Our Leaders

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.

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.
*2010-01-03*