The Donald Brinegar Singers, choral ensemble, was founded in the Fall of 1997 as an ensemble of former students and colleagues of Professor Brinegar. Their first concert was given in November of 1997.
Donald Brinegar, Director
Donald Brinegar is a conductor, tenor soloist, voice instructor, educator and master class clinician. Professor Emeritus of Music at Pasadena City College, Brinegar directed the Choral Studies program at PCC for 36 years. Brinegar also conducts the Donald Brinegar Singers, a community choral ensemble in Pasadena, California, Director of Choruses for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS, and adjunct professor of voice at PCC. During the summers he is an adjunct professor of conducting and voice in the Cal State Los Angeles masters program in Choral conducting. Brinegar has published five book on Choral Music. His book “Pitch Perfect: A Theory and Practice of Choral Intonation” was released in December 2019 and has already been hailed as a singular contribution in the field of Choral Music. “Conducting Primer: Seven Principles of Choral Conducting” was published in May of 2020 and “Conducting Primer in Practice” was published in June 2020. Both books have received international critical acclaim.
Jenny Tisi, Assistant Conductor
Jenny Tisi is the Director of Children’s and Youth Choirs at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, California, where she has served on staff since 2011. She directs four non-auditioned children’s and youth choirs, grades 1st – 12th. Prior to her work at All Saints, she was a public school music educator for 22 years and taught all age levels K-12 in New York and Washington State.
Though a 34-year veteran in her field, she continues studying and recently graduated with a second master’s degree – a Masters in Choral Conducting from California State University, Los Angeles. Her master’s thesis – “Considerations in Creating a Children’s and Youth Church Choir Program with a Peace and Social Justice-Focus” serves as her passion and drive for her work at All Saints and in the choral community. She is considered a leader in this work and has presented at ACDA conferences and written publications on her work with Peace and Social Justice-focused choir tours.
When she is not working at the church, Jenny serves as the Assistant Conductor for the Donald Brinegar Singers, gives choral workshops, studies voice, and enjoys cooking for her friends.
Alan Geier, Pianist
Alan Geier has been a member of the Donald Brinegar Singers since 2001, initially as a
singer, and for the last 5 years, as accompanist. After graduating from Pomona College,
Alan taught music full time at Polytechnic School in Pasadena for almost 40 years (the
classes he taught included Choral Music, Chamber Music, Music History, and Musical
Theater). For 20 summers he directed a Chamber Music Workshop for adults at
Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt). He has since retired from both of
those endeavors, but remains active as a pianist.
Currently, in addition to DBS, Alan regularly accompanies for Occidental College (he is
Staff Accompanist for both Music and Theater departments), Pasadena Pro Musica, and
Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, where he has been Music Director for many
shows, including Pippin, Next to Normal, Cabaret, and (coming this spring) Rent. When
not playing music, Alan enjoys hiking with flutist wife, Barbara.
David García Saldaña, Composer-in-Residence
A homegrown Los Angeles Chican@ composer, writer, and singer from the San Gabriel Valley. He collaborates frequently with artists in both dance and theater, creating content ranging from incidental music to new musical theater works. You can find him performing throughout the Los Angeles area with different vocal groups and, at times, on electronics using one of his several new instruments. He currently teaches Music Theory and Composition at Pasadena City College.
For more information, visit davidgarciasaldana.com.
Below, find our current roster of singers for this concert: