Sharon has been the executive director of OYC since 2005.  Prior to joining OYC, Sharon was the Executive Director of Health Initiatives for Youth for six years.  Prior to moving to the Bay Area, she lived in Western Massachusetts for 22 years, where she was the Executive Director of Girls Incorporated of Holyoke for nine years, the director of a homeless shelter, and a caseworker in a foster care program.  She received a Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. in Political Science from Mount Holyoke College.  She is currently an active member of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, and a frequent performer in concerts and services there.  She is a fiddle player and vocalist in the local bands “Half Dozen of the Other” and “Duck River Band”.  She is also a runner and a serious, but conflicted, baseball fan, being an avid A’s fan and a closet (while in California) Red Sox fan.

Music Education Director Andrea Lee
OYC welcomes Andrea Lee as our new School-Based Music Education Director In this newly created position, Andrea will oversee OYC’s 18 school-based chorus, percussion and dance programs and will support our 19 teaching artists in providing vibrant, integrated curricula at these sites.

Andrea comes to us with extensive experience in curriculum development, education, and, providing professional development for artists, and is herself an artist. She is the founder and director of Nyama!, an after school academic and cultural enrichment program, and CLASS, (Cultural Links to Academic and Social Success). Through these programs and others, she has provided arts education programs in Oakland, Emeryville and Berkeley schools. Andrea participated in the Visual and Performing Arts Framework Curriculum Criteria Committee for the California Department of Education, and has developed several curricula and related assessment tools.

Additionally, she has been a part-time lecturer (Black Dance Experience) at San Francisco State University and most recently Contra Costa Community College. She holds a California Teaching Credential, a M.A. in Secondary Education, and a B.A. in dance performance and choreography. Andrea is a principal dancer for Dimensions Dance Theater Company. We are so fortunate to have Andrea with us

LaNell Martin
Director of Choral Programs

OYC Miracle Chorus teacher LaNell Martin is an Oakland native, a graduate of Holy Names High School, and alumna of the Oakland Youth Chorus (1986-1989). Ms. Martin also participated in the Young Musicians’ Program at the University of California, Berkeley. While earning her BA degree at Holy Names College, she returned to that school as the choral director and piano teacher. During that time, she developed a gospel group, Voices of Praise. While teaching, Ms. Martin has sung with the Redwood House Singers and worked with Ysaye Barnwell, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Jackeline Rago. She has taught music at Ernestine Reems Academy of Arts and Technology. Currently, Ms. Martin teaches music to K–8th grade at St. Dominic’s Sacred Heart School in San Francisco. She also conducts the Children and Youth Choirs at Bethany Baptist Church in Oakland, and directs the Children and Men’s Choirs at St. Benedict’s Church in Oakland.

Holly Iniece Burnett
Miracle Conductor

David Chaidez
Miracle Conductor

Julia Tsitsi Chigamba, dancer, singer, instrumentalist from Zimbabwe, has grown up in the rich cultural traditions of Shona music and dance. Daughter of the highly respected gwenyambira, Tute Chigamba, she is longtime member of Mhembero, the Chigamba family dance and mbira ensemble. Ms. Chigamba was one of the original members of Mhembero Dance Company, specializing in traditional dances of Zimbabwe: mbira, mhande, jerusarema, mbakumba, dinhe, chinyambera, muchongoyo, chokoto, amajukwa, and others. For the past five years Ms. Chigamba has taught traditional music and dance in Harare, Zimbabwe. She has also performed and taught widely in the United States and Canada. Ms. Chigamba is excited about sharing her knowledge of Shona music and dance, and continuing her family's work of teaching their traditions in North America. She teaches at various Oakland schools for the OYC¯s Music In The Schools program.

Rhonda Crane, or "Miss Rhonda" as her students call her, was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in San Francisco. She began playing the piano at 8, the viola at 12, and sang every chance she got in church and school choirs. She has played in orchestras, bands, sang in operas and with Street Sounds, and is currently a member of CHELLE! and Friends Ensemble. "Miss Rhonda" is leading the Fruitvale Elementary Miracle Chorus for the 2005-2006 school year.

Angela Dant has been involved with the OYC since 1996, when she house-managed the winter concert, and she's been wearing more and more hats at OYC ever since. Ms. Dant attended Cal State University Hayward as a Theatre Major and has performed in several productions around the Bay Area and abroad. Acting highlights include performing at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in 1994, winning a best actress award for her role as Susie in Chanticleer Theater's production of Wait Until Dark, and performing eight months pregnant in the female version of The Odd Couple at Stage One Theater in Newark. She most recently directed an adaptation to Edgar Lee Master's Spoon River Anthology at a benefit for United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate, and played Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny Opera with the Virago Theatre company . She is currently welcoming her new baby girl to the world of music and performing (and catching her breath!)

Miracle Teacher at ASCEND School and OYC alumnus Bryan Dyer (‘81- ‘89)’s musical career started as a child in the church and through the public school system, where he learned to sing as well as play trumpet, piano, baritone horn, percussion, and piano. He is a member of the a capella quintet Street Sounds, a group whose performance is a tapestry of blues, jazz, African chants, rap, R&B, doo-wop, and civil/human rights songs. Currently, he also performs with the a capella group, SoVoSo, directs his church choir, and works as a singer, producer, and instrumentalist.

Juliana Graffagna
Miracle Chorus conductor

Juliana Graffagna, Miracle Chorus teacher at Glenview Elementary, is a vocalist, pianist and teacher. She is the Music Director and a longtime vocalist for the acclaimed women’s vocal ensemble Kitka. With Kitka, Juliana has recorded numerous CD’s and film soundtracks, and has toured both nationally and abroad. She teaches voice, children’s piano classes with Musical Sprouts and leads Balkan singing workshops throughout the Bay Area. Juliana can also be heard performing locally with Zabava!, a dance band specializing in traditional music of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece.

Tina Harrington has worked with the OYC since 1989 as Alumni Conductor, Assistant conductor, and vocal coach. Her experience as an alumna from 1977 to 1981 enables her to uniquely relate to the students, and her current work brings back warm memories of friendships and experience which focused her own professional pursuits. Ms. Harrington is also Artistic Director of the Distaff Singers (an Oakland-based women's community chorus, now celebrating its 63rd year). In addition, she is Choral Director for the College Preparatory High School, and assistant conductor and a member of the San Francisco Choral Artists, and has lent her vocal coaching expertise to numerous local groups and musical productions.

D'Shawn Hunter graduated from Oakland Technical High School at the age of 16. He is currently studying at Cal Berkeley as a Bio-Sciences Major and he plans to attend medical school at Stanford University. As a member of the OYC from 1997-2003, Mr. Hunter has a great ear for music, as well as a love for the art itself. He performed with the OYC at Oakland's Paramount Theatre and numerous other Bay Area venues and has performed internationally with other choral groups Mr. Hunter has tremendous experience working with youth in several different structures, and truly has a love for OYC.

Michelle Jacques, a transplant to Oakland, California from New Orleans, began studying acting, modern dance, tap, ballet and violin, beginning at the early age of seven. Michelle is the Artistic Director of CHELLE! and Friends Ensemble. Michelle was one of the founding members of the Street Sounds a cappella quintet. Michelle has toured throughout the United States and Europe including, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France and Korea. Michelle performed in Geneva, Switzerland with Chic Street Man, for the United Nations World Conference of Human Rights, The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Gurten Music Festival, and The Berne Jazz Festival. Michelle has performed with and along side many well know artists including: Manhattan Transfer, Dorian Harewood, Wynton Marsalis, Zapp Mama, Linda Hopkins, John Handy, Robert Cray, Chick Corea, Brock Peters, Ladysmith Black Mambaza, Pete Seger, Al Greene, and The Persuasions just to name a few. Michelle’s numerous professional musical credits include: winner of the 1995 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA) for writer of the “Best Folk/Progressive Song”, “Home Africa”; featured artist for the Women in Music Month concert Series at the Oakland Box Theater, spoken word arrangements and music for poets devorah Majors and Opal Adisa Palmer of “Daughters of Yam”, and Michelle was an original member of “Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir and The Kelly Takunda Orphan Project. Michelle is an elementary and middle school conductor for the OYC.