Karyn Staff Header Image

Karyn Silva, Artistic Director, Concerta and Ensemble Director

Karyn Silva, Peninsula Girls Chorus Artistic Director, PGC Coastside, Concerta and Ensemble Director, has a passion and infectious enthusiasm for the art of choral music. With over twenty-five years of conducting and teaching experience, she is sought after as a master teacher, clinician, and mentor in her field. She has been a featured choral clinician for the California Music Educators Association, the American Choral Directors Association and the Northern California Association of Kodaly Educators. Choirs under her direction have performed in such venues as Canterbury Cathedral and the Sydney Opera House.

Image Image

Sarah Cane, Repertoire Director

Sarah Cane, Repertoire Director, earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from CSUEB, a Master of Music at Holy Names University, and was winner of the Sarolta Kodaly Scholarship to study music education and choral conducting for a year at the Kodaly Institute in Kecskemet, Hungary. She has taught music to every level, K-12, at one time or another in her 30 years of teaching, including Peninsula School in Menlo Park, Addison Elementary and Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto. She has also been an English teacher at Menlo-Atherton and Carlmont High Schools.

Image Image

Kate Roseman, Brava and PGC Coastside Director

Kate Roseman, Brava and PGC Coastside Director is a graduate of the University of Redlands where she earned her Bachelor Degree in Music Education. Ms. Roseman studied at the Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute of Music in Kecskemét, Hungary, where she specialized in pedagogy and methodology, music history, conducting and ear training. She has furthered her study of the Kodály approach by completing her Kodály Certification in pedagogy, musicianship and choral music at Azusa Pacific University in July 2022.

Image Image

Isabella Custino, Allegra Director

Isabella Custino, Allegra Director, is a passionate choral conductor and music educator from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a California state certified K-12 music teacher with degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University (MA Music & Music Education) and the USC Thornton School of Music (BA Choral Music). Isabella is a proud alumna of PGC, where she began in Allegra under the direction of Karyn Silva.

Image

Dmitriy Cogan, Brava and Ensemble Accompanist


Dmitriy Cogan, Brava and Ensemble Accompanist was born in Moscow in 1963. He began music studies at the age of six and in 1974 immigrated to San Francisco. He studied conducting at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and continued his piano studies with Vladimir Pleshakov and Maria Cisyc. In 1979, he moved to New York to study with Martin Canin at the Juillard School, where he received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Since 1980 he has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music concerts in the New York area. In 1981, he was a prizewinner at the Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in New York; in 1982 he won first prize at the American Music Scholarship Association International Piano Competition in Cincinnati; in 1983 he was Laureate of the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland. Mr. Cogan has performed at Carnegie Hall and has appeared in recitals throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and Central America.


Image

Aki Amai, Concerta Accompanist


Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Aki holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a MA degree in nonprofit administration from the University of San Francisco. As an accomplished pianist and teacher, she has worked with numerous nonprofit organizations, schools, musical theaters, and churches. She has toured the US and internationally. Highlights include performing at the Sydney Opera House, Grace Cathedral, Norte-Dame Basilica of Montreal. Currently she works as a grants manager for Zellerbach Family Foundation and as the music director for St. Catherine of Siena in Burlingame.


Image

Xiyan Wang, Repertoire and Allegra Accompanist


Xiyan Wang, Concerta accompanist, is a native of Guangzhou China who started her piano studies at the age of five. At the age of 12 she was admitted to the Xing Hai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou as a student of Mei Li. After receiving several local and regional competition awards, she was granted a scholarship at Interlochen Arts Academy Michigan in 2001, where she began studying piano under Thomas J. Lymenstull, Dr. Stephen Perry and chamber music under Yoshikazu Nagai. Ms. Wang graduated with honors in Piano Achievement and was awarded the Fine Arts Award in Music. She received awards from the PianoArts of Wisconsin National Concerto Competition in 2002, and performed at Northwestern University of Chicago's "From Vienna to Harlem" Piano Festival in 2003. In 2004, Ms. Wang was chosen to give a performance for the Chinese Government Delegation in Washington DC on behalf of the Emerson global manufacturing and technology company. Ms. Wang was a recipient of the Phyllis Wattis Scholarship while studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she earned her BM and MM under the tutelage of Mack McCray.

Ms. Wang graduated with her Professional Studies Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in May 2011. She has been active as a soloist as well as collaborating pianist with other instrumentalists including members of the SF symphony. She continues to teach today in music schools and privately throughout the bay area.


Image

Pat McNutt , PGC Coastside Accompanist


Ms. McNutt taught piano for 30 years before retiring in 2019, also retiring from organist/music director after 17 years at Community United Methodist Church in Half Moon Bay. She has accompanied school musicals, musical theatre, instrumentalists, bay area choirs, and community college choir classes for more than 40 years. Ms. McNutt studied music at two California State Universities, Long Beach and Northridge, and earned a B.S. degree in Business from San Francisco University in 1985. She earned a Teaching Certificate from the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) in 1994 and chaired MTAC’s Certificate of Merit Program, and served as president of the board for MTAC San Mateo Branch. Ms. McNutt studied piano under Nancy Bachmann, and at Notre Dame College under Tom La Ratta.

1443 Howard Avenue
Burlingame, CA 94010-4258
(650) 347-6351

© 2024 Peninsula Girls Chorus