About WAVE
History & Mission
The Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) was founded in September 1999 as an outgrowth of an education class sponsored by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS). This ensemble, now an affiliate of SFEMS, consists of 14 women who are dedicated to promoting and performing music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. From its inception WAVE's mission has been to perform in as authentic and skilled a manner as possible, while always striving to communicate the heart and soul of this incredibly rich musical heritage. WAVE has performed concerts in the greater San Francisco Bay Area as well as many public service concerts and outreach programs for communities in need such as hospitals, senior citizens, AIDS research, and the inmates at Santa Rita Jail. Members of WAVE give of their talent to support those in need as well as engender an appreciation of early music through their performances.
Personnel
Susan Overhauser, Barbara Miller, Susan Russell, Bekah Barnett, Celia, Alison Thomas, Alisa Gould Sugden
Nancy Marsh, Meryl Sacks
Dorothy Manly, Sara Stutz, Charlene Woodcock, Tanya Drlik, Marcia Hofer
Cindy Beitmen, Director
Cindy Beitmen began her career singing opera in the Washington, D.C. area. After six years of teaching, singing, and conducting in Vienna, Austria, she moved to Seattle where she began specializing in early music as a student of Margriet Tindemans. Cindy received her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Washington, during which time she performed as soloist with the Seattle Chamber Singers, Broadway Symphony, Vancouver Early Music Festival, and the Early Music Society of the Islands in Victoria, B.C. Performance opportunities led her to New York City where she sang with Pomerium, the Virgin Consort, Symphony for the United Nations, Ensemble Fortuna based in Boston, and the British ensemble Circa 1500. As a member of the New York Ensemble for Early Music, she toured throughout the U.S. in the medieval liturgical drama Herod and the Innocents and performed the Resurrection Play of Tours at the New York Cloisters. She taught voice and vocal diction at Northern Arizona University and currently directs the early music vocal ensembles at Mills College, is the music director at St. Albert Priory in Oakland, and is founder and director of the Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble which specializes in music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.