CINDY BEITMEN, 1953-2024
We mourn the passing of WAVE founder and long-time artistic director Cindy Beitmen on April 15, 2024, from cancer.
Cindy was a major figure in the Bay Area music scene since 1999, when she founded Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE), a 12-18 voice women’s vocal group specializing in medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music, particularly pieces written by or for women. WAVE was an outgrowth of a class sponsored by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS). Under Cindy’s leadership, the group performed in Berkeley Early Music Festival fringe concerts and in many other Bay Area venues. In 2011 Cindy created a concert honoring the music of the California missions, with performances in missions from Carmel to Sonoma. She stepped down as WAVE artistic director in 2017 to focus on her health.
Born in eastern Pennsylvania on December 29, 1953, Cindy began her career singing opera in the Washington, D.C., area. She received her Master of Music degree from the University of Washington, where she began specializing in early music, writing her thesis on Hildegard von Bingen. She taught voice and early music at Mills College and re-established the Mills College Choir. She spent almost 20 years teaching voice and leading the choir at St. Albert Priory in Oakland. She began directing the community chorus Contra Costa Chorale in 2012.
We will miss Cindy’s creativity, sense of humor, diligence, and dedication to the world of early music.