Opera San Jose (Opera in the Schools), West Bay, Pacific Repertory, and Livermore Valley Opera, San Jose Symphony, Contra Costa Chorale, Monterey Peninsula Chorus, Solano Symphony, and Palo Alto Philharmonic, among others.
Margaret Halbig
Pianist
Pianist MARGARET HALBIG is in high demand as both an instrumental and vocal collaborative artist. On staff at the SF Conservatory of Music since 2011, she regularly performs recitals and masterclasses and has collaborated with many esteemed Bay Area musicians
including mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade, SF Symphony Principal Trombonist Timothy Higgins and Principal Tubist Jeffrey Anderson. An advocate of new music, Halbig is the pianist for Ninth Planet,
an SF new music collective and a member of the wind-and-piano sextet Frequency 49. Halbig was a Collaborative Teaching fellow at Interlochen Arts in 2017 and
2018 in collaborative and solo piano and has been the pianist for Young Women’s Chorus of San Francisco since 2014.
Abigail Monroe
Cellist, Social Media Assistant
Cellist ABIGAIL MONROE hails from New Mexico and holds a Bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
in cello performance under the instruction of Jennifer Culp. She has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and large ensemble musician in venues across the United States. As a San Francisco resident, Abigail performs frequently
throughout the Bay Area as both a classical cellist. She has served as both Principal cellist of the SFCM Orchestra, as well as the Miami Summer Music Festival Symphony Orchestra. As the winner of the Jackie McGehee Young Artists Competition
in 2019, Abigail was also featured as cello soloist performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the New Mexico Philharmonic.
Brennan Stokes
Assistant Director
Emerging composer, pianist, tenor, and teacher BRENNAN STOKES earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance from Pacific Union College and has been active in playing and singing in school
ensembles and church choirs throughout his education. He earned his Master’s Degree in Music Composition at the SF Conservatory of Music in the studio of David Garner.
He has had masterclasses in piano with Leon Bates and Sonstraud Speidel and in composition with Jack Perla and David Conte.
Stephanie M. Neumann
A/V Project Specialist
Composer, saxophonist/vocalist, conductor, and audiovisual editor/artist STEPHANIE M. NEUMANN earned an MA in Music Composition at Mills College, BA in Music at Miami University, and Certificate from The Recording Workshop. Her recent audiovisual projects include Ensemble for These Times' "For Good Measure" podcast and concert visuals, and GLFCAM’s “Bahlest Eeble Readings” virtual premieres. As a composer, she has written electroacoustic and contemporary works premiered by performers such as Ensemble for These Times and flutist Brice Smith via the #GLFCAMgigthruCOVID initiative. She’s also a current member of Sl(e)ight Ensemble and has explored multiple genres, performing with a variety of instrumental/vocal ensembles, collaborations, and solo projects.
Adrienne Anaya
Assistant
ADRIENNE ANAYA earned her MM in Percussion Performance at the SF Conservatory of Music, where she studied with San Francisco Symphony principal timpanist, Edward Stephan, and principal percussionist, Jacob Nissly. Anaya completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Houston Moore School of Music, where she was the 21st annual recipient of the A. Clyde Roller Award and studied with Dr. Blake Wilkins, Alec Warren, and Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal Timpanist and Section Percussion at the Houston Symphony. Anaya has had orchestral training experience at PRISMA, Brevard Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, and Hot Springs Music Festival.
Hannah Chen
Intern
HANNAH CHEN is a composer and harpist from the Bay Area. She attends SFCM
Pre-College and is an alumna of Wildflower Composers, Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Luna Composition Lab. Hannah has received recognition from the Bay Area Creative Foundation, National YoungArts Foundation and more. Her works have been performed by Music at the Mission’s Chamberfest, Argus Quartet, she was a Featured Composer at the American Harp Society’s 2023 National Institute and was recently commissioned by EXTENSITY Concert Series. Hannah is the principal harpist of the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra. She enjoys film/video game scoring and other multimedia projects.
Samuel Mason
Intern
The work of composer, songwriter, and pianist SAMUEL MASON fuses elements of classical, jazz, and popular music. He has performed original music at venues all over Westchester County, NY, and New York City, from coffee houses to 54 Below and Central Park, representing Young Adult Institute (YAI): Seeing Beyond Disability. He is earning a Bachelor of Music Degree in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music - where he works closely with instrumentalists who publicly perform his music - under the instruction of David Conte.
Renata Volchinshaya
Intern
Born and raised in San Francisco, violinist RENATA VOLCHINSKAYA is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in violin performance with William van der Sloot, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Renata previously attended the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and studied with Catherine van Hoesen. She has studied with the Kronos and Alexander string quartets as first violinist of the Dragon Quartet and interned at the Kronos Performing Arts Association. During her free time, she enjoys assisting with her family’s gourmet chocolate business.
David Garner
Co-Founder and Senior Artistic Advisor
E4TT composer and co-founder DAVID GARNER won The American Prize in 2015 for his String Quartet No. 2. Garner's music has been reviewed as "alluring" and
"a heady and touching revelation," and his works have been performed nationally and internationally by artists such as Suzanne Mentzner, Catherine Cook, David Krakauer,
and Matt Haimowitz. Garner's opera, "Mary Pleasant at Land's End,” is in the final stages of preproduction. A faculty member in composition, chamber music,
music theory and literature at the SF Conservatory of Music, Garner is a member of BMI, American Composers Forum, and the American Music Center.
Elinor Armer
A native Californian, composer ELINOR ARMER has spent her life on the West Coast, where she has taught piano, theory, composition, and music history at every level, in schools and universities, at her home in Berkeley as well as in master classes in the U.S. and abroad. For the last 50 years she
has been affiliated with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she established the composition department (1985) and continues to teach composition. Since 2014, the Conservatory has awarded the Elinor Armer Scholarship in Composition to qualified women applicants.
Kathy Barr
KATHY BARR is a non-profit consultant. She was most recently the Executive and Artistic Director of Old First Concerts. Prior to that position she was the Executive Director of the San Francisco Center for the Book. She holds a B.A. from Bard College and a Masters Degree in the Book Arts from Mills College. She is the proprietress of Small Plot Press.
Alden Jenks
Composer ALDEN JENKS has composed both electronic and “acoustic” music in a wide variety of forms — instrumental, vocal, and theatrical.
His website shows the range of his work both within and outside music.
Jenks received his B.A. from Yale University and an M. A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Recently retired from the SF Conservatory, he was director of electronic music and the recording studio, served as a professor of composition,
and was chair of the composition department.
Kurt Rohde
Violist and composer KURT ROHDE is a recipient of the Rome Prize, the Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship, the Lydian String Quartet Commission Prize,
and an Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
He has received commission awards from New Music USA - Commissioning Music/USA, the NEA,
and the Barlow, Fromm, Hanson, and Koussevitzky Foundations.Kurt is a curator at the Center for New Music and serves as Artistic Advisor for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. In the Fall 2019, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Composers Conference.
Bill Rudiak
Bill Rudiak holds an Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music with Honors in Theory and Composition from Western University in London, Canada. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1992 from his native Canada, Bill has established himself as an avid player of piano and instrumental chamber music with different configurations of wind and string ensembles, frequently performing in series such as Contra Costa Performing Arts Society Master Artists, Etude Club of Berkeley, Senza Rito, and Chamber Music at St. Andrew’s. Bill serves on the Boards of Old First Concerts in San Francisco, Berkeley Chamber Performances, Contra Costa Performing Arts Society, and is president of the Amphion Music Club.
During the pandemic of 2020, Bill supported many musicians deprived of their regular income by donating the use of his performance space (including his magnificent Fazioli F228 piano), as well his A/V equipment and technical/post-production services for livestreaming and recording projects.
In his day job, Bill works for an information security consulting boutique based in San Francisco, where as a Qualified Security Assessor, he performs credit card security audits for a growing base of clients.
Frederica von Stade
One of the most beloved musical figures of our time, mezzo-soprano FREDERICA VON STADE has enriched the world of classical music for three decades
with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. Well known to audiences around the world, she has made over sixty recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs,
and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis,
Italy's Premio della Critica Discografica, and "Best of the Year" citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. She has been appointed an officer of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France.
Cynthia Whitehead
Linguist and lawyear CYNTHIA WHITEHEAD has worked in 35 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia on the transfer of environmental policy and law between countries and regions.
She edited and produced the first compendium of European Union environmental law (10 languages) and focused in the 1990s on preparation for the accession of central and eastern European countries to the EU.
Since 1999, she has also worked in Asia on the development of policies and law related to environment and development. Whitehead has also been a member of the board of Directors of the the Blosser Center for Dyslexia Resources and of West Edge Opera.
McGuinness, Halbig, Monroe photos by Michael Halberstadt. Garner photo by Frogsong Photography
