Thomas Stephens – Thomas is second of the three winners of the Marc Oldham Memorial Scholarship.  He has been a tenor with the chorus since spring 2005.  He states that after attending a Mayflower concert in 2004 he fell for the “come sing with us” line and has been with the chorus since then.  He is a member of Fourth Street Beat, an ensemble of the Chorus and is also singing with SingersMarin in an acapella group.  He has been taking private voice lessons and will use his award to continue those lessons. Outside of chorus, he is a certified personal trainer and massage therapist. His goal is to challenge himself musically with out losing sight of the real reason he sings...... its fun!

Rana Kangas Kent – Rana is this year’s winner of the Joni Chase Memorial Scholarship award.  She is an exceptionally vivacious and energetic woman with a powerful and dynamic voice.  Her passion is musical theater and her goal is a career in musical theater with a national touring company.  She is currently a cast member in the show “Shopping! The Musical” and is part of the breast cancer fundraiser, “Wine, Woman and Song.”  She is currently studying with a voice teacher from the SF Conservatory of Music and will use her award to continue those lessons. Her other talents include stage combat skills, the hula hoop and physical comedy. A multi-talented young woman!

Tony Gourd – Tony is the third winner of the Marc Oldham Memorial Scholarship.  This is Tony’s second season as a tenor with the Chorus.  Tony and his wife love to travel and have been to Europe on several occasions. His goal is to sing well enough to travel to Europe and attend a vocal school.  He will be using his award for private voice lessons to reach that goal.  His other goal “is not to embarrass the chorus” with his singing.  The committee agreed he would not do that even without further lessons!

Camilla Pistilli – This is Camilla’s second consecutive scholarship award and her third award over all.  She has an incredibly beautiful deep rich voice that mesmerizes those who hear her.  She is currently auditioning for two opera companies in the Bay Area and has performed with the Apollo Arts opera, orchestra and chorus.  She is also the busy mother of two lively and wonderful twin girls.  Her goal is to “learn, understand, share and enjoy music and redefine myself through it.”

Sara Lemesh – This is Sara’s second consecutive scholarship award.  She will be graduating this June from high school and plans to attend Rice University in the fall to continue her musical education.  Her long term goal is to become a successful opera singer.  She has a warm and silky soprano voice as well as a winning smile!  She has won awards from the Marin Music Chest, the Marin Symphony soloist competition and most recently a college scholarship from Beach Blanket Babylon.  Her list of performances is extensive and includes roles with the Marin Shakespeare Company.  And she sings in Italian, Latin and German.  Quite incredible for someone her age!

Nick Volkert – Nick is a wonderful lyric baritone who is comfortable doing both opera and musical theater. Currently he is pursuing a career in opera and will be using his award to attend the Bay Area Opera Summer Theater Institute.  He was a member of Kenyon College Chamber Singers, The Rogues, a 5 man acapella group, and has performed with the Lamplighters in several operas.  His other talents include playing the didgeroroo, juggling and tap dancing!

Erika Weil – Erika, a senior in high school, won a scholarship award for her beautiful vocal performance.  She is a talented singer who has been in her high school choir for 4 years, a member of an acapella vocal ensemble and has performed as a soloist for her church and other community groups.  She plans on becoming a music therapist would like to work with developmentally delayed children.  Her high school choir director wrote “I admire Erika, not just because of her abilities as a musician or her other many talents, but because I respect the ideals she holds herself to.  She is a fantastic artist, musician and person.”  The committee agreed.