Baroque Record - 8.1 (August 1999)

A generation of young singers

Peninsula Choral Workshop celebrates its twentieth anniversary

Twenty years ago then-Guild President and Carmel resident Fred Terman proudly introduced the first summer Peninsula Choral Workshop for high school students. The idea for the training program grew out of music workshops sponsored by the Lyceum of the Monterey Peninsula, which used artists from the Carmel Bach Festival.

Terman remembers, "It was something I really wanted to do, but the key was getting Greg Wait to lead it. Our first Peninsula Choral Workshop had three clinicians from the Monterey Lyceum - Greg, Caterina Micieli, Lou Robbins, plus [Guild Music Director] Ken Hannaford, and Laura Barton as administrator. We even got a grant from the Packard Foundation and, as they say, 'the rest is history.' "

That "seed" grant allowed the Workshop to take root and flourish. Since then it has served hundreds of students from San Jose through San Mateo. The program has been deemed so beneficial that several schools have awarded tuition scholarships to its outstanding choristers.

Top notch faculty

Over the years Peninsula Choral Workshop has been able to boast of its top-notch teaching staff, all professional musicians with performing, teaching, and directing experience. This year's faculty included "veterans" Nicholas Isaacs, who first joined the Workshop in 1982, Claire Giovannetti (joined staff in '86), Mary Linduska ('87), Michael Taylor ('97) and 1999 "rookie" Baker Peeples.

Students have been privileged to work with a number of outstanding singers and conductors including Elwood Thornton, Leroy and Nancy Kromm, Sharon Paul, Nile Norton, Robert Geary, Charles Fidlar, Patricia Hennings, Douglas Nagel, Michael Morris, Wendy Hillhouse, Jeana Ogren, Pam Matthews, Trente Morant, and Joseph Jennings.

Satisfied customers

"I'm just real happy that we're in our twentieth year. It's certainly been successful," says Terman. "The clinicians like it and the students have been more than positive."

Feedback from participants must bring a smile to founder Terman's face: "Wow, this workshop is really great. The stuff here really taught me a lot, and I'll remember some of those lessons for the rest of my life. The vast spectrum of skill levels that this workshop accommodates is really appealing, because there is something here for everyone."

Volume 8, Issue 1

Baroque Choral Guild, 953 Industrial Ave. Ste 118, Palo Alto CA 94303, 650.424.1410