LEADERSHIP & STAFF
Directors
Tracy Grant (she/her), Executive Director
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Tracy joined Cantare in January of 2025, and has a background of 25 years in the nonprofit arts world, most recently at the Merola Opera Program, where she was Director of Institutional & Individual Giving. Prior to that she served on Merola’s Board of Directors and she has also served on the boards of Marin Arts Council and Porchlight Theatre Company. Tracy grew up loving music and wanted to be an opera singer when she was very young, but had to accept that she can't carry a tune. She studied British history at Stanford and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late fifteenth-century England. She was active in theater in high school and college, including a summer as an apprentice actress at the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival (later the California Shakespeare Theater). In addition to working in arts administration, she writes the Rannoch Fraser Mysteries, a spy/mystery series set in early 19th century Britain. She finds her work as a novelist complements her nonprofit work because so much of organizational development is about telling an organization’s story. She believes deeply in the power of the arts, and in particular music, to build bridges and illuminate the world. In particular she believes connecting the younger generation to the arts is crucial to both the future of the arts and to a healthy society.
David Morales (he/him), Founder and Artistic Director
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Entering his 58th year of professional conducting, David has conducted over 200 individual concerts with Cantare, encapsulating over 1,800 compositions, featuring symphonic choirs with full orchestra and smaller ensembles of selected voices in performing pieces in traditional, contemporary and numerous ethnic and cultural genres. His choirs have been featured at both national and regional American Choral Directors Association conventions and on national television.
David earned his Master’s Degree in Choral Music at the University of Southern California in 1973. He earned his Doctorate of Ministry in Spirituality at the University of Creation Spirituality in 2003.
In May 2022, David was the recipient of the Jefferson Service Award, recognition in the S.F. Bay Area for building communities with inspiration and innovation in contributing to a better future for those around them.
In his own words: “Music conveys a message that goes well beyond spoken words, one which quickly puts us deeply in touch with what we believe, what we feel and, fundamentally, who we are. We can’t be quite as eloquent without it.”
Julie Haydon (she/her), Director of Children’s and Youth Programs
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Julie Haydon began her service with Cantare in 2003, developing Cantare’s after-school choirs and classroom music education programs. Under Julie’s leadership, Cantare received the Chorus America Education and Community Engagement Award in 2005 and 2014. In 2008, she founded Nova, Cantare’s auditioned choir for 6-8 graders, and in 2025 she founded Aurora, Cantare’s award winning choir for high school students. Julie served as Director of Music Ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alameda for nine years, directing choral music from diverse traditions. During her tenure, she directed adult singers, the handbell choir and founded a community children’s choir.
Raised in Lafayette, California, Julie benefitted from outstanding music education opportunities available at her public schools. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance at Northwestern University and her Master’s degree in Music Education at Holy Names University in Oakland, specializing in Kodály music education, which favors a child-centric approach to teaching. She previously served as president of the board for the Northern California Association of Kodály Educators and has been a Mentoring Conductor for Distinguished Concerts International in New York’s conducting masterclass series. Julie loves uniting people from a variety of backgrounds through the beauty of choral music.
Sara Ptak (she/her), Associate Director for Music Education
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Sara Ptak is a singer, educator, and teaching artist originally from rural Illinois. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from DePaul University and a Master of Music in Opera Performance from McGill University. She has also studied at the Aspen Music Festival, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Franz Schubert Institut in Austria, Domaine Forget in Québec, the Brevard Music Center's Janiec Opera Company and more.
Before joining Cantare, Sara served on the voice faculties of Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She also taught early childhood music throughout New York City as a teaching artist with Brooklyn Conservatory of Music's Music Partners program and has maintained a private voice studio for more than thirteen years.
Sara's teaching style is rooted in curiosity and play. As a performer and creator, she is also the creator of Miss Sara's Music Room, a children's music project featuring original songs and playful musical adventures.
Administrative Staff
Carolyn Wells (she/her), Director of Operations
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Carolyn Wells grew up in Concord, California but has lived in Oakland and Alameda for more than 20 years. She has a BS in Computer Science from Cal State Hayward (East Bay) and a seasoned background in operations and accounting. She reflects fondly on the music programs in which she participated in public schools, playing the flute and trombone and dabbling in other instruments. She is thrilled to get back to her musical roots with Cantare.
Kyle Chuang (he/him), Operations and Engagement Manager
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Kyle has a long history of music starting with piano and clarinet in elementary school, and later learning jazz and music composition. To this day, he still loves performing, playing solo gigs at restaurants or parties, while also still writing music, most recently as the composer for Coin Drop Games on The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time. As a part of Cantare, he brings a wealth of experience in music administration cultivated from different music organizations including his time as Vice President of the Contra Costa Performing Arts Society and President, and later Advisor, to the Video Game Orchestra at UC Davis.
