who we are
Our Mission
Our mission is to foster a vibrant vocal arts community through collaboration, education, and performance.
We hope to promote the appreciation of choral music in Northern California, and nurture the fellowship that arises from communal singing. To pursue this mission, we offer workshops, free sight-reading events, and host a community choir festival each fall.
Our History
NVAC officially began in September 2022 on a choir trip to Italy, when our founders realized they all had a passion not just for choral singing but for our community of singers. Over dinner one evening, they brainstormed ways to strengthen ties between choirs, provide opportunities for singers, and enhance the value choral singing brings to the greater community—and decided to join forces.
We held our first community choir festival, NorCal Sings!, in October 2023, and added a sixth board member shortly afterward. Our first free community event was in February 2024, and we look forward to offering many more events for Northern California singers!
Meet Our Founders
Hi, I’m Amanda! I was born and raised in Santa Rosa and grew up performing—in community drama programs, at Kawana Elementary, and in the Montgomery High School Concert Choir (with a brief, but memorable, turn as Herbert in the satirical murder-mystery play “Next Victim, Please” at Slater Middle School). I began singing as an adult in 2010 with the Sonoma Bach Choir and have since sung with several other NorCal choirs: the SSU Symphonic Chorus, SonoVoce, California Redwood Chorale, Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble, and Consort Chorale.
I co-founded NVAC to promote choral singing and the community it can provide, as well as all of the many physical and mental benefits of singing. Currently I live in Willits with my husband and our two poodles, Malcolm and Roscoe. In my “other life” I am a managing editor, writer, editor, and artist.
Hi! My name is Crystal McDougall-Purdy and I was born and raised in Santa Rosa, California. As my family can attest, I have sung loudly and proudly from a very young age, participating in multiple choirs and theater productions. After high school I began studying voice classically, and later I continued my vocal studies privately and through Santa Rosa Junior College.
I am currently the program director of the Occidental Community Choir and participate in multiple choirs with my dear husband, Gage Purdy. We live in Santa Rosa with our two sons and a menagerie of animals. Throughout my life, music has been a consistent source of joy, inspiration, and sanctuary. Musical community and collaboration are great passions of mine. I am thrilled to be part of a group where the focus is on bringing people together and supporting musical growth in our community.
My name is Gage Purdy. I was born and raised in beautiful Sonoma County, and I am thrilled to be a part of the thriving and vibrant musical community in Northern California. I believe that music is a way by which to unite people in the human experience of being close and harmonious with one another; that music fundamentally shapes the mind and changes the heart to be more joyful, more passionate, and perhaps a little better equipped to find light in our world. I have sung in many groups throughout Sonoma County, and I am fortunate enough to be the director of five choirs throughout the region (California Redwood Chorale, Occidental Community Choir, Manzanita Harmony, UUCSR, and the UUCSR Justice Choir)! Many thanks to my wife Crystal and our two sons, Bodhi and Finn, for making it possible to make music for a living—without their support, this would never have happened.
I’m Jennifer Schwarz and I’ve lived in Sonoma County for nine years. Originally from the Bay Area, I am a proud Northern California native. My musical journey began at eight years old, taking accordion lessons. I then decided to switch to something easier to carry, and started playing the flute. After high school I started singing and have performed in numerous musical theater, opera, and choir productions, where I have made lifelong friends and found a sense of community. Music has always been an important part of my life. I am excited and hopeful that NorCal Vocal Arts Community will bring a much-needed sense of belonging, community, and musical artistry to Northern California.
Maxwell Vicas has been singing in organized choir since the age of six. A native of the East Bay, he grew up performing with the internationally acclaimed Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir. As a boy soprano soloist, he was awarded a silver medal from the Hong Kong International Children’s Choral Competition. Max also trained and performed with the San Francisco Choral Society and the Berkeley Community Chorus.
He holds a double concentration Bachelor of Music in Applied Vocal Performance and Music Education from Sonoma State University. Now a lyric tenor and frequent choral soloist, Max has sung with the California Redwood Chorale, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Sonoma State University. Max currently works in a senior living community and volunteers at his local church, and is hoping to start a private voice studio for kids soon.
And Our Newest Board Members
Hi! I’m Tim Imbach! I was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in Sonoma County. I followed in my mother’s and grandmother’s footsteps and started playing piano at an early age. Singing was just part of the gig at the Imbach household, whether around the piano at home, harmonizing in the car, or singing at church. I pursued music education, piano, and vocal study at the SRJC and Simpson College, and have received vocal instruction privately for many years.
Over those years, I’ve sung in many choirs and a cappella groups, done some back-up singing, piano accompaniment, and directed a church choir or two. I’ve also directed an a cappella octet called the Tangents, and have a bit of an obsession for the tight harmonies of vocal a cappella music. My husband Billy and I live in Sebastopol with our two very bossy miniature dachshunds, Zinnia and Dahlia. Thank you, Billy, for putting up with my oft clamorous and/or clangorous practice sessions. I am thrilled to be a part of the NorCal Vocal Arts Community, where I have already met so many wonderful and talented people. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Nancy Webster began her musical career playing a lobster in the 1st grade music pageant, which involved singing “We Are Lobsters” to the tune of Frere Jacques. She began taking piano lessons at the age of 8 and continued until teenage rebellion set in. She stopped lessons but didn’t stop playing piano. Nancy participated in choir throughout primary school and college, then took a decades-long break before joining California Redwood Chorale in 2021. Born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, Nancy now lives in Santa Rosa with her golden retriever, Cassidy, and her mini long-haired dachshund, Arwen. Nancy’s goal in joining the Board of NVAC is to help raise awareness of choral music throughout the North Bay.
