About Us

Jesse is a native of Princeton, New Jersey, where he grew up singing countertenor in a cathedral men-and-boys choir. Jesse majored in music and philosophy at Brown University. During Jesse’s early career in church music, he was also an organist, choir director, and composer; his pieces continue to be performed and recorded by choirs around the country.

Jesse lives in Berkeley and works as a fundraiser for the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice. He is an avid cyclist, hiker, tennis player, home brewer of ales, and coffee roaster, and is a loyal fan of the Oakland A’s. Jesse sings in honor of his new baby son Mason, in memory of his beloved daughter Margaret, and with the support of his wife and muse, Lindsey.

Tenor Kevin Baum is currently section leader and a member of the ensemble Schola Adventus at Church of the Advent of Christ the King in San Francisco. He is also a cantor at St. Ignatius Catholic Church. Kevin sings with the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, with Schola Cantorum, the San Francisco Lyric Chorus, and as an alternate with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.Kevin is also a tatting instructor in Berkeley.

John Bischoff, bass, has sung with some of the country’s finest choral groups. In addition to Clerestory, these have included Chanticleer, the Dale Warland Singers, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorale, the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, the American Bach Soloists, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. As a soloist, John has appeared with the Sacramento Choral Society, Festival Opera in Walnut Creek, Pacific Repertory Opera, West Bay Opera, and Berkeley Opera. He has also sung roles with companies in Sarasota, Des Moines, and Dayton, and he was an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera.John received his Master’s Degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in English from Princeton University. Before recklessly pursuing a career in music, John taught English in Guangzhou, China, and worked as a journalist for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, using his voice in a different capacity—as newscaster, reporter, and host of regional and national broadcasts. John lives in San Francisco with his bass-baritone German shepherd Lucy, where he enjoys cooking, serving, and consuming dessert—at all hours of the day.

Dan Cromeenes, countertenor,  is a versatile musician who has performed professionally as a countertenor soloist, choral singer, and accompanist. Originally from southern California, he studied piano and voice at Biola University. He received his Master’s degree in accompanying at East Carolina University, where he made his countertenor solo debut with Capella Antiqua. After working three years at Biola as Staff Accompanist, he joined Chanticleer for their 2005-06 season, singing concerts across Europe, Japan, and the United States. Dan continues to perform throughout the San Francisco Bay area, both as an accompanist and as a singer. He has played for Santa Clara University, West Bay Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, BASOTI, Santa Clara Chorale, Lamplighters Music Theatre, and has worked as a freelance accompanist and coach. As a singer, he has performed with various ensembles, including American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, Clerestory, Pacific Collegium, Sanford Dole Ensemble, San Francisco Renaissance Voices, and Grace Cathedral Choir of Men & Boys. As a soloist, he has performed Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Santa Clara Chorale, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with Bach Collegium San Diego, Handel’s Te Deum in A Major with San Francisco Lyric Chorus, Bach’s St. John Passion with Bay Area Classical Harmonies (BACH), new editions of Alessandro Scarlatti’s works with Arcadiana, and early music recitals on SCU’s Faculty Recital Series and at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church. When not onstage or behind a piano, Dan can usually be found either on a hike in the mountains or at home baking gourmet goodies.

Chris Fritzsche, soprano, is a native of Santa Rosa CA. He has been a “performer” since the tender age of two, when he was first dragged (literally) across the stage, playing the part of young Michael’s teddy bear in the play, Peter Pan. Flush with such early success, he took up the guitar at age seven and immersed himself in music of the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, and John Denver, among others. He discovered the joys of choral singing in high school and went on to study voice in college as a tenor. Several leading musical theatre and opera roles later, he graduated with a degree in music, and was about to get a real estate license (in order to satisfy his Capricorn desire for money) when someone informed him that the falsetto voice he had only ever used in jest could actually be put to use on the concert stage. This led him to join the men’s ensemble Chanticleer as a soprano for the next 11 years, performing in many of the world’s greatest concert halls and singing on well over a dozen recordings, two of which won Grammy Awards. Having retired from the road in 2003, he has since expanded his solo and ensemble career, appearing with various groups and artists in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. He served on the vocal faculty at his alma mater, Sonoma State University, from 2004 to 2009. He continues to teach vocal classes and performs regularly with the Sonoma Bach early music organization. He is currently the Music Director for the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Rosa.

David Kurtenbach, tenor, is engaged regularly with leading Early Music and contemporary music ensembles throughout the Bay Area and North America. A soloist with Apollo’s Fire, Volti, Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE), Clerestory, Oakland East Bay Symphony and Chorus, Schola Cantorum, and Pacific Mozart Ensemble, he has also shared the stage with American Bach Soloists, Magnificat, and the Marion Verbruggen Trio. His performances have been heard at Tanglewood, Ojai, Oregon Bach Festival, and Berkeley Early Music Exhibition, as well as on commercial recordings for Innova/Naxos, Koch International, Soli Deo Gloria, and Tonehammer. David is also an experienced opera conductor, having spent nine years with Festival Opera as Conductor of the Chorus and recently completed his appointment as Chorus Master of Opera San Jose. He currently works at Grace Cathedral teaching voice and music theory to choirboys and clergy, and sings each week with the Choir of Men and Boys.

Clifton Massey, alto, enjoys performing a variety of vocal styles with world-class musicians. Praised for his “depth of tone” by the Dallas Morning News and “expressive, moving” singing by San Francisco Classical Voice, he strives for informed interpretations of styles from the Middle Ages to newly-composed pieces. Clifton is often sought for oratorio and ensemble work throughout the Bay Area and beyond, and has appeared as soloist with notable period-instrument groups including Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Concert Royal NYC, American Bach Soloists, and the Dallas Bach Society. Stage roles include Apollo in Albinoni’s Il Nascimento dell’Aurora with City Concert Opera, and the Sorceress in Purcell’s King Arthur at the Bloomington Early Music Festival. An eclectic taste in music has led to work with ensembles as diverse as electronica composers, bluegrass bands, gospel choirs, and vocal jazz groups. As an educator, Clifton seeks to instill a love of music and singing with young people, and is often sought as a choral clinician and adjudicator. A proponent of high-level ensemble singing, Clifton sang with the award-winning ensemble Chanticleer with whom he performed over 200 concerts, including the Tanglewood Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo Opera City and in a variety of the world’s finest concert halls. Clifton is a native of Dallas, Texas and holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Texas Christian University and a Masters in Early Music vocal performance from Indiana University, where he studied with Paul Elliott, Alan Bennett and Paul Hillier.

James Nicholas Monios, bass, enjoys a varied musical career as a performer and teacher. A native of Long Beach, California, Jim studied piano, contrabass, and voice while earning a Master of Arts degree in historical musicology. Since moving to San Francisco in 1991, Jim has performed with many of the finest ensembles in the Bay Area, including San Francisco Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, American Bach Soloists, and San Francisco Choral Artists, and he has appeared as soloist with San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco City Concert Opera, Soli Deo Gloria, and Magnificat. He has been bass soloist at Temple Sherith-Israel and several San Francisco churches, including Church of the Advent, where he also served as Associate Director of Music. He began working with Piedmont Children’s Choir in 1994 and has continued teaching and conducting in private schools ever since, while maintaining a private piano studio in San Francisco.

Justin Montigne, countertenor, is originally from Des Moines, Iowa, where he was forced off the piano bench after a dismal accompanying stint into the middle school choir. After this fortuitous switch, he went on to receive his Bachelor’s in music from Drake University in Des Moines, and his Master’s and DMA in vocal performance from the University of Minnesota. An active teacher as well as performer, Justin taught voice for the University of Minnesota and toured Minnesota and the upper Midwest, performing with many ensembles including the Minnesota Opera, the Minnesota Orchestra, Western Plains Opera, and the Des Moines Symphony. Justin then moved to San Francisco and sang alto for three years with the acclaimed male vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, performing a wide variety of works with the group in venues around the United States and the world. He has sung with the Minnesota Opera, the Oregon Bach Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, AVE, Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, and other ensembles. Justin teaches voice at the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and is a registered yoga teacher, specializing in yoga for singers. When not warbling, teaching, or practicing yoga poses, Justin enjoys time at home with the other three J’s—his husband Joe and their two challenging canines, Jasmine and Jorge.

Michael Costa is the General Manager of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. He previously worked as a Salesforce.com project consultant for non-profit organizations through Exponent Partners, the program coordinator at Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators (RISE), and a classroom teacher on Chicago’s south side. He has studied voice and piano, and he holds a B.A. in classics from Brown University, a B.A. in music from Rhode Island College, and a M.Sc.Ed. from Northwestern University.

 

Jim Meehan  is a regular at choral concerts, symphony, and the opera. A software engineer by day, he has sung with Cantabile Chorale and the Sanford Dole Ensemble. He has a B.S. in Math and Music Theory and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Yale.

Mary Jane Perna is thrilled and proud to be part of the Clerestory family. She is Chief Development Executive for Sutter Care at Home. Previously, she built two fundraising programs UC Berkeley—as Assistant Dean for College Relations at the College of Letters & Science, and as Director of Development for the University Library—and developed the major gifts program at Earthjustice. She holds her B.A. and M.A. from UC Berkeley’s English Department and is a poet who has published inBoundary 2, Occident, and Peregrine. Her most important role has been as mother of her son Mario.

Jess Perry is currently the Senior Budget Manager for the San Francisco Opera, after having sung in the Opera Chorus for twelve seasons. Previously, Jess was the Business Manager of Chanticleer for well over a decade. As an avid fan of excellent choral music, Jess is thrilled to be on the founding Board of Directors of Clerestory.

Nancy Roberts has years of experience in marketing and public relations, communications, and project management for non-profit organizations, including five years as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Chanticleer. She is a co-founder of The Idea Hive, a Bay Area sustainability consultancy. Previously, Nancy was Director of Marketing for San Jose Symphony, Chief Operating Officer for Opera World, and Information Service Director (in charge of research and publications) for OPERA America, an international service organization for professional opera. In addition to a Green MBA from Dominican University of California, Nancy holds a Bachelor’s degree in history (Phi Beta Kappa) and a Master’s degree in French literature from The George Washington University. She began her working life at the age of 17 as a professional ballet dancer in Europe.