Leadership Now and Past
The Slavyanka Chorus is managed by a Board of Directors
with chorus members, family and friends in supporting roles.
Irina Shachneva
Artistic Director & Conductor
Shortly after her arrival in America, Irina was invited as a guest conductor at the famed New England Conservatory (NEC) to perform A. Schnittke's Requiem in Jordan Hall, one of the oldest and most prestigious concert halls in America. She has also been a guest conductor of the Jordan Hall Festival Chorus and the Plymouth Festival Chorus. Concurrently, Irina gave music lessons in piano, theory and voice, and also worked as an organist, pianist, and conductor. In Acton, MA, she was the Music Director and organist at Mt. Calvary Church. Irina led its choir and orchestra in performances of masterpieces by Bach, Fauré, Mozart, and other composers. This ensemble garnered acclaim at the 2011 International Music Festival in Warzburg, Germany.
Lauren Carley
ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Lauren Carley is an interdisciplinary artist based in Oakland, California. She has been a vocal teacher and coach for over three decades, leads international singing retreats and continues to deepen her teaching with Estill Voice Science and Internal Family Systems coaching. She provides training and performance projects for young singers at the Oakland Public Conservatory and for mature speakers and singers to reclaim the strength and clarity of their voice in innovative ZOOM, Jamulus and live streaming classes during the Covid19 pandemic shutdown. She has toured and recorded one-woman shows, taught writing for performance at Colorado College, self-published a novel Siberian Iris in 2016, served as actor and producer with the Shakespearian theatre ensemble Woman’s Will, has taught for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State and UC-Berkeley for fourteen years, is assistant conductor for the San Francisco-based Russian chorus, Slavyanka, and was arts administrator, fund raiser, arts curator, choral conductor and executive director for companies such as Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, American Ballet Theatre, Plays for Living, the Oakland Youth Chorus, and the Oakland Public Conservatory. She teaches sequences of exercises to restore the vocal capacity of people living with Parkinson’s Disease for PDActive, and is producing a grant-funded original choral commission for the PDActive chorus, the Tremolos. She hopes to continue as a soloist and choral singer when the world returns to some semblance of normal.
Board of Directors
Paul Andrews
Co-Founder, Chorus President and Board Chair
John McCarthy
Co-Founder, Board Member Emeritus
Ron Cohen
Board Member
Anna Danich
Board Member
Ken Mitchell
Board Member
Tom Warrington
Treasurer and Board Member
Katherine Gundling
Board Member
Bettina Gray
Composer-in-Residence and Board Member
Susan Lambert
Board Member
Norm Gelbart
Stage Manager Emeritus
Donna Warrington
Chorus Manager
Chorus presidents, board members & Managers emeritus
1979 - 2011
Andy Anderson
President 1994-2004
Donn Davy
President 2004-2011
Peter Gleick
Founding Member & Board
Andy Calman
Board Member
John Rogers
Treasurer
Norm Gilbert
Music Libraian
Jay Kuhlman
Board Member
Jeff Jones
Board Member
Nelson Max
Board Member
Don Reinhardt
Board Member
- Charlie Anderson
- Wes Harrington
- Charlie Hogle
- Tony Husch
- John Hutchinson
- Tom Kerr
- Michael Maeder
- Deane Merrill
- Michael Peterson
- Bob "Red" Raber
- Fred Ruhland
- Ed Swenson
- Robert Teets
- Charlie Wynn