Music and Worship Leadership

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. Dr. Ford is the Chair of the Repertoire and Standards Committee for Music and Worship for the California 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. [Personal website]

Michelle Hawkins, Director of Non-Traditional Music
michelle@lopc.org

Michelle has a very diverse background in both jazz and classical performance. She received her Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California, where she studied with Tierney Sutton, Jennifer Barnes, Shelly Berg, and John Clayton. Prior to her studies at USC, Michelle received a BA in Music from the University of California at Berkeley where she was principal flute of the orchestra, and studied conducting with Dr. David Milnes. Michelle studied flute privately with Timothy Day of the San Francisco Conservatory. Michelle has performed extensively as a vocal soloist with musicians Kurt Elling, Bonnie Raitt, Taylor Eigsti, Ray Obiedo, and Mike Spiro, appearing at notable venues such as Yoshi's, Kimball's East, Anna's Jazz Island, the Freight and Salvage, the Agenda, and the Bleu Ginger. She sang lead soprano in the award winning vocal jazz quintet, +4db, which performed across the country and in Japan. Michelle currently sings soprano /alto in Moodswing, the award winning, but brooding jazz quartet. Michelle is also the director of the vocal jazz ensembles at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA and the principal flutist of the Mission College Symphony in Santa Clara, CA.

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 and Youth Choir Coordinator
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. 

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.  

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