Soloists & Instrumentalists
Marian Seibert, soprano
In addition to her work as Rehearsal Director, soprano Marian Seibert is a soloist with the Trinity Consort. She has performed with many local ensembles and organizations, and is a featured soloist on the Medieval Women’s Choir’s CDs, River of Red and Laude Novella. In her other life, she works for a letterpress print shop.
Linda Strandberg, soprano
Linda Strandberg is a soprano of varied musical interests. She feels fortunate to have been able to explore vocal music from medieval through contemporary times. She worked extensively with Margriet Tindemans, performing medieval and baroque repertoire. This includes numerous recitals of the music of Hildegard of Bingen. She had been a frequent soloist with the Medieval Women’s Choir under the direction of Tindemans and continues to solo with the Medieval Women’s Choir under the direction of Eric Mentzel.
Erika Chang, soprano
In addition to her work with the Medieval Women’s Choir, soprano Erika Chang is a soloist with the Epiphany Parish of Seattle. She holds a Performer Diploma in Early Music from Cornish College.
Shira Kammen, vielle
Multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. Shira was a member for many years of several prominent early music ensembles, and is the founder of Class V Music, and ensemble dedicated to providing music on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, Latvia, Russia and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, Green, Grande Ronde, East Carson and Klamath Rivers. A frequent collaborator with Margriet Tindemans, Shira often collaborates with music ensembles, storytellers, and on theatrical and dance productions. She has worked with students in many different settings, played on several television and movie soundtracks, and has recently taken courses in taiko drumming and voiceover acting.
Shulamit Kleinerman, vielle
Shulamit Kleinerman specializes in early off-shoulder technique on medieval vielle and Renaissance and Baroque violin. She has accompanied the Medieval Women’s Choir in many programs since December 2015. As a founding member of the Elizabethan quartet Plaine & Easie, winner of the 2009 Early Music America Competition in Medieval and Renaissance Music, Shula earned acclaim for her “blazing scale passages” (Third Coast Digest) and “enticing solos [that] reminded one how close early music can be to folk fiddle tunes” (Express Milwaukee). Her 2008 recording of 17th-century English country dance, New New Nothing, recorded during an artist residency awarded at Seattle’s Jack Straw Productions, won praise for taking a “middle path between folkish vigor and classical formality” (AllMusic.com). Uniting her musical specialties with a long commitment to youth education, Shula is the founding director of Seattle Historical Arts for Kids, presenting several annual instrumental music and staged theater programs with youth performers.
Bill McJohn, harp
Bill McJohn studied medieval music with Margriet Tindemans and early harps with Cheryl Ann Fulton and Maxine Eilander. He performs regularly with the Medieval Women’s Choir and has also performed with the medieval ensembles Contrafacta and Peregrine, the Seattle Continuo Ensemble, the Red Dragon Harp Ensemble, Ave Renaissance Women’s Choir, and the Women of St James Schola. He has taught at harp workshops in the Seattle area and taught chant for the Northwest Center for Early Music Studies
Peggy Monroe, percussion
Peggy Monroe specializes in historical percussion instruments. She has taught and performed across the USA and in Canada, England, Spain and Germany. She has written scripts for musical dramas performed by the Medieval Women’s Choir and the Early Music Guild, and her many school appearances earned her Early Music America’s Bringing History Alive award in 2004. She is a member of the Trinity Consort and has accompanied the Northwest Puppet Center, Seattle Early Dance, and St. James Cathedral programs, and has played with the Medieval Women’s Choir for 23 years.