About the Singers

 

Sara Asher (she/her), soprano, is in her third season with 21V. She is a second soprano section leader for the Peninsula Women's Chorus and an accomplished pianist who has accompanied choral concerts and musicals for various local schools.  When not singing, Sara is Head of Product for Faros AI, a data platform startup focusing on engineering operations.

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Dylan Benander (they/them/theirs) is an emerging countertenor and music educator in the Bay Area. They teach K-5 music in Pacifica School District, teach choir with the San Francisco Girls Chorus, and work as the Alto soloist and section leader for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. They also made their recital debut in 2023 with SF Salon Music, and are thrilled to be singing with 21V. Dylan specializes in early music and has a passion for studying gender norms and presentation in Baroque opera, and for performing early music in a historically-informed way. They earned a M.M in vocal performance from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in music from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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Julie Boehler (she/her), soprano, is delighted to be a part of 21V. Julie is the Director of Choral Activities at Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley and loves working with middle school students! When she’s not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her daughters Lily and Maggie and her husband Jordan. Teaching and being the parent of two little ladies keeps her rather busy and she is so grateful to have found 21V to pursue her love of singing in an ensemble. Previously, she sang with choirs such as Cappella SF and San Francisco Symphony Chorus both under the direction of Ragnar Bohlin as well as other freelance choir work and solo engagements. Julie holds a B.M. in Music Education and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University Long Beach.

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Jodie Bourdet (she/her), mezzo- soprano, feels fortunate to be working with such a talented group of musicians. A pianist in her youth, Jodie has sung with WomenSing. When she is not singing, Jodie works as a partner at Cooley, an international law firm, in the areas of corporate and securities law.

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Joey Carini is an alto living in Oakland and working throughout the Bay Area. He grew up in Fremont, singing in the Golden Gate Boys Choir and went to the Bob Cole Conservatory at CSU Long Beach, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Music Education. He previously was the assistant director of Pacific Edge Voices (PEV), and currently teaches Choir and General Music in San Leandro Unified School District. A lover of early music, Joey is a cantor and choir singer at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, performing Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony weekly. 

 

Asher Davison (he/him), alto, was inducted into music by the Santa Monica public schools and private clarinet study with David Sasaki. At Yale, he performed the Copland and Mozart concertos and studied under David Shifrin. He has accompanied voice in numerous opera productions, become a professional chamber coach with CMNC, developed voice as his second instrument, and directed the medieval chamber choir Coro Ciconia. A copyeditor and former education developer and high school science teacher, Asher is currently bass section leader for Steve Main at Piedmont Community Church, sings bass with Magen Solomon's San Francisco Choral Artists and Cyril Deaconoff's Voices of Silicon Valley, and has sung alto with Vox Humana SF under Don Scott Carpenter. He developed his countertenor voice through men and boys Evensongs at St Paul's Episcopal Oakland and quartet Latin Masses at St Margaret Mary Oakland with Christopher Kula, as well as alto section leading for Lacuna Arts under Sven Olbash.

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Tristana Ferreyra-Rantalaiho (she/her) is thrilled to be part of 21V. She holds a master of music in vocal performance from San Francisco State University and an undergraduate degree in choral conducting from Universidad Católica Argentina. She loves to premiere vocal works by new composers as a soloist and with choirs. Apart from her early music and classical music repertoire, she has sung Argentinian tango, bossa nova, and Kurt Weill’s music and has worked as a singer, voice teacher, and choral conductor in Argentina and Finland. She has her private voice studio and teaches voice in the Bay Area at Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, Community Music Center of San Francisco, Spindrift School of Music and Arts, and New Mozart School of Music.

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Monica Frame (she/her), mezzo-soprano, is delighted to embark on 21V's adventure. A member of Volti, San Francisco's new music vocal ensemble, and a soloist and section leader for Saint Mary Magdalene Catholic Church's Early Music Schola in Berkeley, Monica is drawn to the earliest and newest edges of chamber music. Recent highlights include performing Joby Talbot's Path of Miracles at Grace Cathedral with ODC Dance, and premiering Huang Ruo's Angel Island Oratorio on Angel Island with the Del Sol Quartet. In addition to having sung with numerous Bay Area ensembles, Monica has toured and recorded as a member of Rinat, the National Chamber Choir of Israel. Other recordings include Terry Riley's Sun Rings with the Kronos Quartet, and shriek-singing as a post-apocalyptic swamp witch for Valve, the video game company. Monica is also a licensed psychotherapist and works as a counselor and consultant in local schools. 

 

Sarah Grace Graves, soprano, is a composer and vocal performer working at the intersection between recital and ritual. From 2020-2022 she studied voice with Nicholas Isherwood while conducting an artistic residency in Paris at the Fondation des États-Unis on interdisciplinary collaboration with voice. Recent projects include Breath Atlas, a nonlinear setting of papyrus fragments by Sappho for herself as vocal soloist with Austin-based percussion duo line upon line, and Three Names, a live concept album based on intersections between the musical and spiritual practices of Michiko Hirayama, Giacinto Scelsi, and herself. In addition to her work with 21V, she also sings with Volti and as a section leader at St. Luke's. She has sung with 21V since 2025. sarahgracegraves.com

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Anne Hepburn Smith (she/her) is a Bay Area-based lyric coloratura soprano and teaching artist. She holds an MM in voice from San Francisco Conservatory and a BM in voice from Boston Conservatory. She freelances around the Bay Area with various chamber groups and opera companies. Favorite operatic roles include Susanna (Figaro), Pamina (Magic Flute), and Nella (Gianni Schicchi). She also regularly tours with Ensemble Mik Nawooj, a hip-hop orchestra, around the country. As a teacher, she draws heavily upon Orff-Schulwerk. She is passionate about providing music education for underserved communities and ensuring that her students see themselves and their cultures reflected in their music curriculum.

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Amy Hiestand (she/her), soprano, is thrilled to be singing with 21V. A pianist, she has previously sung with WomenSing, and co-managed WomenSing’s Treble Voices Now Festival over three seasons. She loves reuniting and singing with her Yale College senior women’s a cappella group, Whim 'n Rhythm of 1989! Amy consults to Bay Area municipalities on affordable housing policy, housing preservation strategies, and project finance and development. 

 

Yiting Jin (she/her), alto, took her first musical steps at the age of four on the piano, and sang with the Peninsula Women's Chorus, where she was also a Board member. In addition to 21V, she also sings with San Francisco Choral Artists and Masterworks Serenade chamber ensemble, and serves on the Board of Volti. Yiting is grateful to be part of 21V’s journey of creating 21st century music and its advocacy for the underrepresented. She has a B.A. from Princeton University and works in product management.

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Peter Kenton is a professional singer (countertenor and tenor), sound technician, and DJ. He is a member of the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, and performs regularly with 21V, American Bach, Clerestory, and Vox Humana SF. He has appeared as a featured soloist with Marin Oratorio, and has performed with the Berkeley Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony. Along with an active  performance schedule, Peter owns and operates his own business, Kenton Live Sound, providing sound reinforcement and DJ services for concerts, weddings, parties, and other events.

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Becky Lau (she/her), soprano from Hong Kong, is thrilled about her first season with 21V. Becky is a section leader and soloist at Christ Church Los Altos. She has sung with the SF Symphony Chorus, Convivium, and Volti. Most recently, Becky has been offering gifts of song to museum visitors as part of Sonic Blossom, a participatory performance at the de Young. Outside of singing, Becky is a published author in psychology research journals.​
 

Elysha Massatt (she/her) is excited to join 21V. She has sung in choirs since she was twelve. She has been a soloist for fifteen years with Resmiranda/Opera Non Troppo, a Bay Area repertory ensemble which performs a cappella vocal compositions from 1200-2010, opera, sacred cantatas, masses and oratorios. Before moving to Berkeley, she performed for two years with vocal ensemble Magdala in Oxford, England, specializing in the interpretation of medieval and renaissance polyphony. She is a founding member of the chamber ensemble L’Esprit Baroque and regularly performs French, German and Italian cantatas in Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Boston. Elysha has a BA from SFSU in History with a minor in German. When not singing, she is a massage therapist. 

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Michael B. Morales (he/him) is a Bay Area native, conductor, and countertenor. He holds degrees in both Drama and Music and completed his Master's in Conducting at Eastern Illinois University. Michael is the Artistic Director of Singers Marin, and the Director of Worship and Music at Lynnewood United Methodist Church. He has worked with young artists around the Bay Area, including as the Assistant Director for Chanticleer's LAB Skills workshops, Conducting Intern for Cantare Children's Choirs of Oakland, Music Director for Town Hall Education in Lafayette, and PK-8 music with the Diocese of Oakland. Performance credits include featured solos in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Carmina Burana, and Purcell's Welcome All the Pleasures. Outside of music, Michael is an avid Giants fan, proud husband to Katie, and father to Michael-James.

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Katherine Nails, contralto, enjoys performing across many genres and media. Most recently, she has appeared with Coastal Repertory Theatre (Nimue and Morgan Le Fay, Camelot), San Francisco Opera (Moira's Lover, Handmaid's Tale), and Soli Deo Gloria (Tenor 1 soloist, Utrecht Te Deum). Later this year she will play Fabian in Twelfth Night with Los Altos Stage Company and will also make her film debut. She is an avid ensemble singer, having appeared with Volti, the San Francisco Choral Artists, The Other Reindeer Christmas Carolers, and Convivium. She daylights as a consulting arborist.

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Kate Offer (she/her), soprano, is the Music & Movement Specialist for the Pacific Primary School, a preschool in San Francisco. As her alter ego, Kate Offer, Very Melodramatic Soprano, Kate performs a comic recital titled "Aria Kidding," at venues throughout the Bay Area. She also runs Songs from the Sandbox, a YouTube channel of sing-along songs for children and families. Check it out at www.YouTube.com/songsfromthesandbox

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Akane Ota (she/her), is a versatile mezzo-soprano, educator, and conductor from Japan. She holds degrees in Vocal Performance from Oita Prefectural College of Arts and Culture and Shobi Gakuen Tokyo. Based in the Bay Area, she performs with 21V and Volti, and is alto section leader and soloist at the Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco. A former member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, she has also sung with Convivium under Eric Tuan. Recent solo appearances include Duruflé’s Requiem with the Kensington Symphony Orchestra and Masterworks Chorale, and Benjamin Belew’s Celestial Prophecy Cantata and Requiem.

In addition to performing, Akane is a passionate music educator, working with Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, and KIPP School in Palo Alto. She is the founder of Ensemble AO, promoting Japanese culture through music. Outside of music, she enjoys reading, Pilates, and spending time with her family and cat.

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Ben Rudiak-Gould (he/him) has been singing since the age of 3, when he was a soprano. He now sings alto, tenor and bass in several Bay Area groups, including San Francisco Choral Artists, Schola Cetorum, and formerly the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. He has degrees in physics and mathematics.

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Judith Ward (she/her), soprano, has had a lifelong passion for choral music and has maintained an active singing life alongside an international career and raising three children. She spent 15 years in Europe where she sang with the Paris Choral Society and The Bach Choir in London.  Since moving to the Bay Area, she has been a member of several choirs and currently sings with Marin Symphony Chorus, St. Stephen’s Choir and Consort Chorale.​​​