San Diego County Recorder Society

06/01/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society will be on Saturday, June 20, 2026, from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the

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Community Room at University City United Church,
2877 Governor Drive, San Diego, CA 92122.
***New meeting location for this meeting.***
Please park on the street and not in the parking lot.

We’ll be off for the summer and the next meetings will resume September 19.

GUEST CONDUCTOR
The guest conductor for June 20 is Ulla Sinz. Ulla Sinz was born and raised in Germany and began recorder studies at the age of 7 with Renate Stoltenberg at the Institute of Music Leverkusen (near Cologne). She performed with various recorder and mixed ensembles throughout Germany and won 3rd prize in the Young Musicians Competition (Jugend Musiziert). Ulla continued musical training at the University of the Virgin Islands in Applied Reeds. Since immigrating to the United States she maintains a semi-professional status as featured soloist as well as being a co-founder of various ensembles throughout the United States. In 2019 Ulla performed with Opera Neo in a production of Francesco Cavalli’s opera “La Calisto”. Ulla currently performs with San Diego based groups such as Dolce Dolores, Ensemble Lonato, The Goliards, and Kensington Baroque Orchestra.

Logistics:
BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you are interested in joining us, let us know and we can send you the music.

05/23/2026

https://youtu.be/uqu3aoCcaD4?si=NcYH5Ck0IpscbnQX

Do you want to sound professional, but you only have a basic $10 re...

05/17/2026

Name that tune. At the monthly meeting, May 2026.

05/03/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society will be on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103.

Our guest conductor for the month is Juan Carlos Acosta. He was appointed Director of Worship Ministry at The Village Church in April 2015. Since that time the Chancel Choir and Village Community Chorale have experienced remarkable growth under his leadership. Juan Carlos has led the choirs in critically acclaimed performances of the Brahms Requiem, the Saint-Säens Christmas Oratorio, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as their first international tour in June 2017. Mr. Acosta currently directs the Chancel Choir, Village Community Chorale, the Youth Choir and oversees the church concert series. Juan Carlos has been active as a church musician nearly all of his life and prior to coming to The Village Church he served as Director of Music Ministries at First United Methodist Church, Chula Vista, Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church and St. John’s Lutheran Church. Currently Juan Carlos is the Associate Artistic Director of the professional choir SACRA/PROFANA, and serves on the faculty of the University of San Diego where he directs the Concert Choir. Previous positions include Director of the Cuyamaca College Choir, Choral Director at the Chula Vista School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and Conductor with the San Diego Children’s Choir. Juan Carlos holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from San Diego State University, and has done additional study with Charles Bruffy at the Westminster Conducting Institute, and Jon Washburn at the Vancouver Chamber Choir Conductor’s Symposium.

Here is part of an interview he gave several years ago to The Faces of San
Diego https://thefacesofsandiego.com/juan-carlos-acosta/
(click on link for entire interview):

I am a lifelong San Diego native, and have been involved in music more or less my whole life. I have taken advantage of just about every type of musical experience San Diego has to offer; from singing as a boy soprano at St. Paul’s Cathedral, to playing punk and ska at Soma, and just about everything in between. Currently I serve as the Artistic Director of SACRA/PROFANA a nationally recognized professional choir that specializes in contemporary choral music and supports our music education community through workshops, and a summer choral intensive. I am also the Director of Worship at the Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe, where I direct the Chancel Choir, the Village Community Chorale, Youth Choir, and oversee the two worship services. In addition to music, I love being outdoors; and have been an avid cyclist, hiker, surfer, rock climber and camper at various points in my life. Although family and work schedules are demanding, I try to carve out as much time as I can to be outdoors.

Logistics:
BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you are interested in joining us, let us know and we can send you the music.
*IMPORTANT FREE PARKING CHANGE:

St. Paul’s now offers SDCRS members free meeting parking in their overflow lot behind St. Paul’s Senior Services Corporate Office at 328 Maple St.
- Enter the parking lot from 3rd Avenue between Maple and Nutmeg Sts.
- Walk several blocks East on Nutmeg St. toward Balboa Park to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Free parking during meetings is no longer available for SDCRS members in the underground garage at 525 Olive St. Anyone who still wants to park there in Cathedral spaces must use the public QR code payment system ($10 for four hours). Metered street parking in the area is also available.

  I am a lifelong San Diego native, and have been involved in music more or less my whole life. I have taken advantage of just about every type of musical experience San Diego has...

04/04/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society will be on Saturday, April 18, 2026, from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103.

GUEST CONDUCTOR
Our guest conductor for the month is Cathe Sobke. She holds degrees in music composition and music theory, and was introduced to early music during graduate studies. Recently retired from teaching at Southwestern College, she continues to teach privately and enjoys performing in many early music groups including The Goliards, Courtly Noyse, Kensington Baroque Orchestra, Lonato, The Granada Consort, and Musica Nova Antiqua.

BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you are interested in joining us, let us know and we can send you the music.

*IMPORTANT FREE PARKING CHANGE:
The is no free parking on the streets around Balboa Park, and not in the underground parking garage. You can pay a fee for the parking.

However, St. Paul’s now offers SDCRS members free meeting parking in their overflow lot, behind St. Paul’s Senior Services Corporate Office at 328 Maple St. Enter the parking lot from 3rd Avenue between Maple and Nutmeg Streets. Walk several blocks East on Nutmeg St. toward Balboa Park to reach St. Paul’s Cathedral.

03/13/2026

03/02/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society will be on Saturday, March 21, 2026, from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103. FREE PARKING during meetings is available for SDCRS members in the underground garage at 525 Olive St. in spaces marked Cathedral Open Parking.

GUEST CONDUCTOR

Momilani Ramstrum, Ph.D. is the guest conductor for March 21, 2026. She is a composer, arranger, visual artist, musician, and conductor. She creates collaborative and interactive multi-media works with a focus on enjoying and appreciating interchanges with the natural world. As a musician she works with San Diego early music groups playing recorders. As a vocal improviser she performs in concert at electroacoustic music conferences with live electronics using a MIDI glove that she designed and created. As a visual artist she regularly shows her large mixed media pieces with FIG a San Diego collective of women artists. She authored a DVD-ROM entitled "From Kafka to K...." documenting and analyzing Manoury's electronic opera K... published by IRCAM. She wrote a chapter in Simoni's Analyzing Electroacoustic Music published by Routledge. Wave Media LLC has published her 7 music theory textbooks with interactive website drills and tournaments that enhance student learning based on gaming theory rather than traditional academic models. Dr. Ramstrum is Professor Emeritus of Music at San Diego Mesa College. She founded and directs the San Diego Seratones Choir (established in 2014) for the Emeritus Program of San Diego Continuing Education, a part of the San Diego Community College District. The choir sings songs in varied styles arranged by Dr. Ramstrum from around the world in over 20 different languages.

BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you are interested in joining us, let us know and we can send you the music.

02/03/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society will be on Saturday, February 21, 2026, from 1:00 - 4:00pm in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103. Our guest conductor will be Dr. Marianne Richert Pfau.

FREE PARKING during meetings is available for SDCRS members in the underground garage at 525 Olive St. in spaces marked "Cathedral Open Parking".

Dr. MARIANNE RICHERT PFAU is a retired Professor of Music History who taught for over 30 years at USD. Since 2022, she divides her time between San Diego and Hamburg, Germany, and performs on baroque oboe and recorder on both sides of the Atlantic. In San Diego, Marianne continues to direct her Lenten concert series, Angelus Sacred Early Music.
The next concert features music by Telemann, Zelenka, and Bach. It will take place at USD on February 28, 2026, at 7pm, and is free to the public. You are warmly invited to attend.

BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you are interested in joining us, let us know and we can send you the music.

01/03/2026

The next meeting for the San Diego County Recorder Society is on Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 1:00-4:00pm, in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103. Our guest conductor will be Dan Ratelle.

Dan is the SDCRS guest conductor for January 17, 2026. A native San Diegan, Daniel Ratelle earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Santa Clara University, and a Masters in Conducting and Early Music from San Diego State University. As an undergraduate he sang in choirs and opera productions, and later other local choirs, including the San Diego Master Chorale, where he also served for eight years as Associate Conductor. He directed the Chalice Choir of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego for 37 years. He played trombone in the SDSU Concert Band and Mid-City Community Orchestra, and recorder and krumhorn in the SDSU Collegium Musicum and the Fayrfax Consort. He has led orchestras for musical theater productions with Covenant Ark Theater and the Mesa College Drama Dept, and was the founding director of two early music vocal groups, Bacchanal Baroque (1984-89) and Pacific Camerata (1994-2014). He also was the founding conductor of the New City Sinfonia, a 35-member community chamber orchestra, and led that group for 38 years. He was a longtime member of the Music Faculty at San Diego Mesa College, teaching Introduction to Music and other classes. He continues to sing in ensembles, and has led both of the San Diego Early Music Society Renaissance-Baroque group Sings.

BRING YOUR OWN MUSIC STAND AND YOUR OWN PRINTED COPY OF THE MUSIC TO BE PLAYED (OR YOUR E-READER WITH THE MUSIC). If you want to visit and need music, dm for it.

FREE PARKING during meetings is available for SDCRS members in the underground garage at 525 Olive St. in spaces marked “Cathedral Open Parking”.

12/13/2025

The San Diego County Recorder Society will be having their annual Christmas party on Saturday, December 20, 2025, from 1 – 4 PM in the Great Hall at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA 92103.

We will play from 1 – 3 and then have a potluck and social hour. If you want to attend and haven’t already signed up, please let us know what you will bring for the potluck.

**Bring along 10 hard copies of at least two pieces of music for the group to play— and bring more than two pieces if you’d like.
** Holiday and non-holiday music is welcome, including favorites from past SDCRS meetings.

Here are links to several sites with free recorder music which can be copied: www.imslp.org. www.stevehendricksmusic.com. www.mutopiaproject.org/browse.html.

During meetings, SDCRS members have free parking in the garage at 525 Olive St in spaces marked CATHEDRAL Open Parking.