Elena Sharkova, Artistic Director and Conductor, Ensemble and Vocalise Choirs
Shane Troll, Associate Artistic Director, Musicianship Instructor and
Conductor, Preparatory 3 and Intermediate Choirs
Jennah Delp, Assistant Conductor, Ensemble and Vocalise Choirs Natalie Einhorn, Preparatory Division Director and Conductor, Preparatory 1 & 2 Choirs
Michael Sohn, Musicianship Instructor
Jeffrey Jones, Accompanist
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Elena Sharkova
Artistic Director and Conductor, Ensemble and Vocalise Choirs
Elena Sharkova has been Artistic Director of the Cantabile Youth Singers since 2004 and oversees all educational and performance aspects of the program, in addition to conducting the top choirs, Ensemble and Vocalise. A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Ms. Sharkova arrived in the Bay Area in 1998 to join the music faculty at San Jose State University where she served as Director of Choral Activities, conducting three choirs and teaching classes in voice, choral conducting, and music education until spring 2006. In her 13th year as Artistic Director of Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale (formerly San Jose State University Chorale), Elena prepares and conducts the chorus in five programs each season at the California Theatre in San Jose. Ms. Sharkova received a Bachelor’s Degree in music education and piano and subsequently a Master’s in choral conducting from the Rimski-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Upon graduation, she was appointed Chair of the Choral Department of the Preparatory Music School at the conservatory. There she conducted four children’s choruses (ages 3 to 19) and taught the innovative Ogorodnov Method to graduate conducting students. Elena is delighted to be working with young voices again, this time in North America! In demand nationally and internationally as guest conductor, clinician, master teacher, and adjudicator, Ms. Sharkova is a champion of Russian choral music: she has lectured extensively on its traditions and performances practices and premiered several contemporary Russian major choral works.
Elena has conducted professional, university, youth and community choirs and orchestras in North America, England, Western Europe, Russia, Baltic republics, Scandinavia, Middle East, and Asia. In the US, Ms. Sharkova appeared as guest conductor at several prestigious venues such as New York City's Lincoln Center, Chicago Orchestra Hall, San Francisco's Davies Hall, Washington DC Kennedy Center and Segestrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa.
With Cantabile Youth Singers, she made her 2005 Carnegie Hall debut and returned to the famed stage in June 2010 as guest conductor for the Manhattan Concert Productions National Youth Choir Festival. Ms. Sharkova's most recent conducting engagements include the 2011 Music Educators National Conference Honor Choir, 2011 Somerset International Treble Choir Festival (England), Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, Missouri and Oklahoma All-State Honor Choirs. Recently named Artistic Director of 2012 Windy City Youth Choral Festival, Ms. Sharkova will lead 300 young singers in 3 days of rehearsals and a final performance on stage of Chicago's Orchestral Hall.
Elena lives in San Jose with her wine-maker husband, Tony Craig, and their 7 year-old son Sasha who is also a third-year chorister in Cantabile's Prep Choir. |
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Shane Troll
Associate Artistic Director, Conductor, Preparatory 3 & Intermediate Choirs, and Musicianship Instructor
Shane Troll, in addition to being the Associate Artistic Director of the Cantabile Youth Singers, is currently in his tenth year as the director of music at Pinewood Elementary School where he has overseen the 3rd-6th grade classroom music program along with four children's choirs totaling over 175 singers. Mr. Troll's choirs have received a Unanimous Superior rating at every California Music Educators Association (CMEA) festival they have participated in for the last seven years and were also invited to perform at the 2007 National Convention of American Orff-Schulwerk Association in San Jose. More recently, Mr. Troll presented series of master classes showcasing his new approach to children's choir rehearsals at the 2011 Kansas Choral Directors Association Summer Conference, and the 2010 Western and Northwest American Choral Directors Divisional Conferences.
Mr. Troll received his Bachelor of Music in vocal performance and music education, and Masters of Music in conducting from California State University at Chico. He has also completed three levels of training at the San Francisco Orff Course and was certified in 2007.
Since completing his Orff certification, Mr. Troll has been designing a unique educational approach to children's choirs that melds the creative disciplines of both the choral world of Kodaly and the Orff process. In doing so, he has created a distinctive way of engaging and welcoming each child to a unique singing experience that is challenging and, most importantly, fun. |
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Jennah Delp
Assistant Conductor, Ensemble and Vocalise
Jennah Delp is delighted to join Cantabile Youth Singers this fall as the Assistant Conductor for Ensemble and Vocalise. Ms. Delp earned a Master of Music in Choral Conducting with distinction from Westminster Choir College and undergraduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the University of Michigan, summa cum laude. At Westminster, Ms. Delp served as the Assistant Conductor for the Westminster Choir and Westminster Community Chorus. She has participated in conducting master classes with such notable master teachers as Robert Sund, Vance George, Elmer Thomas, and Marguerite Brooks, among others. As an active performer, Jennah sings in The Crossing, a professional choral ensemble that champions new repertoire. For the past two years, Ms. Delp has worked within the public school system, teaching high school choral music. Jennah recently relocated to California and is looking forward to making Bay Area her new home. |
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Natalie Widman Einhorn, Preparatory Division Director
Conductor, Preparatory 1 & 2 Choirs
Natalie Einhorn is thrilled to be joining the faculty of Cantabile. She has a deep passion for guiding young children through the world of music and choral singing. She uses an interactive, full body approach to teaching singing and music theory. Her classes are filled with singing, creative movement, drama and story telling.
Ms. Einhorn taught Pre-K through 5th grade general music and the 2nd through 5th grade choirs for six years at the Nueva School, in Hillsborough. There she founded the Nueva Chamber Singers, a small ensemble of 3rd through 8th graders, and The Staves, a singing group of dedicated teachers, parents, and staff members. These groups sang at school functions, and throughout the greater Hillsborough community. More recently, Ms. Einhorn was a founding member of the faculty at Helios New School for Gifted Children, in Palo Alto, where she taught for three years.
Natalie has been singing in choirs since childhood and that experience has had a profound impact on her life. She attended the University of California at Santa Cruz where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in music. She then attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she received her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance. Ms. Einhorn has also completed the three levels of Orff Schulwerk training at Mills College.
Natalie now lives in Half Moon Bay with her loving husband and two children, ages 4 and 1.
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Michael Sohn
Musicianship Instructor
Having sung with Cantabile for many years, Michael Sohn now teaches musicianship and also serves as an assistant conductor and artistic intern.
Jeffrey Jones
Accompanist
A homegrown talent of the Bay Area, Jeffrey Jones is now in his sixth year with the Cantabile Youth Chorus. He started his piano studies at the age of 6 in Morgan Hill and made his solo recital debut at the age of 8, playing a program of Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory with Peter Takacs and at San Jose State University with Gwendolyn Mok. In addition, he has had master classes with internationally acclaimed artists Stephen Hough, Olga Kern, Vladimir Viardo, and Tom LaRatta.
He has won several competition awards, including a first prize at the 2011 U. S. Open Music Competition. He frequently accompanies singers and instrumentalists, and in 2009, he performed at the Mountain Winery with star alto Helen Lokuta for an audience that included Toomas Ilves, President of Estonia. In 2011, he made his concerto debut performing Stravinsky's Piano Concerto with the Redwood Symphony under the baton of Eric Kujawsky.
When he is not with Cantabile, Jeffrey works as the Logistics Coordinator for semiconductor equipment firm Nova Measuring Instruments in Santa Clara, and as an artist-in-residence at the United Congregational Church in Belmont. |
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