It’s safe to say, that with a 100+ person choir, we probably don’t know too many members outside of our own section, and especially our newest members.  Perhaps it’s time that changed! Take a few minutes to get to know a few of our fellow chorus members.

Patricia Szasz

Patricia joined MPCS two years ago as a member of the Alto I section. She joined MPCS because she wanted to get to know more people in the community, and she wanted to do something creative. Patricia has not always lived on the central coast, but admits she loves living on peninsulas. She has lived in Michigan, Florida, Italy, the peninsula of the SF Bay area, and now the Monterey peninsula! She has been on the central coast for the past 6 years, and currently lives in Monterey. Patricia is the director of the ESL program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where they teach English to students from all over the world who want to attend college in the U.S. Patricia loves to travel, and has visited all 50 states in the U.S., and is now working on seeing all continents. She has already been to Asia, Europe and Australia, so she still needs to go to South America, Africa and Antarctica. This year, she will be traveling to Azerbaijan, England, Norway and Italy. Patricia is also currently training for a short triathlon in June. Patricia has a very scruffy little terrier named Henry, of which she says they have a co-dependent relationship. Perhaps not so surprisingly, Patricia knows how to speak Italian and French. She can also play the flute. Currently, Patricia enjoys listening to alternative and acoustic styles of music. Her favorite song this season is Bright Morning Star.

Sarah Dahlen

This is Sarah’s second season singing with MPCS in the Alto II section. Sarah had just moved to the central coast area in Summer 2010, and didn’t know anyone or have anything to do outside of work. That has all changed thanks in part to MPCS! Sarah is originally from Colorado, but spent the last 11 years in Tucson, Arizona. She is still trying to adjust to the climate here. Sarah is currently living in Marina in CSUMB housing with her cat, Snickers. Sarah is a Reference and Instruction Librarian at CSUMB, where she gets to focus on some of her favorite areas: anthropology, gender studies and foreign languages. Sarah also enjoys rock climbing, yoga and watching Glee.  Her music of choice is Indie Rock, and she also knows how to play guitar. Sarah can speak Spanish, and French, although she admits she will have to brush up on her French skills before the London Olympics trip. Sarah’s favorite song this season is Baba Yetu.

Diane Ehlers

Diane is a member of the Alto I section, and has been a member of MPCS on and off since 1997. She is also currently the Alto section leader. Diane grew up in Bellflower, a small town near Long Beach in Southern California. After graduating from Long Beach State, she worked her way through a variety of jobs, and somehow ended up as an engineer for Rockwell International, where she worked in the space shuttle program and the GPS satellite program. In addition to being a “rocket scientist”, Diane was also a competitive skater for almost 20 years. In 1995, Diane accepted a position as the Environmental Protection, Health and Safety director at CSUMB, the new university being created on the former Fort Ord. Since she was no longer skating, she needed something to do. When a friend told her about a “singing for actors” class at Hartnell College, she decided to give it a try. This led to becoming involved in local theaters as a singer and actor. Diane has performed in over 16 different musicals, most of the time as a member of the ensemble, but once in awhile she’s been lucky enough to snag a supporting role. Diane retired from CSUMB in 2010, so now has time to indulge in some of her other hobbies. She enjoys scrapbooking, collecting and creating computer fonts, digital photo restoration and genealogy. Diane is owned by two cats (no that is not a typo), Princess Chelsea Pearl and Franklin. Diane will be joining the choir in London for the Olympics. She also knows how to play piano and guitar, and likes to listen to 1980’s New Wave music – Oingo Boingo, Depeche Mode, and The Clash. Diane says she used up her 15 minutes of fame as a child after being on Art Linkletter’s House Party, where she embarrassed her mom, but made the audience laugh. Diane’s favorite song this season is Baba Yetu.

Suzanne Schultz

This is Suzanne’s first season singing with MPCS. Suzanne’s acupuncturist, Jason Gill (MPCS Tenor II section), told her about MPCS, and she knew she loved music and loved to sing…so here she is! Suzanne has not always lived on the central coast, but has always lived in California. She grew up in Los Angeles, then lived in San Diego, and finally moved to the central coast in 1998. Suzanne is married and currently lives in the Monterey area. She has 2 grown children and 6 grandchildren, ranging in age from 5 to 21. Suzanne has not pets, unless you count the cottontails that hop around her yard and chew on the grass. Suzanne works part-time as the General Manager for Carmel Audio Video, a company her husband started about 11 years ago. She also does volunteer work. Suzanne’s favorite hobbies are camping and hiking, but she also enjoys reading and traveling. She also listens to a wide range of music, including rock, jazz, classical and country. Suzanne doesn’t speak any other languages, except the ones we are singing in this concert. Her favorite song this season is Baba Yetu, which, if you have been paying attention, seems to be the most popular song with the Altos!

Alex Taurke This season is Alex’s first season singing with MPCS, or any choir for that matter. He is a member of the Baritone section. A previous MPCS member knew Alex liked to sing, heard him sing in a play and encouraged him to join us. After hearing our Sing We Christmas concert, he was hooked. Alex has lived in the central coast area since 1972, except while he attended college at University of California Davis (UCD). He also spent some time living in Spain, Thailand, the east coast and Texas. Alex currently lives in Pacific Grove with his wife, Shannon, who is a hospice nurse, and three children (11, 9 and 6 years old). All three of their children were born at home, and Alex delivered their youngest. Alex loves math and teaching, so it’s not so surprising that he is a math instructor at Cabrillo College. He also enjoys politics (don’t get him started…), reading, sports (including yoga, skiing, tennis, running and ultimate Frisbee) and is a National Public Radio junkie. What you might not know about Alex is that he was a gymnast in college. Both his parents are Russian, though he is 1^st generation American. Alex likes most types of music, but lately has been enjoying Jack Johnson (a folk/rock artist). He played saxophone in high school, and speaks a little Spanish and a little Russian. Alex is planning on going to the London Olympics with the choir. When asked what his favorite song is this season, he wouldn’t commit to any single song…he likes them all!

John Paff

John is perhaps our newest member, and has been singing with MPCS for a total of 7 rehearsals. You can also find him in the Baritone section. John hadn’t done any singing in years, and thought it might be fun to sing again. We asked John if he had ever sung professionally…his response was yes, once. Not once-upon-a-time, but just once (or maybe a couple more times). He went on to describe that to him professional = paid, which perhaps real professionals would disagree with.  John currently lives in Pebble Beach, and has lived on the peninsula for the past 18 years. He grew up in Newburgh, N.Y., which is 60 miles north of NYC. He came to California for college. John is a mechanical engineer at a small company called SMI, which is located in Watsonville. He says it’s a long commute, and it’s sometimes hard to hold sheet music while you are driving! John is married, and has three children, one hyperactive dog, and one ornery cat. In his spare time, John also enjoys reconstructing poorly maintained homes. John’s favorite song this season is Baba Yetu.

Gail Piper de Mesa

Gail has been singing in our Soprano 2 section for the past two years. She previously sang with a local women’s barbershop chorus for four years, and with a quartet, the Sweet Tomatas with fellow MPCS soprano, Leslie Mulford, and a former MPCS member Marge Bennett and her daughter. In fact, it was Leslie that encouraged Gail to join MPCS, for which she is so grateful. Gail was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Vancouver, Washington. After college, she was eager for a new experience, so she took off for Honolulu and lived in Waikiki for a couple years. It was there that she earned a brown belt in judo (it would have been a black belt had she not been thrown against a brick wall by an overly zealous 14-year old Samoan lad, rupturing a main artery in her leg). After returning to Washington in 1971, and experiencing 30 consecutive days of drizzle, she bought a VW convertible, drove to California, and has lived here happily ever since. On Halloween night in 1982, Gail met Juan on a Cannery Row dance floor. Three months later, they were married at Lover’s Point in PG. Juan is from Colombia, still has a very strong accent, and charms everyone he meets. If he could carry a tune, Gail would recruit him for our choir! Gail and Juan live in Salinas, and have one son, Joseph, who currently lives in Ontario, CA. Another important member of her family is her beautiful ragdoll cat, Socrates, who gets taken on walks in his kitty stroller, which is quite a hit with the neighbors. Gail is now retired, and has found a new passion in energy healing work. She is a Reiki Practitioner and is looking forward to teaching Qi Gong classes in the near future. Gail finds Qi Gong (moving meditation) to be the most profound form of exercise she has ever experienced. She also enjoys hiking, dancing, reading and spending time with family and friends. Gail enjoys listening to jazz, new age, spiritual and joyous music, and is also learning how to play her dad’s ukulele. Her favorite songs this season are The Voice and Baba Yetu (it’s a tie).

Vicky Lomeli

This is Vicky’s first season with MPCS. She is singing in the Soprano 2 section. Vicky, and her wonderful friend, Sharon Keller (who is a new alto member with MPCS), went to see the Sing We Christmas concert, loved it, and thought…we could do that. Sharon only had to ask Vicky once to join, and she is so glad she did. Vicky grew up in Cornwall in the U.K., but left England when she was 21 to ‘see the world’. She lived in Korea, Portugal and Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2002 to marry her husband, Ramon. Vicky and her husband lived in the L.A. area for awhile, and then the central valley. They have been living in the central coast area since 2007, currently in Marina, and love it here. Vicky is a stay at home mom to Ellowyn (Ellie), who is 7, and Oliver, who is 4. Before that, she was an ESL teacher living and working overseas.  She also enjoys dancing, gardening, reading, games and traveling when she gets the chance. Vicky loves Latin music, especially to dance to, and knows how to play the flute, though she admits she may be a little rusty. Vicky couldn’t pick just one song as her favorite this season, so her favorite songs are The Blessing, Balia de Sehu and Tambur.

Toni Sippel

Toni is a newer member of MPCS joining in August 2010. She is enjoying singing in the Tenor section, although some of you may remember her singing with the Altos last season. Toni has not always lived on the central coast, in fact she just moved here four years ago from Kansas City, where she had lived for 31 years! Currently you can find her residing in the Marina area. Toni is now a retired R.N., and enjoys spending time on her hobbies which include reading and sewing, in addition to singing with the choir. Toni is married to Lee, and has two adult children: Robin, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and Tim, who lives with his wife in Honolulu, Hawaii. Toni’s favorite type of music is the oldies. She also knows how to play the piano (although she says ‘not well’), and can speak a bit of German. If Toni had to pick her favorite song we are singing this season, it would be Africa.

Amador Ramirez, Jr.

Amador is also a newer member of MPCS, joining the Tenor I section in August 2010. He does not currently sing with any other local choirs or singing groups, but hasn’t counted that option out just yet. Amador has lived on the central coast all of his life and joins us each Tuesday all the way from Greenfield! Amador is currently a graduate student at Notre Dame de Namur University with an Art Therapy major. He graduated from San José State University in 2008, with a Studio Art major, and participated in the 2008-2009 concert season’s fall choral concert, O Magnum Mysterium. Amador also loves to paint in oil, and enjoys sculpting in marble and clay. He has no children yet, but would love to adopt children someday in the future. Amador loves to listen to songs from the 80s and 90s. He is also fluent in Spanish. Amador’s favorite song this season is The Blessing.

Simon Banaag

Simon has been singing with the Tenor section of MPCS for the past four seasons. He is also occasionally involved in local community theatre, including the “Lamplighters Music Theatre”. Simon moved to the central coast from the North San Francisco Bay area about five years ago, but is originally from Vallejo, CA.  He currently lives in the Salinas area. After Simon moved here, he started looking for a choir to join, and a theatre friend had recommended MPCS. Simon has a wonderful niece and nephew that he enjoys spending time with, but when they are not so wonderful he gives them back to his brother! Simon works for the State of California, but unfortunately was unable to divulge any further information on what it is he does. On that topic we will just have to keep on guessing! When Simon isn’t working at his top secret job, singing, or doing community theatre, you can find him running, biking, hiking and surfing. The talent doesn’t stop there; Simon also plays piano and trombone, and can understand Tagalog (Filipino). Simon suspects that a lot of people in the choir think he has a long history of classical training. This is not true. He insists has only experienced singing along with other classical singers/choirs, and somehow picked up all their bad habits! Simon currently enjoys listening to alternative hard rock music and this season’s favorite song is O, America!

Jan Folsom

Jan sings in the Alto I section, and has been a member with MPCS since 2004. What many of you may not know is that Jan is also a member of a singing group called Smiles, which is a 7 woman ensemble. Jan was born in Connecticut, lived in Vermont for 15 years, and finally moved to California in 1985. By 1991, she had found her way to the central coast area, and currently resides in Carmel. Jan has two adult children, Jesse and Kate, both of whom are living at home again. We can’t forget to mention Lily (her dog), and Monkey (her cat). We all know our pets are just as much a part of our family as anyone else! By day, Jan is a virtual assistant, doing WordPress website design and maintenance, and internet/email marketing. She also works as a doctor’s assistant.  Jan enjoys cooking and walking her dog, and knows how to play the piano, guitar and flute! You may even get her to speak “un peu de francais”…which may come in handy for the Olympic tour next year! Lastly, if Jan had to pick her favorite song we are singing this season, it would be Africa, although there were a lot of close seconds.

Christy Karpenko

Christy also sings in the Alto I section, and is a newer member of MPCS. She was invited to see the Island Fever concert last spring, and found herself singing along more than she thought she would, leading her to join MPCS in August 2010. What you many not know about Christy is that she is from Canada, eh! She moved here from Winnipeg, Manitoba (directly above North Dakota for those of you that are unfamiliar with Canada) with her husband in spring 2008. Although the first couple years on the central coast she lived in Monterey, she recently relocated to the Marina area, and loves it. Christy does not have any children yet, except for Tucker of course, the beagle whose life may be in for a rude awakening one day when he realizes he won’t be the center of attention anymore. Christy owns her own consulting business in Canada doing architectural specification writing. She also loves to cook, read, jog, take Tucker for walks, and is a board game fanatic. But perhaps Christy’s largest hobby, besides singing with the choir of course, is riding oot and aboot with her husband on their Harley Davidson. She cannot think of a better way to see California, and what’s not to love about being able to ride all year without snow! Christy also plays piano, though she had to leave hers behind when she moved here, and also knows how to speak some French (it is the second language of Canada after all). If Christy had to pick her favorite song from this season, it would definitely be Baba Yetu!