Dr. Julie Ford, Director of Music and Worship
(925) 283-9990 ext 224
julie@lopc.org
Julie conducts five LOPC choirs weekly, and choral-orchestral works semi-annually. She also directs an early music sextet, Without Measure, and sings with the vocal jazz quintet Moodswing (2005 Champions of the San Francisco Bay Area Harmony Sweepstakes). She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Oklahoma, a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from San Jose State University. Her principle teachers include Dennis Shrock, Donald Neuen, Charlene Archibeque, Perla Warren, and Roger Letson. She has been on the faculties of San Jose State University and DeAnza College, and she teaches the Vocal Jazz program for the Pacific Music Camp at the University of the Pacific. She is an active adjudicator/clinician for the International Association of Jazz Educators, the Music Educators National Conference, and for the American Choral Directors Association. She has extensive experience teaching, directing, and adjudicating at the secondary, community, collegiate, and professional levels, in both classical and jazz environments.
Greg Murai, Asst. Director of Music, Composer in Residence
(925) 283-9990 ext 235
greg@lopc.org
Throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Greg has served various communities as composer, arranger, performer, and educator. As a composer, he is deeply involved in developing an authentic and inclusive musical language to meet the diverse needs of today's spiritual community. The culmination of much of this work can be heard on his CD's And Your Soul Will Dance and Unveiling a Song, available at GregMurai.com. As an educator, he conducts classes and lectures at San Francisco State University, Contra Costa Community College, Jazz Camp West, and at the JazzSchool in Berkeley. He holds a Bachelors degree in Music Composition from San Jose State University. A partial list of Greg’s LOPC compositions: The Lord is My Shepherd (for LOGOS choir/Lent '06); Only Love (Bridgett Beal, soloist/Palm Sunday '06); One True Joy (Gospel Choir/Advent '05); I’ll Fly Away (Chamber Singers/the Service of Remembrance '05) God, Son, Spirit (Chamber Singers/Pentecost '03); A Single Thing (Without Measure/Gail Doering sermon '03).
Jonathan Dimmock, Organist
(925) 283-9990 ext 243
jedimmock@comcast.net
Jonathan is well-known internationally as a recitalist, choral conductor, vocal coach, accompanist, continuo player, San Francisco Symphony musician and church organist. He has held musical posts at Westminster Abbey in London, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis, and St. Ignatius Church, San Francisco. He has toured widely over five continents, has been featured on numerous radio and television stations, and has recorded over 20 CDs, available at JonathanDimmock.com. He is co-founder of American Bach Soloists, founding director of AVE (Artist's Vocal Ensemble), and founding President of Art to the Nations, a global organization employing musicians, in international negotiations, as agents in conflict resolution. Jonathan holds a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, a Master of Arts in Religion from the Yale Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.
Christina Engelbrecht, Children’s Choir Director
Christina@ArtAndAbout.com
An inherent love of choral singing combined with a lifetime of study in voice and piano led Christina down the path to becoming a children’s choir director in 2004. She believes a complete spiritual life includes embracing the artistic and musical soul with which each of us is born, and she especially enjoys nurturing those natural tendencies in children. For eight years, Christina was an arts reporter and theater critic for several of the Contra Costa Times publications. From 2001-2006, she wrote a column called Art and About for the Contra Costa Sun, which encouraged all people to engage the creative force within themselves and in the world around them. Christina continues to write Art and About postings on her Web site, ArtAndAbout.com. Christina has an MFA from the University of Southern California and sings with the LOPC Chamber Singers.
Ruben Mendoza, Director of Handbells
ruben2003@hotmail.com
Ruben began ringing handbells over 25 years ago at St. Genevieve Church in Los Angeles. Ruben has been a member of several community/professional handbell ensembles including Campanile, Velocity, and Canto Bello. He currently rings as a member of the Sonos Handbell Ensemble and performs as a handbell soloist whenever possible. Over the years Ruben has performed, taught and attended several AGEHR, Area XII and Handbell Exploration conferences. He also has a background in voice, piano, percussion and woodwind instruments.
Michael Romanowski, Sound Engineer
michael@michaelromanowski.com
Michael has been the sound and light engineer at LOPC since June, 2001. He moved to the Bay Area in 1994 to join the staff of a CD mastering facility after working in the music industry in Nashville for 18 years. A math and computer science major in college, Michael was an audio engineer before becoming a Mastering Engineer ("mastering" is the final crucial stage of recording, the first step of manufacturing, and is considered the pinnacle of the engineering process). He started out as, and continues to be, a working musician, traveling and playing across the country. His full time gig is running his own studio in San Francisco that specializes in recording, mastering,and producing. He has mastered roughly 2000 releases and recorded and mixed several hundred more, including the latest by Greg Murai and John Thomas. Michael teaches classes at San Francisco State University and recently returned from an industry conference in Tucson, where he was both moderator and panelist for an advanced surround sound discussion with some of the industry’s leading experts.
Sharon Francis, Music & Worship Project Coordinator
(925) 283-9990 ext 264
sharon@lopc.org
Sharon is responsible for coordinating projects in consort with volunteer teams, emphasizing Music and Worship management. She has been volunteering in the Music Department for over eight years and was a Worship Elder for two and a half years. Sharon has sung in many choirs at the church for over 10 years and volunteers her time to work in many areas of the church. Some of these positions have been Choir President, Concert Coordinator for the Music Department, Mt. Hermon Chair, Oktoberfest Co-Chair, and Youth Advisor on four youth mission trips. She also works with the Youth and Children’s Ministry teams to create more opportunities for their participation in worship.
Howard Hall, Music & Worship Elder
howardghall@comcast.net
Howard began his musical activities at Occidental College singing under Howard Swan and has been a member of LOPC Choirs for over 10 years. He has served the choir as president and as the writer of the Music Ministry's weekly newsletter. Now retired from a career in international private banking, Howard devotes time to the church having served as a Deacon and Elder for Finance and for Stewardship in the past, and as co-Admiral of the Voyager Fleet. He is pleased to be able to apply his love of music to the spiritual enrichment of members of the congregation attending worship services and other special events at LOPC.
Karen Lee, Music & Worship Elder
rekelee@pacbell.net
As the daughter of an elementary school music teacher, Karen’s love of music is in her genes, and she has been singing in church choirs for as long as she can remember. She began singing with the Chancel Choir even before joining LOPC in 2001, and she is currently singing with the Chamber Singers and ringing in the Handbell Choir. She has interest in many areas of the church, including youth, mission, and congregational care, and she has previously served on the Board of Deacons at LOPC.
Brandt Andersson, Choir Ombudsman
BrandtAnd@aol.com
Brandt abandoned a fledgling career on the trombone at the age of 14 and began singing with the Phillips Academy Choir. After high school, he took a break from singing for about 30 years while his voice changed (oddly enough, from baritone to tenor). He has been singing with the LOPC Chancel, Chamber, and/or Gospel Choirs for the last 10 years. He served as the first Choir Team Liaison as the choir recently moved from a hierarchical to a team-based administration. Brandt now serves as the Choir Ombudsman, available to help deal with unforeseen issues as they arise. When not singing, he works as an attorney and serves on the Lafayette City Council and several public boards and committees.
Worship Coordinating Team, Session Representatives
