HISTORY & MISSION
Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble was founded by Cindy Beitmen in 1999. WAVE is a chorus of women who are dedicated to the music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. From its inception, WAVE’s mission has been to communicate the heart and soul of this incredibly rich musical heritage with authenticity and excellence. WAVE presents concerts in the greater San Francisco Bay area and also presents public service concerts and outreach programs for those in need. WAVE has performed in hospitals, at senior residences, in support of AIDS research, for the inmates at Santa Rita Jail, and has given concerts to benefit the restoration of California missions.
PERSONNEL
- Carolyn Albiston
- Amy Corbett
- Tanya Drlik
- Marcia Hofer
- Christyna Kaczynski-Kozel
- Nancy Marsh
- Barbara Miller
- Allegra Mitchell
- Susan Overhauser
- Susan Russell
- Meryl Sacks
- Ilana Shalowitz
- Sarah Shockley
- Alisa Gould Sugden
- Hannah Tandeta
- Carol Terry
- Alison Thomas
- Madelyn Weiss
- Helen Wolfe
- Charlene Woodcock
DIRECTORS
Phoebe J. Rosquist and Shira Kammen have collaborated in a number of early music ventures over the years, including medieval ensemble Cançonièr, and they were delighted to become co-leaders of WAVE in 2017, carrying on founder Cindy Beitmen’s legacy together.
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has devoted herself to exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A long-standing member of the early music groups Ensemble Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, the King’s Noyse, the Newberry and Folger Consorts, the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to bringing music to river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, Latvia, Russia and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, Green, Grande Ronde, East Carson and Klamath Rivers. Shira’s projects include: medieval ensemble Fortune’s Wheel; new music group Ephemeros; eclectic ethnic band Panacea; English Country Dance band Roguery; the early music ensembles Cançoniér and In Bocca al Lupo, as well as frequent collaborations with performers such as singer/storyteller John Fleagle, storyteller/harpist Patrick Ball, medieval music experts Margriet Tindemans and Anne Azema, and in many theatrical and dance productions. Also an avid music educator, she has taught at many summer music workshops, coaching students of early music at Yale University, Case Western, the University of Oregon at Eugene, and working at specialized seminars at the Fondazione Cini in Venice, Italy and the Scuola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland.
Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist was born in Germany and grew up in Ohio. She began her undergraduate studies at University of Louisville intent on becoming a jazz singer, but quickly discovered that early music was her true calling. After completing graduate studies at University of Southern California in Early Music Performance, Phoebe has appeared as a soloist with the Waverly Consort, Voices of Music, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, Bach Collegium San Diego, and North Holland Opera. Phoebe’s favorite roles performed include Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Filia in Carissimi’s Jephte, soprano soloist in Stravinsky’s Les Noces (Svadebka), Amphitrite in Locke’s Tempest, Cupid in Purcell’s Timon of Athens, Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore, the title role in Rossi’s Orfeo and various Virtues in Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum. Among her collaborations are medieval ensemble Cançonièr, baroque ensemble La Monica, lieder with celebrated pianist Robert Thies, early music and dance with Italy’s visionary Art Monastery Project and guest-stints with Bologna-based Cappella Artemisia, whose rich repertoire consists of music written by and for nuns. Phoebe has also toured the US and Indonesia with Gamelan X (a Balinese/hybrid world music ensemble), and sung Balkan & folk music with Kitka and VOCO. Phoebe transcribed a book of 17th-century solo songs by Tarquinio Merula for A&R Editions, and has recorded for the Naxos, Nonesuch, Delos, Dorian, Decca and Sony record labels.