Singing is an essential part of life for Diane Althaus (March 12) and sharing it with others is a joy. She organized and sang in an opera ensemble program, including music from Simon Boccanegra, Cosi Fan Tutte, Martha, and Carmen. She and her husband, baritone Mike Dodaro, have sung duet programs of opera arias and art songs, and performed in various local venues, including Stage7. Diane sang in Puccini’s Butterfly in a local opera company, the Countess in a duet from The Marriage of Figaro and Desiree in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”; is
her favorite sacred music.
Vicki Boeckman (March 26)has been performing and teaching since the 1980s. She is
embracing the new virtual world with enthusiasm, curiosity, and a sense of awe, finding it to be positive and rewarding amidst the challenges we are all facing. Pre-pandemic she was an internationally acclaimed performing and recording artist who traveled all over the US and to many other countries to perform and teach. Vicki resided in Denmark from 1981-2004 and had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the finest musicians of the day including Jaap ter Linden, John Holloway, René Jacobs, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Pedro Memelsdorf and Markus Zahnhausen. Her Danish recorder trio Wood’N’Flutes had a fantastic 15-year run performing all over
Europe and working with contemporary composers in addition to doing children’s theater. She was an adjunct professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen for 12 years and taught at the Ishøj Municipal School of Music for 23 years. Many of those students are now professionals, performing and teaching in conservatories in Denmark and around Europe. Locally Vicki has been a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, The Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Medieval Women’s Choir, Gallery Concerts, Philharmonia Northwest Orchestra, and the Skagit Symphony.
She is currently music director for the Seattle Recorder Society, co-director for the Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound (ROPS), and Artistic Director for the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop. She dearly hopes that these organizations can withstand the challenges of separation and continue to thrive.
Annie Chang Center (March 26) violist/pianist, started performing in her native Taiwan for foreign dignitaries when she was six years old. Since coming to the U.S., Annie has performed in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. As a piano soloist, she performed with San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. As violist, she performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Olympic, Utah, Prague, and Red Rocks Festivals, and has collaborated with members of the Juilliard, Guarneri, Emerson, Cleveland, and Philadelphia Quartets. For ten years, she was the assistant principal violist of the Phoenix Symphony, for which she performed regularly as a viola soloist. She has
also played in the AZ Musicfest Orchestra, Black Pearl Orchestra, South Florida Symphony, and Seattle Opera. Currently, she plays in the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
Lin Chen (March 5) keeps herself busy singing and playing the violin as a freelance musician in the Greater Seattle area. Her vocal adventures started at the age of 16 when she started taking singing lessons out of her love for musical theatre. It wasn’t long before she started to discover a new interest for opera and has been singing and learning the classical repertoires ever since. Growing up in Australia, she was fortunate to study with a number of teachers from the Griffith and the Sydney conservatoriums and was an active participant in the local performance scene. Lin is excited to be a part of LMC and looks forward to sharing her music with the LMC community!
Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Abigail Habegger (March 5) is new to the Seattle area. She started playing the piano at 5 years of age and enjoyed playing in competitions and accompanying concerts while growing up. She is known for her teaching, solo work as well as her collaborative work, including opera, chamber music, juries, and competitions. Abigail has accompanied rehearsals for La Traviata in Urbania, Italy, Broadway shows such as Cabaret, touring children's choirs, and members of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor in Music from DePaul University and a Master’s in Music from Northern Illinois University. She is currently the piano accompanist for Puget Soundworks Chorus of Seattle. Abigail also loves hiking, running, baking, and keeping up with her 3 young children Alyse, Arakel, and Anya, as well as her husband Steve.
Katie Hochman (March 5, 26), soprano, can be heard regularly giving recitals with Ladies Musical Club of Seattle. She has also enjoyed singing opera and oratorio with Puget Sound Concert Opera (PSCO), Opera Theater Oregon, Portland Opera, Utah Opera, Columbia Chorale and Southwest Washington Symphony (SWS). Highlights include the title role of Massenet’s Cendrillon and Héro in Berlioz’s Beatrice et Bénédict performed with PSCO and Exultate, jubilate performed with SWS.
Shiang-Yin Lee (March 26) performs with chamber groups around the Puget Sound and is a dedicated full-time educator. She teaches at the University of Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest School of Music, Music Works NW and Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra. Lee received her Doctoral of Musical Arts from the University of Washington and Master of Music from the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied with Toby Saks, Ray Davis and Cordelia Miedel, Phyllis Young. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival and did early music scholarship at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She is the principal cellist of Sammamish Symphony Orchestra since 2012.
Joan Lundquist (March 5, 12, 26) has served as a collaborative pianist for Seattle area musicians and organizations for 30 years. Since moving to the area from Humboldt State University in northern California, where she was staff accompanist, Joan has worked with the Northwest Boychoir, Seattle Choral Company, has taught at Seattle University and Northwest University, and has worked with several area private music teachers. Currently, Ms. Lundquist is the Director of Music at Immanuel Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle and rehearsal accompanist for the Seattle Choral Company.
Karin McCullough (March 12 and 20) took the less-traveled road to a music career. A serious pianist while growing up in Illinois, she suppressed her aspirations and instead became a paralegal. One day she was asked to accompany opera singers at a Fremont Bistro—a weekly engagement lasting 5 years. By then her popularity as an accompanist, soloist and piano teacher let her trade her life as a paralegal for that of a full-time musician. Karin is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano. Karin maintains a flourishing piano studio in Ballard and performs frequently in the Seattle area. She is an active volunteer and member of Seattle Music Teachers Association (SMTA), Principal Organizer for the local chapter of Bach in the Subways, of which she is on the Board of Directors, and has served on the boards of SMTA and Musical Experiences, a nonprofit classical music education organization. Karin is the pianist for Third Church of Christ, Scientist.
Valentina Rodov (March 20) was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, and received her music education as a concert pianist from the famous Moscow Conservatory. She performed solo and in chamber groups prior to emigrating to the United States. Once in the U.S., Valentina decided to become a lawyer, which she successfully accomplished upon graduating from law school in Los Angeles and passing the California Bar. Valentina practiced law as business litigator in Southern California for over twenty years until she and her husband moved to Seattle. With great support and encouragement from the Seattle music community, Valentina came back to piano playing, and soon became a frequent and critically acclaimed recitalist and chamber music performer at various venues in the Seattle area.
An outstanding member of the Northwest musical community for over 20 years, Regina Thomas (March 5, 12) has performed with a variety of companies including Kitsap Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Opera, and the Seattle Opera Guild. Currently LMC’s Chair of Public Concerts and Artistic Director of Puget Sound Concert Opera, Regina has served as Seattle Opera Guild’s VP of Education and is a past President of LMC. Favorite operatic roles include Adriana Lecouvreur, Suor Angelica, Tosca, and Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle). Concert work includes Schumann’s Frauenleibe und-leben, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder; soprano solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Fauré Requiem, and Berio’s Folk Songs for voice and chamber ensemble.