STAFF & OFFICERS
Davis Sings consists of dedicated staff members and is driven by many passionate volunteers. Both our Board of Directors and Committees are run by enthusiastic volunteers. We make a great team and we are so grateful for the many hours of work each person put into running this fantastic organization.
Board of Directors
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Janine Lin – President
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Hannah Peha – Secretary
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Chris Motley – Treasurer
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Steve Fineberg – Deputy Treasurer
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Cheryl Loehr – Compliance Oversight
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Katie Jordan – Community Engagement Liaison
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Wynn Schultz-Krohn – Community Engagement Liaison
Staff
Alison Skinner
Executive Director, Davis Sings
Artistic Director, Davis Chorale
Alison Skinner, Artistic Director, has been directing the Davis Chorale since 2010. In addition to conducting the Davis Chorale, Alison is also the music director of Sierra Master Chorale in Grass Valley. Before returning to her hometown of Davis, Alison lived in Philadelphia, where she was the Artistic Director of the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware, taught high school music at Germantown Friends School and was the assistant conductor of Philadelphia’s Choral Arts Society. Alison holds degrees from University of California Santa Cruz and Temple University, where she was a graduate student of the late Alan Harler. Aside from her musical work, she spends most of her free time running a free shuttle service for her teenagers and their sports equipment, providing snacks and occasional conversation along the way. Alison also enjoys swimming, hiking and most of all- the beach.
LuAnn Higgs
Artistic Director, Davis Youth Choir
Music Director, Lark and Bel Canto Choirs
Accompanist, Davis Chorale
LuAnn Higgs, a Davis native, is Director of the Davis Youth Choir, and accompanist for the Davis Chorale. She can often be found as a collaborative pianist for the University of California Davis Music Department, and staff accompanist at California State University Sacramento, where she has vocal directed many of the Department of Theatre and Dance’s musical theater productions. LuAnn is also the Director of the Congregation B’nai Israel High Holy Day Choir in Sacramento. In addition, LuAnn co-produces the popular monthly free noon concert series, LIVE@DCC at the Davis Community Church the second Friday of every month.
Melanie Brown
Music Director, Hummingbird Choir
Melanie Brown (Melandra7) is a music director, recording artist, producer, educator, and multidisciplinary creative leader with more than 30 years of experience. She brings musical vision, collaborative leadership, and a passion for developing performers to churches, schools, theaters, and community programs.
Evar Restad
Production Coordinator, Davis Sings
As the Production Coordinator for Davis Sings, Evar creates content for concerts including event flyers and social media posts, coordinates website updates, and event postings. They assist with Davis Chorale event setup and management.
Evar holds a BA in Film and recently completed a Master's degree in Psychology. They are the founder and director of Church of Color and Light, a Bay Area performance group. They have a passion for music and artistic collaboration and love working with Davis Sings.
Rachel Day Kessler (1936-2022)
Founder and Director Emerita
Rachel Kessler was the founder and Artistic Director of the Davis Children’s Chorale. She was a member and soloist of the Robert Shaw Chorale and the Roger Wagner Chorale on many international and national tours. She earned a B.S. in Music Education from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a M.M. from Indiana University, Bloomington.
In 1983, she was guest conductor of the institute now known as Chorus America, in Lake Placid, New York. She also served as a faculty member at the CSUS Summer Choral Workshop, the Zephyr Point Summer Sing, and the Albuquerque Music and Worship Conference.
After hearing her sing in rehearsals leading up to the first public performance of his Requiem (Sacramento, 1985), John Rutter wrote the soprano solo in the “Lux Aeternam” for her voice. She was the recipient of the Harmony in Our Lives award in 1993.
Many hundreds of Davis teenagers have profited from Ms. Kessler’s tutelage as chorus director at Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High Schools, and as director of the youth choir at the Davis Community Church. She was the founder and director emeritus of an adult community choir, the Davis Community Chorale, which has performed both in the U.S. and Europe. Ms. Kessler was a founding co-director of a very successful vocal/choral music camp held each summer in the Sierras, founded by Gus Noland of Sacramento.
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