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LRMC BULLETIN BOARD eSCRIP FUNDRAISER: The Chorale is involved in a very simple fundraising program, which costs you nothing and takes 5 minutes or less to join. Simply log on to eScrip.com, identify the Group name as Los Robles Master Chorale or Group ID# 4532517, then follow the 4 easy steps, and you will start raising money for the Chorale! Each time you shop at the over 150 merchants involved in this program, from 1% to 8% of your credit card purchases will be donated automatically to the LRMC eScrip account. Anyone interested in helping to support the Chorale is encouraged to log on to eScrip and contibute to our Music Program. Thank-you for your help! |
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LOS ROBLES MASTER CHORALE Featured Links
Conductor:
James Stemen
Accompanist:
Wilbur Skeels
Board of Directors:
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President:
Peggy Johnson
VP-Artistic:
Lenard Geres
VP-Marketing:
Lynn Youngren
VP-Fundraising:
Lupita Fanning
Secretary:
Joyce Keefer
Treasurer:
Barbara Magnuson
Past President:
Floyd Martin
Members:
Donald Glynn
Peggy Glynn
Robert Weibezahl
LR Children's Choir Liaison:
Robert Young
Coordinators:
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Cashier:
Joyce Keefer
Concert Manager:
Marianne Bonyhady
Database:
Jennifer Roe
Grantwriter:
Barbara Magnuson
Historian:
Edith Pierce-Snyder
Librarian:
Gail Demirtas
e-Scrip:
Lupita Fanning
Program Advertising:
Lynn Youngren
Program Notes:
Wilbur Skeels
Publication Design:
Lynn Youngren
Publicity:
Robert Weibezahl
Ticket Sales:
Marcia Yoshida, Lynn Youngren
Volunteer Coordinator:
Judith Adams
Webmaster:
Nick Esser
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LRMC Staff
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Introducing MAESTRO JAMES STEMEN,
Conductor
Before retiring in 2006, Maestro Stemen was on the music faculty of Moorpark College for 37 years, where he founded the choral program which led to the Los Robles Master Chorale, guiding it for 30 years. The Academic Senate at the college honored him with its Distinguished Faculty Chair for 1999. He has always believed that learning, performing and experiencing the great choral masterworks at a high level of quality is possible even for amateur singers - if they have the desire, the interest, and the intensity.
He finds his inspiration not only in the music, but also in the singers themselves. Ever the teacher, he has derived great satisfaction from seeing the human and musical results of his patient coaching, both with degree-seeking students and with non-academic singers from the surrounding communities. Some Chorale singers have been with Maestro Stemen since the early days of his Oratorio Chorus, which then became the Moorpark Masterworks Chorale, and eventually the Los Robles Master Chorale, as it is known today.
Stemen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Goshen College in Indiana, his native state. He earned Master of Music degrees in Music Education and in Sacred Music from Southern Methodist University under his mentor, Dr. Lloyd Pfautsch. He has participated in workshops with such esteemed conductors as Roger Wagner, Robert Shaw, Paul Salamunovich, Howard Swan, Dennis Keene and Helmut Rilling.
In addition to his academic resumé, Stemen also brings to the task a notable ability to relate personally to his singers and win from them a high level of excellence in the choral arts. He finds in the great choral literature the expression of life's greatest themes and occasions, and delights in finding ways to share them with an increasing circle of listeners and performers. Maestro Stemen is a resident of Westlake Village, CA.
Dr. Skeels has been associated with the Los Robles Master Chorale since 1980, serving as a singer, rehearsal and concert accompanist, resident composer and assistant director. His contributions to the Chorale have been invaluable, and he has been a wonderful complement to Maestro Stemen.
Dr. Skeels was born in New Zealand. He attended the University of New Zealand and received a Master of Arts degree in English Literature and Language in 1959, graduating with First Class Honours (summa cum laude). He also received the Diploma In Pianoforte from Trinity College of Music, London, UK. He came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar to study theology, and was ordained a minister in 1963.
Dr. Skeels studied piano with Paul Magill and Maria Schramm; organ with Ian Jamieson; and composition with Douglas Lilburn. His early idol in the field of concert accompaniment was the famed Gerald Moore. He has actively developed his choral conducting skills by studying with Charles Hirt, Paul Salamunovich and James Vail. He has conducted a variety of vocal choirs and handbell ensembles. He was president of the Ventura County Choral Conductors Guild from 1984 to 1989, and continues to be a member of the American Choral Directors Association.
Dr. Skeels has a great love for classical music. His passion for that genre led him to the art of composing. Several of his choral works have been premiered by the Los Robles Master Chorale and never fail to receive a rousing reception from appreciative audiences. He has also created a publishing company, Cantus Quercus Press, which features his music as well as the music of his late friend, composer Franz Biebl of Germany, and the Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos - plus twenty-five other composers from nine countries, including Canada, England, Russia (Siberia), Australia, and Poland. You may check out the press's website at this address: http://cantusquercus.com.
Dr. Skeels's knowledge of music - its history, complexity of styles, composer intentions, and appropriate interpretations - has enlightened both the Los Robles Master Chorale and its audiences for many seasons.
Dr. Skeels retired in 2004 after forty years of parish ministry. He is married to Delia "Dee" Skeels, also a noted accompanist and a member of the Los Robles Master Chorale. They live in Thousand Oaks, CA.
© Los Robles Master Chorale, except as otherwise marked. All rights reserved.
