Our Leaders

Artistic Director Jan Lanterman and Conductor Mark Teeters co-conduct the Napa Valley Chorale.

Artistic Director & Conductor Jan Lanterman has conducted the Napa Valley Chorale since 1984 and oversees the various groups that make up the Napa Valley Choral Society family. In addition to her work with the Chorale and the Napa Valley Choral Society, she is executive secretary of the American Choral Directors Association for the state of California. She is also director of music at First United Methodist Church in Napa. She is a graduate of California State University, Chico, where she studied with Ralph Wadsworth and sang in the A Cappella Choir. She has studied music postgraduate with Jane Marshall, Carlton Young, Louis Magor, Alice Parker, and René Clausen, among others.

Conductor Mark Teeters was appointed to the Napa Valley Chorale in 2001. He is director of choral activities at Vintage High School in Napa where he conducts four choral ensembles and is chair of the Fine Arts Department. He was named Napa Valley Unified School District Teacher of the Year by Rotary International in October 2005 and Napa County Teacher of the Year in 2008. He is also director of music at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Napa. He holds a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied with Dennis Shrock, and received a bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University, where he studied with Jo-Michael Scheibe and Edith Copley.

Ellen Patterson, accompanist, is employed as a music therapist at the California Veterans Home in Yountville. She is pianist/vocalist with The Heartbeats and is bandleader for God's House Band at First United Methodist Church in Napa. She maintains a private piano and voice studio. She is in demand as an accompanist and performer throughout the Napa Valley. She holds a master's degree in piano performance from San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a bachelor's degree in music therapy from Willamette University.
*2008-09-22*