Peninsula Cantare

Peninsula Cantare Peninsula Cantare is a community choir based in Palo Alto, California. Our vision: A world that explores the human experience through musical storytelling

Peninsula Cantare is a community choir based in Palo Alto, California, led by Artistic Director, Jeffrey Benson, PhD. Peninsula Cantare is dedicated to keeping alive the great choral masterpieces and exploring new music for the education and enjoyment of our audiences. Program repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the 21st century from a ca****la pieces to major works with orchestra. We are a

501(c)(3) corporation so any donation is tax-deductible, and will be used for scholarships and musicians. Please consider contributing through our Facebook, Instagram, AmazonSmile, or our website, www.peninsulacantare.org.

Happy birthday to Mary De La Rosa!She is one of our esteemed board members, two years into the role, providing countless...
06/16/2026

Happy birthday to Mary De La Rosa!

She is one of our esteemed board members, two years into the role, providing countless hours of behind-the-scenes support and brainpower to Peninsula Cantare. ๐Ÿ”ฅโค๏ธ๐Ÿง 

And she's also a long-time singer in the choir as well!

We wanted to wish her a very happy birthday today, and thank her for all her hard work, and beautiful singing that she contributes to our group!

๐‡๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ, Jeremy Ryan (๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐›๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ)! Jeremy (shown here with these two cha...
06/09/2026

๐‡๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ซ, Jeremy Ryan (๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐›๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐๐š๐ฒ)! Jeremy (shown here with these two charmers), who also lends us his beautiful tenor voice, has been with Cantare for years. As stage manager, he's responsible for making sure our venues are set up and ready to go, as well as torn down after shows. It's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that is crucial towards making sure our shows go as smoothly as they do!

Here we do a quick Q&A with Jeremy to get to know him better:

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐‚๐š๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ?
JEREMY: My favorite memory has to be our trip to Spain and Portugal, because I also did an Ireland/England/Scotland trip before and after for my 30th!

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
J: I love puzzle art! Paint by numbers are my fave, and recently started to cross stitch.

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ?
J: The best song with a music video is ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ by Mumford and Sons, go check it out on YouTube!

๐‡๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ Marina Pandora Box! Marina has been serving as the section lead for our superb soprano section. To celebr...
05/30/2026

๐‡๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ Marina Pandora Box! Marina has been serving as the section lead for our superb soprano section. To celebrate her birthday today, here's a few facts about her you may not have known!

๐๐”๐„๐’๐“๐ˆ๐Ž๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐›๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‚๐š๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ข๐ž๐œ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐ง๐จ ๐ฌ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ?
MARINA: ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ had a lot of splits to figure out so probably that one!

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
M: My middle name is Pandora and my last name is Box

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐š ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐?
M: Love to spend my free time crafting or trying a new tasty restaurant

๐“๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ Kira Dixon ๐š ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ! Kira is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Direc...
05/28/2026

๐“๐จ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐›๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ Kira Dixon ๐š ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐š๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐›๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐๐š๐ฒ! Kira is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Peninsula Cantare, in addition to being a singer in the choir herself. To celebrate her special day, we asked a few get-to-know-her questions:

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐‚๐š๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ?
KIRA: Singing one of my favorite works, the Morten Lauridsen ๐˜“๐˜ถ๐˜น ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข in Seattle!

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
K: I have a 2,116-day streak on Duolingo.
[๐˜Œ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ'๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ: ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต'๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜บ 6 ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด! ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!]

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐š ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ž๐ง๐?
K: Going to the beach or Disneyland!

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๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜’๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ข, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ:

๐˜’๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜น๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ 17๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜Š๐˜ˆ. ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜”.๐˜ˆ. ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ 2013, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜‰.๐˜ˆ. ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜Œ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ 2006. ๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜น๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ถ ๐˜—๐˜ฉ๐˜ช ๐˜Œ๐˜ฑ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ. ๐˜’๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ-๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ˆ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ (๐˜Š๐˜š๐˜—๐˜ˆ๐˜ˆ) ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฌ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ.

Photos from our sold-out season finale performance of "Considering Matthew Shepard"! It was a beautiful, difficult, and ...
05/24/2026

Photos from our sold-out season finale performance of "Considering Matthew Shepard"! It was a beautiful, difficult, and uplifting night for the audience, performers, and all, and we got to come together as fellow human beings in the end.



Photo credit: Steve Hill
Part of the proceeds went to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, "erasing hate since 1998".

Our upcoming show, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, features more than our typical choral setup โ€” we'll have design and stag...
05/16/2026

Our upcoming show, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, features more than our typical choral setup โ€” we'll have design and staging to go along with our music. Today we take you behind the scenes to meet our Stage Director, Lofn Young!

Lofn (she/they/he) is in their 6th year as the vocal music director, guitar instructor, and site staff development lead at M***a Vista High School in Cupertino, CA. They are so proud to be involved with this production of ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, having staged SJSUโ€™s production of CMS in 2023.

๐: ๐’๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š ๐’๐ญ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐ƒ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ?
LOFN: While the conductor is in charge of the score and telling the story through sound, Iโ€™m in charge of telling the story visually. This is an oratorio, which is traditionally unstaged, but we felt a few visual elements would go a long way in making the story more meaningful for our audience. I look at the story through a theatrical lens and decide on the moments where the meaning would be enhanced by that extra element of physical representation.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐š๐ญ๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
L: Sadly, Mattโ€™s story is not the only one of its kind. When we tell this story, we are speaking of so many more young people who faced similar fates, but didnโ€™t get the national attention or media coverage that Mattโ€™s story did. Itโ€™s so important to tell stories like Mattโ€™s, even though itโ€™s a heartbreaking story. I hope by continuing to tell it through ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ ๐˜—๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต, etc. we can grow as a collective society and decide that our shared future can be better than our divided past.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ?
L: I think for those who donโ€™t attend live productions often, they may be surprised at how much more impactful they can be. In an age of streaming and higher prevalence of digital media, live shows bring a certain ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช that sticks in the mind and body in a different way. You can FEEL it. Literally. Itโ€™s waking us all up โ€” our senses are firing, our hearts are pounding. This communion between audience and performer makes it feel like the room is alive with energy, and so are we.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ? ๐€๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก?
L: I hope this show breaks us all open. Not in a destructive way, rather in the way we need in order to stay soft and human. In 2026 itโ€™s easier than ever to live in isolation โ€” but I hope the big takeaway from the performance is that we need each other. We need to take care of each other. We need to love ourselves and love one another.
We arenโ€™t us without you.

โ€”

Find the rest of Lofnโ€™s bio below!

๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜Œ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜Œ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค/๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ/๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.

๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜š๐˜‘๐˜š๐˜œ, ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ด/๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜•๐˜ˆ๐˜›๐˜š ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ, ๐˜•๐˜ˆ๐˜›๐˜š ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ/๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜‘๐˜š๐˜œ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜Š๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฑ.

๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ 20 ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด (๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด: ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ, ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ!, ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜บ: ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ, ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต) ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ/๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ 20 ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ! ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜š๐˜‘๐˜š๐˜œ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ, ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ. ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง-๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ.

Cantare's upcoming show, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, features more than our typical choral setup โ€” we'll have projectio...
05/16/2026

Cantare's upcoming show, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, features more than our typical choral setup โ€” we'll have projection design and staging to go along with the music. Today we take you behind the scenes with our crew.

Meet our Projection Designer Don McQueen Nguyen!

๐: ๐…๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ง๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐›๐š๐œ๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐, ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ฌ ๐š ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ซ ๐๐จ?
DON: A projection designer creates visual content to displayed by a projector in a show. This content can serve as scenic elements or information that enhances the storytelling of the source material.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐š๐ญ๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
D: Matt's story teaches the world about the importance of understanding, empathizing with, and protecting the people in our lives, as well as the devastating consequences of hate. ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ and every musician in Peninsula Cantare remind me how melodies and harmonies can heal, how powerful unifying voices can deeply touch people's hearts. And I wish that no parent ever has to lose their child for any reason.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ?
D: As designers and technicians of live productions, we think a lot about how much equipment we can fit into our cars and how much muscle tissue we build lifting that equipment. And cables, so many cables. And how much we need to stay hyper-focused during a show.

๐: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ? ๐€๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐Ÿ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ญ?
D: My visual design goal is to work with the melodies and harmonies, amplifying the storytelling through visual content. I hope the audience can hear Matt's stories โ€” an ordinary boy โ€” and see his photos from childhood, his teen years, and adulthood, observing his smiles. As a community, I hope the audience will feel his stories and recognize the importance of choral arts in delivering human stories like Matt's.

For more info, see Don's bio:

๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜•๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‹๐˜ณ. ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด: ๐˜š๐˜‰๐˜”๐˜›โ€™๐˜ด ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค, ๐˜‰๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ; ร“๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜Š๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ขโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜›๐˜ณรจ๐˜ด ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ด; ๐˜š๐˜Š๐˜—โ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ˆ ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜•๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜‹๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ; ๐˜“๐˜›๐˜š๐˜‘โ€™๐˜ด ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜Ž๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต & ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ-๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง; ๐˜ž๐˜๐˜“๐˜–โ€™๐˜ด 60๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ; ๐˜›๐˜—๐˜›'๐˜ด ๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ; ๐˜š๐˜‘๐˜š๐˜œโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜–๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ดรฉโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜š๐˜‘๐˜š๐˜œ ๐˜–๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜“๐˜บ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜—๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜Š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ด ๐˜ˆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต, ๐˜š๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ. ๐˜๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ: @๐˜ฎ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ

05/13/2026

We're in our final week of our finale concert this season, ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ. This is a show you won't want to miss! TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1557130913479

Craig Hella Johnsonโ€™s beautiful oratorio, with staging, projections, and chamber orchestra, takes us through a compassionate and evocative musical journey of Mattโ€™s story.

In addition: Peninsula Cantare is proudly partnering with the Matthew Shepard Foundation for this concert. A portion of your ticket purchase will go directly to the foundation in service of their mission, "erasing hate since 1998."

Please join us this Saturday, May 16, 7:30pm at the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1557130913479

05/08/2026

๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ฅ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐œ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐š ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐š ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐š๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž! Artistic Director Jeffrey Benson shares the exciting news that Peninsula Cantare has partnered with the Matthew Shepard Foundation for our upcoming performance of ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, on Sat May 16, 7:30pm, at the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto.

That means that a portion of your ticket price will go directly to support the foundation, which has been doing incredible work getting landmark anti-hate legislation passed, and generally working to erase hate across the US. Check out this short video, where Jeffrey shares more about their work, and our partnership.

And get your tickets today! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1557130913479

Come experience our upcoming emotional and moving season finale โ€” Craig Hella Johnsonโ€™s ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ โ€” a ...
05/04/2026

Come experience our upcoming emotional and moving season finale โ€” Craig Hella Johnsonโ€™s ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ โ€” a 90-minute concert with staging, projections, and chamber orchestra. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1557130913479

Matt was a student attending the University of Wyoming in 1998, when he was brutally murdered for being gay. This uplifting piece offers listeners a compassionate and evocative musical journey through Mattโ€™s story. The chorus and soloists will draw you into a musical world of immense beauty, helping to share the light and love this โ€œordinary boyโ€ brought to all he met. You wonโ€™t want to miss this concert!

In addition: Peninsula Cantare is proudly partnering with the Matthew Shepard Foundation for this concert. A portion of your ticket purchase will go directly to the foundation in service of their mission, "erasing hate since 1998."

Please join us Saturday, May 16, 7:30pm at the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto.
TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/considering-matthew-shepard-tickets-1557130913479

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94306

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