Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
EQV vocal ensemble
with special guest Joel Chapman
Vocal quintet EQV come together for their second appearance, offering a program of diverse and vibrant music that spans eras and genres. Joined by special guest Joel Chapman, these colleagues hail from some of California’s finest vocal ensembles (Volti, LA Master Chorale, SF Symphony Chorus, Cappella SF, and more). EQV are Yuhi Aizawa Combatti, Colby Smith, Sharmila G. Lash, Tim Silva, and Peter Dennis.
$15 pre-sale, cash at the door
For advance tickets, visit Brown Paper Tickets
Yuhi Aizawa Combatti, a Japan-native soprano, is recognized for her clear timbre and keen musicianship in repertoire ranging from Renaissance to Contemporary. Yuhi has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles in the United States and Japan including the Kronos Quartet, the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Berkeley Symphony. A passionate advocate of new music, Yuhi was a featured soloist for the West Coast premiere of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia with UC Davis Orchestra in 2015, and has enjoyed premiering works by a multitude of composers including Melissa Dunphy, Ted Hearne, and LJ White as a member of Volti. She made her operatic debut in 2005 at Spoleto Festival U.S.A in the North American premiere of Braunfels's Die Vogel. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College. When not singing, Yuhi enjoys cooking and eating cuisines from all around the world, and spending time with her husband Tegan and their two irresistible dogs: Tanuki and Ten.
Colby Smith has had the privilege of performing across the United States with celebrated ensembles such as New York Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet, New Century Chamber Orchestra, and The Knights while at the Ojai Music Festival. Her interest in new music was sparked in 2008 while performing at the Spoleto Festival in Anthony Davis’ opera Amistad. She continues to explore the complexity of new music and joy of collaborating with composers as a member of Volti. A proud New Jersey native, Colby earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College.
Sharmila G. Lash is an active performer in both jazz and classical settings, is a private voice instructor, and works as a session singer, appearing on a number of motion picture soundtracks. She sings with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and San Francisco-based Volti, as well as the Los Angeles-based vocal jazz quartet True North. Sharmila began her music studies at a very young age, starting piano lessons at age six and singing lessons at age eleven. She was a music student at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and continued on to study classical voice at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she discovered her passion for jazz. She has shared the stage with artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Kronos Quartet, Carmen Lundy, Don Shelton, and many others, including some of the top local jazz musicians in both Northern and Southern California. When she isn't traveling for gigs, she manages The Studios at Piedmont Piano Company. sharmilaguhalash.com
Tim Silva is a proud native of the East Bay. When he's not making art, he's playing with plants. As a singer, he works with Volti, Gaude, and the Throckmorton Theatre Chorus regularly. He will also appear as a guest artist with the California Bach Society to open this year's Berkeley Early Music Festival. After seven years in the classroom as a Pre-Kinder-through-8th-grade music teacher, Tim has moved into choral directing, working as an assistant conductor for the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choirs, and directing a tenor-bass ensemble called Chorum. An active collaborator and versatile performer, he has performed and/or recorded with Artists' Vocal Ensemble, Briget Boyle, Chalice Consort, Foreignfire, Iron Henry, Katy Stephan, Kronos Quartet, Marin Symphony, Michael Bang, Nick Hours, ODC/Dance, Russian National Orchestra, San Francisco Choral Artists, and others. He has recorded the music of Mark Adamo, William Bolcom & Sue Morris, Paul Chihara, Kui Dong, Michael Gandolfi, Gordon Getty, Christopher Hecht, Tonia Ko, Zibuokle Martinaityte, Forrest Pierce, Terry Riley, and other living composers. After producing and releasing an album with folk trio Iron Henry, Tim is beginning to embark on a solo project, and recently co-produced Katy Stephan's album, due for release this summer.
Peter Dennis is a Bay Area-native vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. An alumnus of San Francisco State University's diverse music department, his performance experience runs the gamut from opera to symphonic and chamber music, funk, bluegrass, jazz, Latin, musical theater, and improvisational music. In 2014 he placed 1st in his appearance at that year's NATS Bay Area festival, and has performed as a soloist with San Francisco's Phenix Opera Company. He performs regularly with the Bay Area's most distinguished vocal ensembles, including Cappella SF, Volti, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus.
Joel Chapman is a conductor, bass-baritone, and songwriter in the Bay Area. He sings professionally with Volti, an SF-based ensemble that performs and animates completely new works, as well as Endersnight, a choir specializing in Renaissance music. A sought-after low bass, Joel has been made appearances with groups peppered throughout the Bay Area, including the San Mateo Masterworks Chorale, Convivium, California Bach Society, and Stanford Chamber Chorale. A composer and songwriter, Joel is co-creator of Gravity, a new musical most recently seen at the 2016 TheatreWorks New Works Festival in Palo Alto. As an educator, he teaches voice privately and works with the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir as a conductor and accompanist. Joel’s new work for TTBB chorus, The Song, poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye, will debut in April with the Fog City Singers. joelchapmanmusic.com