Janine Dexter, Artistic Director and Conductor
Janine Dexter has a rich musical background as a pianist, conductor, and arranger. She grew up in the San Francisco North Bay Area playing the piano, organ, clarinet, and sax, and toured as a singer and pianist with big band and show choir, the Minnesingers. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with emphasis in conducting and piano performance from the University of the Pacific, Conservatory of Music. She studied conducting with William Dehning and Robert Halseth, and piano with Wolfgang Fetsch, Jerry Murphy, and Robert Savage. In the Bay Area, she taught piano, voice, clarinet, and preschool exploring music classes while concurrently conducting various community and high school choirs. Ms. Dexter also wrote the music critiques for three major papers as a free-lance writer. She was a pit-orchestra conductor for community, high school, college, and professional music theatre groups in the San Francisco area, totaling 50 shows from 1981-1990.
In recent years, Ms. Dexter has focused attention to her private piano studio and work as a pianist in a variety of venues and churches. She judges piano competitions throughout northern California and is an evaluator for the Music Teacher’s Association. She has served as music director, pianist, and organist for Faith Lutheran Church in Meadow Vista since 1995. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at CSULA.
Ms. Dexter has been the director of Colla Voce since 2005. She has carefully drawn together friends, colleagues, and other exceptional singers with the hope of creating a professional-caliber chamber choir for the Auburn area that will last for generations to come.
