Board of Directors
Paul Rosen, President
Jennifer Leu, Vice President
Allan Lakin, Secretary & Treasurer
Carol Peterson, Director at Large
Jenine Baines, Director at Large
Reena Esmail, Advisory Board
Artistic Team
Dr. Steven Kronauer, Artistic Director
Twyla Meyer, Collaborative Pianist
Duncan Tuomi, Assistant Conductor
Adele Lun, Artistic Producer
Scott VanOrnum, Organist-in-Residence
Dr. Steven Kronauer, Artistic Director
Artistic Director Dr. Steven Kronauer presently teaches voice at California State University Long Beach and was the head of the voice and opera program at the University of California, Santa Barbara until 2008. Dr. Kronauer holds a doctorate in choral and operatic conducting from UCLA under the direction of Donald Neuen and Willian Vendice. He completed his undergraduate studies and two Master’s degrees at the University of Michigan: Vocal Performance, studying with John McCollum and Lorna Haywood, and Conducting, under the guidance of Theo Morrison and Dr. Jerry Blackstone.
As both a celebrated voice teacher and an acclaimed conductor, Dr. Kronauer is dedicated to educating singers about healthy technique and supporting their vocal growth. Artes Vocales is unique among community choruses in having an artistic director who is equally accomplished in the fields of conducting and vocal training. Dr. Kronauer’s expertise provides unique performance and learning opportunities for aspiring professionals in singing, conducting, and music education, as well as a profoundly enriching experience for singers of all ability levels.
Dr. Kronauer sang at the Munich State Opera for ten years, and in addition has sung concerts internationally, including over 100 performances as tenor soloist in Carl Off’s Carmina Burana.
He is also a specialist in performing Bach, having studied with some of the greatest interpreters of that repertoire, including Peter Schreier and Ernst Haefliger. He has been greatly influenced in his singing and teaching by the Verdi tenor Dennis O’Neill, CBE; Sir Donald McIntyre; Ruth Falcon; Martin Katz; and Naomi Farr.
Since 2010, Dr. Kronauer conducts and coaches the Young Men’s Ensemble of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, which is committed to helping young men continue to sing healthily throughout the voice change. At the time of its founding, the Young Men’s Ensemble was one of the only such choirs in the world; it has been the model for dozens of other choirs since then. Dr. Kronauer has led public discussions for the American Choral Directors Association on the changing voice, interviewing singers David Daniels and Ben Heppner in conjunction with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and the Buckley School in Los Angeles. The Young Men’s Ensemble, including Dr. Kronauer teaching and conducting, has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Kronauer also has an established studio in Los Angeles for singers of all styles and has several successful students singing internationally, in a variety of genres and media including opera, concert, Broadway, and pop. His work as a vocal coach and choral conductor has helped to launch careers for conductors, music educators, and performers. Dr. Kronauer’s private students include multi-Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer Finneas and multi-Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter Billie Eilish.
Duncan Tuomi, Assistant Conductor
Duncan Tuomi (b. 1994) is a choral conductor and award-winning composer based in Los Angeles, California. He currently teaches undergraduate music theory and aural skills at the University of Southern California (USC), where he is in the final stages of completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral music, and where he completed his Master of Music degree in the same field. In addition to choral music, he studied composition with Dr. Frank Ticheli and Dr. Chris Rozé, and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Music Education from St. Olaf College, where he studied under Dr. Anton Armstrong and Dr. Christopher Aspaas, among many others.
As a composer, Tuomi was the winner of the 2023 American Prize in composition in the “Short Choral Works” category, college and university division, as well as the 2021 American Choral Director’s Association’s Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition. He was a composition fellow in Choral Arts Initiative’s summer 2022 PREMIERE|Project. Tuomi has had works premiered by Choral Arts Initiative, the USC Thornton Chamber Singers and University Chorus, the Long Beach Youth Chorus, the University of Portland Chamber Singers, and the Pacific University Chamber Singers. He has received commissions from the Long Beach Youth Chorus and was commissioned to compose for Portland, Oregon's 10th annual Brothers, Sing On! Tenor/Bass Choir Festival in 2018.
Twyla Meyer, Collaborative Pianist
Twyla Meyer holds a B.F.A. in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota and an M.M. in Accompanying (with honors) from the University of Southern California. Ms. Meyer has been staff accompanist/vocal coach and adjunct keyboard faculty at California State University, Los Angeles from 1980-2010 and has held similar positions at Pasadena City College and Occidental College.
A specialist in 20th century chamber music, she is a founding member of the Matrix Chamber Ensemble performing numerous concerts on the west coast and in New York. Ms. Meyer has been on the faculty of the Idyllwild School of Music and was a featured performer with the Southern California Brahms Festival along with being the principal pianist for the Claremont Clarinet Festival.
She has been on staff with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus for over 18 years which has taken her on several international and national tours including the British Isles, Canada, Brazil, Alaska, Italy, China, Scandinavia, South Africa, and Germany in the summer of 2014. Ms. Meyer has recorded for Artel Records with Metropolitan Opera helden tenor Gary Lakes with whom she also appeared on the Tonight Show. In August of 2007, she toured Chile as a collaborative artist in art song recitals and workshops.