Composer

Christopher Tin

Christopher Tin is a two-time Grammy-winning composer. His music has been performed and premiered in many of the world's most prestigious venues--Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the United Nations--and by ensembles diverse as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropole Orkest, and US Air Force Band. His song "Baba Yetu", originally written for the video game Civilization IV, holds the distinction of being the first piece of music written for a video game ever to win a Grammy Award. He is signed to an exclusive record deal with Universal under their legendary Decca label, published by Concord and Boosey & Hawkes, and is a Yamaha Artist. He works out of his own custom-built studio in Santa Monica, CA.

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Lyricist

Charles Anthony Silvestri

Poet, author, composer, and speaker Charles Anthony Silvestri has worked with other artists from all over the world to create texts tailor-made for their commissions and specific artistic needs. He enjoys the challenge of solving these creative problems and has provided custom choral texts, opera libretti, program notes and other writing for composers including Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Kim Arnesen, and Dan Forrest, and for ensembles ranging from high schools to the Houston Grand Opera, from the King’s Singers to the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, from Westminster Choir College to Westminster Abbey.

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Performer

Chromatica Chorale

Since 2011, we've enchanted Contra Costa County with diverse classical and contemporary harmonies. Under the guidance of our talented Musical Director, David Huff, and Principal Accompanist, Julie Baumann Rieth, we're an experienced choir that celebrates the joy of singing together. Join us, sing with us, and be part of our community!

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David Huff, a native of Fairfield Iowa, received a Bachelor of Music Education from Illinois Wesleyan University, and a Master of Music degree with an emphasis on vocal performance and conducting from Northwestern University.Mr. Huff spent two summers with the Aspen Music Festival and a year in the Miami Opera Apprentice Program, sharing the stage with such operatic luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti and famous baritone Sherrill Milnes, the latter with whom Mr. Huff has also studied voice. In addition to Sherrill Milnes, Mr. Huff has also studied voice with Metropolitan Tenor Sam Sakarian. Mr. Huff has sung all over the world–literally–as a performer on the World Cruise of the Queen Elizabeth II and the H.M.S. Sagafjord.Major operatic roles of Mr. Huff include: Roméo (Roméo e Juliette); Alfredo and Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore); Tamino (Die Zauberflöte); Rodolfo (La Boheme); and Fenton (Falstaff), with solo oratorio appearances in Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, and Handel’s Messiah. Mr. Huff has also been tenor soloist in works by Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Gounod, Respighi, Stravinsky and Vaughn Williams.Mr. Huff has been featured on recordings of Sir Paul McCartney’s Standing Stone, Disney’s Fantasia, Gershwin’s Let ‘em Eat Cake and Of Thee I Sing, as well as on numerous recordings with Voices of Ascension in Manhattan. He has performed with such notable conductors as Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Levine, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Mazur, Ricardo Muti, Marco Armiliato, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Nicola Luisotti.David has directed adult choruses in Evanston, Manhattan, West Orange (NJ), San Francisco, Danville and Concord, as well as youth choirs in Danville and Palo Alto.

Julie Rieth received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics and Music at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University. Her teachers include Jean-David Coen, Carmen Or and Laurence Davis. Pedagogy teachers include Frances Larimer, Marcia Bosits, and Elvina Truman Pearce. Ms. Rieth has twice attended the Aspen Music Festival as a student of Jean-David Coen, where she was fortunate to audit John Perry’s master classes.An active member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California and of the Music Teachers’ National Association, Ms. Rieth has served in branch board positions for over 20 years. Ms. Rieth is currently an independent piano teacher in the Tri-Valley area of Northern California (julierieth.musicteachershelper.com).Her 30 years of teaching experience encompass Kindermusik, classroom music, group and private piano lessons in a variety of settings, including the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC.

Sandra Banks, Board Member at large. Sandra has sung with many Bay Area choirs including Bay Choral Guild, Chora Nova, First Church Festival Chorus, Soli Deo Gloria, SF Choral Society, and, of course, CHROMATICA CHORALE! She loves singing with CHROMATICA CHORALE for the varied repertoire and the passion for choral singing that is the heart of this chorus. Sandra is a former board member, treasurer and co-music librarian for Chora Nova. When not practicing her CHROMATICA CHORALE music or taking voice lessons from Jennifer Paulino, Sandra works as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program at Mills College.

Kimberly D’Onofrio, Assistant Treasurer and Chorus Member, joined Chromatica in Spring 2022 originally as a Soprano and quickly returned to her roots of Alto II. Her passion for singing began at a young age in church choir, and she has sung with many groups including the Houston Grand Opera as a children’s chorus member, Texas A&M Century Singers and Century Sounds, the Salt Lake Symphonic Choir, and many other groups across the globe. Kimberly holds a BBA in Accounting and MBA from Texas A&M University and has lived in Texas, California, Utah, and Australia via several moves with work.

Chris Kenber, Board Member, was born in Great Britain where he sang in the Winchester Cathedral Choir as a boy treble. He started piano at the age of 3 (but still plays it poorly). He has played many other instruments including guitar, saxophones and the vibraphone with a similar lack of distinction. Resident in the USA for over 50 years, he retired as a high-tech CEO in 2006 and returned to singing. He co-founded CHROMATICA CHORALE in 2011 with David Huff as its music director to focus on a broad range of classical and contemporary choral music. He was CHROMATICA CHORALE's first board president and is still an active and committed board member and current Board Secretary. Chris has served as a school board trustee in the San Ramon Valley and was a longtime board member and consultant to Planned Parenthood.

Gail Kiyomura, Board Vice President. Gail joined CHROMATICA CHORALE August 2016 and singing with this wonderful choir is feeding her musical soul. She has a BA and an MA from San Jose State University in Music (piano) but got hooked into singing when she started singing in some local pickup choruses - the hunt was on to find a permanent home. Plus, it is much easier to come with your voice than bringing a piano to rehearsal.

Jeff Pennington, board member. Jeff is a native Texan, where they take music education seriously. Originally trained as an oboist and English hornist, Jeff began singing in high school in San Antonio, Texas and then in church choirs in Washington, DC and Szeged, Hungary. Education and work took him to Hungary, Romania, and Japan and a position at Indiana University Bloomington before finally moving to California in 2008 for a position as the executive director of the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. After a number of years of sitting in the audience enjoying the music, Jeff decided to return to singing and joined CHROMATICA CHORALE in 2018.

A. Wayne Potter, ChFC® Board Member at Large, Concert Booklet Coordinator, Facebook Administrator and Tenor in CHROMATICA CHORALE since the Fall of 2015. Wayne is a lifelong musician with a Master's Degree in Vocal Performance from Northern Arizona University. He has a long history of professional music making as a chorus, band and orchestra member, soloist, choral and instrumental conductor, studio musician, writer, arranger and producer. In addition to his active participation in the music and administration of Chromatica Chorale, Wayne also enjoys performing in churches throughout the Bay Area. When he has time for his day job he enjoys working as the CCO (Chief Compliance Officer) and Financial Advisor for PROXY Wealth Advisors, LLC and the Senior Case Design Specialist for PROXY Freedom, LLC in Walnut Creek.

Dave Sutton, Board Member and Treasurer of CHROMATICA CHORALE. His musical career includes singing in choirs + piano and violin as a youth, 3 years in the Men's Glee Club at the University of Wisconsin, 30 years in barbershop choruses and quartets, 20 years in classical choruses (Contra Costa Chorale and Oakland Symphony Chorus), 10 years in the Blackhawk Chorus and now 10 years in CHROMATICA CHORALE. He's a retired CPA and has served as treasurer of 6 choruses over the years in addition to attempting to sing bass-baritone.

Bob Turner, Board President, is a music enthusiast who retired from Chevron. He brings a wealth of management experience to the board. Perhaps most importantly he is not a singer and provides the outsider perspective that all boards seek to have. Bob is an avid advanced beginner ukulele player. He leads the ukulele club at the Danville Senior Center. Bob's wife Karen is a member of the choir. They enjoy travel and often take their tandem bike on their adventures.