FEATURING - in Alphabetical Order

Michael Desnoyers 

Tenor

Sought out for his “rich and resonant” and “sweet, well-projected lyric tenor,” Michael Desnoyers has sung over 50 different roles across Bay Area stages. He has performed most of the major roles in the Mozart tenor repertoire, including Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Belmonte and Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and the title role in La clemenza di Tito. Other favorite roles include Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Rodolfo (La Boheme), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Albert (Albert Herring), and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance). Michael can be heard on the Lamplighters’ CD recordings, singing the role of Marco in The Gondoliers, Cyril in Princess Ida, Ernest in The Grand Duke, and Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe, where he was praised by Opera News for his “crystal clear timbre.” He will also be featured as Marco on their upcoming release of The Gondoliers. He frequently performs as a concert soloist, having sung Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Matthäus-Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. 

Bradley Kynard

Baritone

Bradley Kynard, baritone, is no stranger to Bay Area audiences. Recent engagements include Escamillo (Carmen) with The Main Canyon at the Cedars, Sportin' Life in (Porgy and Bess) with Vallejo Symphony and the Baritone Soloist in (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) with Scuol Classics in Scuol Switzerland. He performed baritone solos in (Carmina Burana) with Golden Gate Symphony and sang the role of Brooke (Little Women) with Island City Opera.  He also performed the role of Nicandro (Atalanta) as a guest artist with SF Conservatory of Music. He performed the role of Daggoo in (Moby Dick) with San Francisco Opera. Previous roles include Peter (Hansel and Gretel) with Solo Opera and the title role in Handel's (Tamerlano) with The Handel Opera Project. Upcoming engagements include the titular role of (Job) with The Handel Opera Project, Jack in (Harvey Milk) with Opera Parallèle and the Baritone Soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Sonoma Symphony.

Urs Leonhardt Steiner

Music Director / Conductor 

Urs Leonhardt Steiner is internationally renowned as a conductor, guitarist, educator, and composer. He founded the orchestra that would become the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in 1994. Originally from Chur, Switzerland, he studied at the University of Tubingen and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He studied conducting with James Wimer and Gustav Meier, and master classes with Andre Previn, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonard Bernstein, and Herbert von Karajan. 

Maestro Steiner’s original compositions include the operas Il Secondo Settenio and Return of the Phantoms which have been performed to critical acclaim in Switzerland and the United States. In addition to leading the Golden Gate Symphony in local and international endeavors, he is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras and ensembles in Europe, the United States and Central America.

Melinda Martinez Becker

Mezzo-soprano

Melinda Becker’s New Mexican and Jewish heritage has shaped her career as a performer of art song in Spanish, Ladino, Yiddish and a variety of other languages. As a soloist and chamber musician, she is recognized for her expressive interpretations of diverse repertoire, from mariachi to baroque, to contemporary classical, and popular music. Melinda’s collaborations with emerging new music composers and ensembles include projects with Nicolas Lell Benavides, Friction Quartet, Brian Baumbusch and the Lightbulb Ensemble, Emily Koh, the Musical Art Quintet, and as a soloist with the Classical Revolution Orchestra and the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra. She is dedicated to performing, championing, and the education of music by women and other underrepresented groups. She recently joined forces with Friction Quartet to record Canto Caló, an album of music by Nicolas Lell Benavides, on Innova Recordings.

Melinda earned her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music studying with Catherine Cook. Through Project Canción Española at the Escuela Superior de Canto in Madrid, and Música en Compostela in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, she studied Spanish chamber music and art song, as well as pursued postgraduate studies at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg in France. Melinda teaches private vocal lessons in San Francisco.

Christopher Poston

Men’s Choir of Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ Director

Christopher Poston, a resident of Oakland, California, is a versatile trumpeter, composer, and singer. He performs with the Oakland Symphony Chorus, Golden Gate Symphony Chorus, and Men's Chorus at Acts Full Gospel Church. Chris is also known for singing the National Anthem at notable events, including performances for the Harlem Globetrotters and the Department of Homeland Security’s Naturalization Oath Ceremonies across Northern California.

His stage credits include roles in Crowns, The Wiz, Beauty and the Beast, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Ragtime, Something Rotten, The Nina Simone Story, West Side Story, Tambourines to Glory, Sweet Charity, and Guys and Dolls. In addition to his musical career, Chris works as a professional house painter.

Walter Riley

Narrator

Walter Riley, a civil rights attorney, was a young activist in Durham, N.C. He served extensively with Durham’s NAACP, organizing voter registration, lunch counter sit-ins, job campaigns and later as a CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) Field Secretary.

In the late 1960s he was a student activist at San Francisco State University. Later as S.F. Muni bus driver, he founded a Rank-and-File Black Caucus. In the 1970s, in Chicago he worked as a Welfare Rights Organizer; later in Detroit as a rank-and-file activist in the automobile industry.

His awards include California Black Lawyers Association Presidents Award, National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Chapter Champion Of Justice, and National Lawyers Guild Nation Law for the People Award, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Award, Honored in the U.S. Congressional Record By Hon. Barbara Lee, the California State Assembly by Hon. Jackie Goldberg, State Senate by Bill Monning and Black Panther Commemoration Committee Award.

Bruce Rockwell

Benicia Chorus Director

Bruce Rockwell got his BA in Music at UC Santa Cruz, and his MM in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with the renowned choral composers Conrad Susa and David Conte. He taught instrumental music at the San Francisco Waldorf schools, and the Town School for Boys. He currently teaches choir, piano, and guitar at College Park High School in Pleasant Hill.

Loretta Taylor

Concertmaster

Ms. Taylor has been the concertmaster of the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus since its founding. She has worked extensively with many orchestras throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and has performed in orchestras in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Perth, Australia. In addition to being the concertmaster of the GGSOC, Ms. Taylor teaches at the SF Community Music Center and is principal second violin of the Santa Cruz County Symphony. She has coached chamber music for the Chamber Musicians of No. California and the Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop; and she has been a soloist with the Old First Orchestra, the Community Music Center Orchestra, and the New Millenium Strings. Ms. Taylor is a graduate of San Francisco State University, magna cum laude.