Rita Alway, a native of Washington state, is thrilled to be teaching music on the West coast after several years away. She is a firm believer in the importance of music education for all, and is excited to be a part of Cantare's mission to ensure that all children have access to quality musical experiences.

Rita received her B.A. in music from Yale University, where she played in the Yale Concert Band and Yale Precision Marching Band, as well as multiple orchestras and chamber ensembles.She also enjoyed arranging music for the marching band, singing with Asempa!, an a capella group specializing in traditional African music, and teaching clarinet lessons to New Haven students.

She taught elementary general music and choir for two years in Greenwood, MS, through Teach for America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that low-income urban and rural students receive a high-quality education. This experience deepened her dedication to ensuring that all students have access to excellent educational opportunities, as well as providing an invaluable opportunity to experience a new culture. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in music education with Kodaly emphasis at Holy Names University in Oakland.

Grisell Báez Singer and Music Teacher, was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance at Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and a certification in the Despertal Musical concept, a special program of the Conservatory.

Grisell has been teaching vocal technique and elementary music education since 2004. Her love of singing and teaching brought her to California in 2010 to complete her Master’s Degree in Music Education with emphasis in Kodály Method at Holy Names University, Oakland.

Grisell enjoys developing Kodály curriculum utilizing traditional folk music in Spanish. She is member of NCAKE (Northern California Association of Koday Educator) also member of OAKE (Organization American of Kodaly Educator ) and MENC (The National Association for Music Education).

Grisell is eager to bring students into the twenty-first century discovering a unique and modern approach of the music education experience.

Rhonda Crane began singing professionally in 1989, and began touring with the a cappella group Street Sounds in 1991. She has shared the stage with artists such as Robert Cray, Joan Armatrading, Zap Mama, Chick Chorea, Al Green, Holly Near, Manhattan Transfer, Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Wynton Marsalis and many others in such places as Korea, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, and Belgium. Currently, Rhonda sings with newly formed band, “Chelle and Friends.”

Rhonda is currently Director of the Children’s Ministry for the Edwin and Walter Hawkins Music & Arts National Conference and the Love Center Church. She is also a member of the Hawkins’ Community In Praise Choir who traveled to Japan as special guests in Music and Arts, Japan 2008. Rhonda’s vocal talents developed in the Baptist church, and she studied classical piano and viola through college, toured with the Lowell High School Orchestra in Japan, and received the San Francisco Sun Reporter’s Youth of the Year Award in her senior year of high school. While studying as a music/education major at San Jose State University, she sang in the opera AIDA with Grace Bumbry and organized the Rhonda Hudson Singers. She began serving as a church pianist at age 16 at the historic Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, and has continued playing in various venues throughout her career, including work as choral director and the Minister of Music of Greater True Light Baptist Church in Modesto, California .

In addition to her performing, Rhonda does studio work, runs workshops, and teaches piano and voice to school children in the San Francisco, Belmont, Oakland Unified School Districts, and Gospel music to adults in the Marin Adult & Community Education program. She can also be found on the teaching rosters of Leap, Imagination in Learning, San Francisco Arts Education and Oakland Youth Chorus because she loves to teach children how to sing!

Melanie DeMore Singer-songwriter Melanie DeMore has a remarkable voice, weaving the fibers of African American folk music with soulful ballads, spirituals and her own original music. DeMore beautifully brings her audience together through her music and commentary. She has toured extensively, singing at festivals, universities, in coffee houses and concert halls. Her recordings 'Share My Song' and 'Come Follow Me' are both heartfelt collections of her music. In addition to her solo work, DeMore facilitates vocal workshops for professional and community-based choral groups and has taught her program called “Sound Awareness” in schools, prisons, and youth organizations in the US, Canada, Cuba and New Zealand.

DeMore was a California Artist in Residence with the Oakland Youth Chorus for 10 years and has received an award from the Music Educators National Conference for her work with young singers and artists. She is on the music faculty at St. Paul's School in Oakland, CA where she teaches a cappella singing. DeMore was also a founding member of the Grammy nominated, critically-acclaimed vocal ensemble 'Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir', a group that tours extensively in the US and abroad. DeMore traces her interest in music to her parents who started one of the first Black theater groups in Alaska in the early 60's. DeMore majored in music at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio, Texas, and later worked as a studio musician, was a member of a melodrama company, sang in an all women's Black a cappella group Scintilla, sang for commercials and wrote music for the theater. DeMore describes her music as “in the African-American folk tradition of Odetta,” to whom she has often been compared, noting, “I have a very, very, very low voice.” She has shared the stage with numerous artists including Buffy Saint Marie, John Prine, Josh White, Jr., Laura Nyro, Sweet Honey in the Rock and Pete Seeger.

Bryan Dyer is a professional musician with almost 20 years of professional experience. He's a versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who has performed many styles of music from classical and avant-garde to rock, jazz and blues.

Music has taken Bryan around the world including Japan, Switzerland & Jamaica and alongside such artists as Al Green, Michael McDonald and Bonnie Raitt.

His talents are in a high demand as he performs with as many as 8 different groups at a time. Some of the groups he currently performs with include SoVoSo, Slammin All-Body Band, Chelle! and Friends, Rankin' Scroo & Ginger and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir.

Annie Hargraves teaches kindergarten music classes at Cleveland Elementary and is the accompanist for Nova. She has worked as an accompanist for Southern California Children’s Chorus and Contra Costa Children's Chorus, and currently accompanies for San Francisco Girls Chorus.

Annie loves teaching music and says: “When I was in third grade I decided I wanted to be a music teacher, mostly because I was crazy about my piano teacher and wanted to be just like her. I never changed my mind and got my degree in Music Education at Crane School of Music, State University of New York in Potsdam, New York. I spent the next twenty years teaching K-6 vocal and instrumental music in public schools in New York and California. At that point, I thought I was retiring, but within a year or so, found myself teaching preschool music classes.

"I am delighted to be part of the Cantare outreach team. The best times in my life are my experiences of making music with children."”

Arwen Ilona Lawrence, vocalist, dancer, and player of several regional Mexican guitars, earned her Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and has become an accomplished interpreter of Mexican regional music and dance.

As a member of Los Angeles' Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, she recorded and toured throughout the United States and Mexico, performing in venues such as New York's Lincoln Center, Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall and Guadalajara's Teatro Degollado. Arwen has studied regional Mexican dance with teachers in both the U.S. and Mexico, and performed with several Ballet Folklórico groups such as Ballet Folklórico Ollin in Los Angeles and Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco .

She earned her Masters in Music Education at Holy Names University in Oakland, specializing in the use of traditional music in the elementary classroom. Arwen currently works for the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, where she teaches young children in the Center’s outreach program and teaches singing and dance to older students in the Center’s Diploma Program. Arwen is a member of Cascada de Flores , a professional music ensemble dedicated to the exploration, preservation and dissemination of Mexican and Cuban regional music and dance.

ROBERT LEE comes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada as a pianist and music educator. Robert's musical training includes a MMus in Music Education with Kodály Emphasis from Holy Names University in Oakland, and a BMus in Piano Performance with distinction from the University of Calgary. In continuation of his studies, Robert has focused on collaborative piano repertoire, specifically vocal and chamber music. Robert has taught and accompanied with private studios, choirs, professional musicians, and ensembles throughout Alberta and the San Francisco East Bay. With a strong interest in collaborative piano and music education, Robert is excited to be a part of Cantare Chidlren's Choir of Oakland.

Jorge Liceaga was born in Mexico City, where he studied ethnomusicology in the Escuela Nacional de Música and became an accomplished Flamenco guitarist, accompanying diverse figures from Mexico and Spain in important venues throughout Mexico. At the same time he developed his skills as a composer and arranger in recordings and performances of children's music with his project "Grupo Kata".

Now in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is an indispensable part of the Bay Area's Flamenco community. He has been part of notable groups such as Fuego Vivo (Flamenco music and dance), and the quintet Potaje, which explores the musical bridges between Spain and Cuba. He is the musical director and guitarist of Virginia Iglesia's Flamenco Dance Company and is also held in high regard as one of the Bay Area's finest treseros (Cuban tres), as a result of his tenure with the Orquesta La Moderna Tradición .

Jorge teaches music to children and adults in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jorge is a member of Cascada de Flores , a professional music ensemble dedicated to the exploration, preservation and dissemination of Mexican and Cuban regional music and dance.

Nancy Linford joins the Cantare Con Vivo team of teaching artists this year, bringing her richly diverse and enthusiastic experience to the staff portfolio. While she is the first to credit her many students for all they have taught her about teaching and music, her more formal training includes a BA in vocal performance from UC Santa Cruz, a Master’s in music education with Kodály emphasis from Holy Names University and a K-12 teaching credential in music.

Nancy weaves the principles of Kodály music pedagogy into her teaching to build an accessible and inspiring musical foundation for all singers. Focusing on her particular affection for elementary-age music learners, Nancy has over the course of twenty years made significant contributions to elementary classroom vocal music programs in Hayward, Piedmont, and San Francisco schools where, in addition to vocal music classes, she conducted elementary choirs, and established handchime ensembles. Nancy currently works with younger singers in two community choirs, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir and Contra Costa Children’s Chorus.

Committed to music educators’ professional vitality and development, Nancy has mentored Master’s candidates from Holy Names University’s Kodály program and maintains active involvement on the Board of the Northern California Association of Kodály Educators, where she also served two terms as its president. On an ongoing basis she renews her techniques, enthusiasm, and synergy with fellow music leaders by participating in conferences, workshops and trainings in Kodály practice and with the American Choral Directors Association, the Orff Schulwerk Association, and the American Handbell Ringers’ Association. Currently her innate love of music is refreshed by singing with Cantare Con Vivo Chamber Ensemble and by ringing in the Piedmont Community Church handbell ensemble.

Lydia Mills has been studying the traditional music of Latin America for over 15 years. She has lived in Guatemala, Ecuador, Chile and Peru sharing and learning music with local musicians. Lydia directs the Latin American Youth Ensemble Los Mapaches where over 50 youth and children study and learn native and contemporary music from Latin America, and perform it in neighboring communities.

Lydia has her masters from Holy Names University in Music Education with an emphasis in Kodály and has been teaching music for K-6 for the past 6 years. In 2003, Lydia co-authored “Mariposa Vuela,” a collection of children’s songs in Spanish for parents and teachers. She continues to work on the development of repertoire in Spanish for use with native Spanish speakers. In June of 2008, Lydia co-taught a three day Kodály training workshop in Puerto Rico, and this past year she travelled to Peru in January and to Puerto Rico again in June to teach Kodály training workshops.

Kevan Peabody contributes a unique and rich musical experience! His musical training is a rich blend of traditional and contemporary gospel music which has universal appeal, reaching both church and concert audiences. Kevan has traveled the America’s and Europe as an performer and he is able to communicate spiritual and cultural expressions that are welcomed by his diverse audiences. Kevan conducts music workshops and seminars and offers his expertise as a director, songwriter, arranger, instrumentalist and producer to choirs and individuals.

Kevan’s production credits include Edwin Hawkins, Dr. Bobby Jones, Lawrence Beamen and Emmit Powell & the Gospel Elites. His current solo piano project is entitled Songs From The Place of God .

Kevan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University and is C.E.O. of Twin Productions. He resides in Oakland, California with his wife, Mary and twin sons, Kevan and Edwin.

Kathy Quain, MME, MT-BC, is an Orff Music Specialist, Board Certified Music Therapist, and a Drum Circle Facilitator endorsed by Remo, Inc. She completed a Master’s of Music Education in Music Therapy at the University of Kansas and holds a Bachelor's of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. A playful singer-songwriter, she enjoys playing piano, percussion and ukulele!

Kathy’s greatest teachers are children. She completed the Orff-Schulwerk III music education training to pursue her passion of structuring creativity and improvisation for people of all ages. A Board Certified Music Therapist for over fifteen years, she supports speech development and other therapeutic needs for children with special needs.

Her business, www.MusicForTherapy.com , serves programs and individuals in seven Bay Area counties. Kathy spreads the message of empowerment, community and wellness through interactive rhythm events. A spokeswoman for the power of drumming, her work has been featured on PBS and at conferences worldwide.

For more than ten years, Kathy provides drum circles to a variety of settings including Juvenile Hall, Beringer Vineyards, UC Berkeley Center for Public Health, Alameda County Office of Education, Oakland Unified School District, East Bay Regional Park District, San Francisco General Hospital, Seoul’s Cosmos Music Center and Seattle's Bumpershoot Festival. In the Bay Area, Kathy provides Health Rhythms drum circles at Kaiser Permanente, private music lessons and Orff music classes in Oakland public schools.

Emily Ryan Emily Ryan, a native of San Francisco, started singing as a child with the San Francisco Girls Chorus. She now teaches Kindergarten and first grade music at the San Francisco Girls Chorus as well as the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir.

This fall, in addition to working with the Cantare Children’s Choirs, she will begin teaching for an after-school program called Music Team San Francisco, which brings music to children of low-income families.

She currently sings with Volti, Schola Cantorum San Francisco, and the Solemn Mass Choir at St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from San Francisco State University and is pursuing a Masters in Music Education degree from Holy Names University in Oakland.

Daniel Strychacz received his BA in Music from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he served as the Occidental Glee Club's General Manager, tenor Section Leader, and Student Conductor, in 2009 winning the Peters Memorial Prize for the student who most “advanced the ideals and prestige of music on campus.” He has toured with the Occidental Glee Club in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In Los Angeles, he also performed with the Pasadena Symphony in the chorus for several large works. Currently Daniel sings with the Cantare Chamber Ensemble and is the tenor Section Leader at Community Presbyterian Church in Vallejo. Passionate about conducting, singing, and teaching, Daniel plans to pursue a Master's degree in Choral Conducting.

As a child Daniel sang with the VOENA Children's Choir, performing three times at the White House and touring around the Bay Area. His children's choir experiences inspired his love for choral music, and now he loves working with children, seeing music inspire them too. Working with Nova, Daniel witnesses first-hand how choral music boosts the members' confidence, builds community, and allows their natural creativity to shine.