Her operatic roles include the title role in "Lucia di Lammermoor," Violetta in "La Traviata," Olympia in "the Tales of Hoffman," Despina in "Cosi fan tutte," Adele in "Die Fledermaus," Helene in "La Belle Helene," and countless others. Ms. Gilfether was named a California Arts Council Touring Artist for several consecutive seasons. She has also given voice and choral workshops for the Oakland Symphony Chorus, the San Francisco Chamber Singers, as well as other choruses. Ms. Gilfether has been invited to conduct master classes in voice on college campuses throughout the United States, and has taught voice at the University of California, Davis, and Holy Names College, Oakland, from which she received both Bachelor and Master Degrees in Voice.

Randall Benway
Assistant Musical Director and Accompanist

Mr. Benway is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, where at the age of 10 he was accepted as the youngest piano student of Theodore Lettvin and later as a student of Arthur Loesser and Eunice Podis. While in Cleveland, he also studied composition with Starling Cumberworth. At 16, he collaborated in piano concerto performances with conductors James Levine and Robert Shaw. While an undergraduate student at Hartt College of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut, Mr. Benway was the four-year recipient of the Alfred C. Fuller Scholarship. He received a Master of Music (Piano) degree from the University of Michigan where he studied piano with Gyorgy Sandor and Louis Nagel and composition with William Bolcom. Mr. Benway spent considerable time in Europe, including living in London, England, while studying piano with Balint Vazsonyi, and living in Fontainebleau, France, while studying composition with Nadia Boulanger.

Mr. Benway attended and performed in master classes of some of the great European artists, including Balint Vazsonyi, Clifford Curzon, John Ogden, Jean-Marie Darré, Nikita Magaloff, and Soulima Stravinsky. In addition Mr. Benway was the winner of two piano competitions, one in the United States and one in Switzerland. Mr. Benway has performed in the United States and Europe as soloist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician, including live radio broadcasts on National Public Radio. He is a founding member of The Redwood Trio and a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Open Music Competition (www.usomc.org). Recent performances include Dvorak's Dumky Trio; Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D Minor; Brahms G Minor Piano Quartet; Schumann Piano Quintet; Brahms Lieder; Beethoven Triple Concerto; Grieg Piano Concerto; Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Brahms Piano Concerto No 1. Mr. Benway is a sought-after accompanist and coach for pianists, opera singers, and instrumentalists. The summer of 2009 found him judging a piano competition and giving master classes in Yantai, China.