ff ABOUT OUR DIRECTORS  ff

Chris Nelson earned both Bachelor and Master Degrees from the University of Utah where he worked as Assistant Director of Bands while in graduate school where he studied conducting under Forrest Stoll. Later studies included conducting work with Dennis DeCoteau of the San Francisco Ballet. While at the University of Utah, he worked as a freelance trombonist in various house and show bands as well as with the Utah Symphony under the direction of Maurice Abravanel. On graduation he taught chorus, band, orchestra, and jazz ensembles in the public schools in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Belmont, California. From 1971 to 1998 he held the positions of director of jazz studies and deparment chair at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill California. As director of the Mountanaires Barbershop Chorus, he organized the Truckee Tahoe Community Chorus in January of 2002.

 

 Susan K. Horst joined TTCC as co-conductor in 2006, after completing a Master of Music in choral conducting at University of Nevada, Reno. Ms. Horst hails from Juneau, Alaska where she held both instrumental and choral positions in the Juneau schools.  She was a frequent artistic director and workshop conductor with the Juneau Lyric Opera and the University of Alaska Southeast. Ms. Horst was also a national consultant for Yamaha Music where she trained teachers on Yamaha’s Music in Education Technology Assisted Music Program (MIE) and developed curriculum. Ms. Horst received her Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education from Western State College in Gunnison, CO. Ms. Horst is a founding member of the Reno Baroque Ensemble and sings with Toccata and The Reno Philharmonic Chorus. 
 

Tom Acord earned his B.M. degree from Texas Technical University and his M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from The University of Texas, Austin. His career began with selection for the Santa Fe Opera Apprenticeship Program. He was a Metropolitan Opera Audition finalist, national finalist in the San Francisco Merola Opera Program, scholarship winner to the American Institute of Singers in Graz, Austria, and a national finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing “Singer of the Year.” He has performed major roles with the Portland Opera, Festival Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Sao Paulo Opera (Brazil), San Francisco Spring Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Reno Opera. His symphony appearances include San Jose, Boise, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Oakland, and Marin. Throughout his career, Tom has produced, conducted, directed and designed operas on the national scene as well as in university opera workshops. In sacred literature, Dr. Acord has performed the tenor solos in all of the major oratorios and sacred works in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the West Coast. Last year, Dr. Acord retired from CSU East Bay as Associate Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, completing 36 years at that University.  Tom is a featured tenor soloist in most of our concert performances.

ff ABOUT OUR ACCOMPANIST  ff

Sandra Carlson Davis began studying the piano formally at age 7, and as a child and teenager was the accompanist for many school musicals and choirs, while also being active in school bands as a woodwind player. She studied music at Santa Rosa Junior College and worked for their Summer Repertory Company for 3 summers as a rehearsal accompanist, and in a traveling ensemble performance troupe. Foregoing music as a career, she obtained her BA in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara in 1980. Upon moving to the Truckee area in 1984 she has continued to accompany church and school choirs, musicals and soloists. She has been a worship leader, singer and pianist for Calvary Chapel Truckee since 1991.

Photos courtesy of www.KaydinCarlsen.com