Conductor & Pianist

Conductor: Rebecca P.N. Seeman, DMA, MNA

https://www.rebeccaseeman.com/

(Please call me Rebecca!)

Rebecca Petra Naomi Seeman is a Bay Area Native. She is on the faculty in the Performing Arts and Social Justice Department at the University of San Francisco and serves as the Artistic Director and Conductor of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus, an advanced a cappella choral ensemble in the East Bay. She has taught at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley, in addition to previous academic, synagogue, and church choral positions in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Iowa City.

Rebecca began teaching in the Performing Arts and Social Justice Department at the University of San Francisco in 2001, where she established the first classical choral ensemble in many years at USF. In addition to her work with choirs work at USF, she teaches private voice and Intro to Music Theory. She has also taught or Conducting, Advanced Musicianship, Theory I (for music majors), and Music Appreciation, and has conducted the Orchestra and directed Chamber Music Ensembles. She was awarded the Distinguished Adjunct Teacher Award in 2012. 

Rebecca has been the Conductor and Artistic Director of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus since 2004. Sacred and Profane is an advanced non-professional choir of singers who enthusiastic about singing a wide range of high-quality choral repertoire. The ensemble has presented several premieres and have championed the music of Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist, among others.

Rebecca holds a BA in Voice and an MA in Performance Practice and Conducting from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Her conducting teachers have included Nicole Paiement, Timothy Stalter, William Hatcher, and Eric Ericson.

Rebecca also holds an MNA from USF (Masters of Nonprofit Administration). Her Capstone is titled, ADEI in Performing Arts Organizations, with a research emphasis in the choral music sector.

In addition to her work in choral music, Rebecca is co-producer of a documentary film about folk music impresario Izzy Young, currently in post-production. She performs regularly with her wineglass organ, and enjoys growing food for cooking and preserving, being in nature, and spending time with her partner Pete and their dog Laila and cats Pangur at their home in San Leandro, CA.

Collaborative Pianist: Paul G. McCurdy

Paul G. McCurdy has enjoyed musical relationships with a wide range of choruses throughout the Bay Area, including the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus, Sacred and Profane, the San Francisco Choral Society, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Volti, and the choruses at Chabot College, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, and the University of San Francisco. In addition, he has worked as teacher, coach, or pianist for a number of organizations, including A.C.T. Young Conservatory, the Hamlin School, Lamplighters Musical Theatre, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He holds degrees in anthropology and German from the University of Georgia, where he later served as staff pianist and studied music before relocating to the Bay Area in 2003. He is currently the organist at St. Thomas Anglican Church and serves as piano instructor and collaborative pianist at the University of San Francisco.