Introducing Voci’s Guest Conductors for 2024:
Susan Swerdlow
Guest Conductor for the May 5, 2024 Fundraiser.
Conductor, singer and music educator Susan Swerdlow has focused almost entirely on Early Music in recent years. She currently applies her skills in that area as the Artistic Director of Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) and the Associate Conductor of Tactus SF, and as a chorister and soloist both in Tactus and in the Berkeley Bach Cantata Group.
A decades-long East Bay resident who journeyed to Philadelphia to earn her Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting at Temple University, Susan trained the choruses for many productions at Berkeley Opera (now West Edge Opera) and Oakland Opera Theater. She was the Music Director of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus and the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, and the Choral Director for Westwind International Folk Ensemble.
Susan also loves working with young people. She directed choirs for several decades at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, and has enjoyed working with youngsters in a number of other organizations, among them the SF Early Music Society’s Music Discovery Workshop, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, the Pre-College Division at the SF Conservatory, and the SF Community Music Center.
Susan is delighted to be on board as one of Voci’s Guest Conductors.
Ofer dal Lal
Guest Conductor for the March 17 and 24 concerts.
Ofer dal Lal is a dynamic and sought-after choral conductor. He is the artistic director of WomenSing, and most recently was the artistic director of San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir, Mission Peak Chamber Singers, and East Bay People’s Choir. He has served on the board of Livermore Valley Opera, City of San Ramon Arts Council, and on the faculty of California State University East Bay, teaching choral conducting to graduate and undergraduate students.
Mr. dal Lal first came into prominence as the musical director and conductor of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir – an organization of five choirs consisting of 150 singers and one of Israel’s leading non-professional choirs. He relocated to California after completing a master’s degree magna cum laude in conducting at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel-Aviv.
Among the ensembles he has conducted are the world-renowned Stuttgart Chamber Choir and Classical Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany), Berlin Radio Choir (Germany), Oregon Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra (Oregon, USA), Salt Lake Vocal Artists (Utah, USA), The Israel Philharmonic Resident Choir (Israel), Voces Nordicae (Sweden), Studium Canticum (Italy) and Manado State University Choir (Indonesia).
He and his wife, Revital Shmerling, also work as real estate agents, serving the greater Bay Area. They raise their two children, Amal and Sahar, in Walnut Creek.
Guest Conductors for the Fall 2023
Li-Wen Monk
Li-Wen Monk is a conductor, pianist, and music teacher based in the East Bay. She has enjoyed directing choirs for over 30 years, including San Francisco Girls Chorus, Sacred and Profane, UC Berkeley University Chorus, and choirs at St. Mary’s College of California and First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley.
Li-Wen discovered the joys of choral music at UC Berkeley, majoring in music and mathematics and singing with the Glee Club (now Cal Chorale) and University Chorus. She pursued further training in piano, conducting, and harpsichord at Mannes College of Music. She studied with and is grateful for the mentoring influence of Barbara Shearer, Marika Kuzma, Michael Senturia, and Stephanie Brown.
Li-Wen currently serves as Director of Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and is a member of Vox Alta, a collaborative chamber choir founded by Edna Yeh. She is excited to be co-directing Voci with Edna this fall.
Edna Yeh
Edna Yeh is a composer, conductor, and singer based in Oakland, California. She is the founder and artistic director of Vox Alta, a collaborative chamber ensemble for sopranos and altos. Edna also serves as assistant conductor of Sacred & Profane Chamber Chorus and music director of The Dulcet Four. She founded and formerly directed Concentus Women’s Chorus (Rochester, New York) and Pacific Women’s Chorus (San Diego, California), and was Assistant Conductor of Voci from 2008–2022.
Edna is a 2021 winner of the HerVoice competition sponsored by Chicago a cappella and the Kansas City Chorale. Recent commissions include works for Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble and Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus.
She was born in Ellensburg, Washington, where she received her early musical training in piano and violin. Edna was first introduced to choral music as an undergraduate at Harvard University, and eventually earned her Master of Music (Music Theory) from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied music theory with Douglass Green, choral conducting with Morris Beachy and Craig Hella Johnson, and organ with Frank Speller.
Accompanist
Voci Accompanist, Matt Bourne, is a pianist who performs and accompanies for vocalists and choral groups all around the Bay Area. He is a musical director and conductor for musical theatre productions at many local companies. He is staff accompanist for Campolindo High School, pianist at First United Methodist Church of Hayward, a piano teacher, and a composer. He is a Bay Area native and a graduate of the music program at UCLA.