This is a past event. 2021 Event Dates are noted here.

Violinist Arthur Jue has been concertmaster of the Oak Grove Symphony, Temple Pageant, and associate concertmaster of the San Jose Youth Symphony. He performed with the CA Youth Symphony and received multiple command performance awards from the CA music educators association, as well as many state talent competitions. He soloed for the West Valley New Arts Symphony and New Zealand Hawkes Bay Cantata. He has also played with the BYU and Palo Alto Philharmonics as well as the SJSU and Saratoga Symphonies. A writer, educator, and entrepreneur, Arthur holds a BS in marketing, MBA, and doctorate in leadership. 

Ragnar Edholm has been playing the violin extensively since age six in a number of groups across Europe and the US. Local Bay Area orchestras in which he has performed include the Saratoga Symphony, the Palo Alto Philharmonic, and the San Jose Lyric Theater. He holds a masters of science from the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and currently works in the Silicon Valley software development industry. In his spare time, Ragnar enjoys playing chamber music and spending time with his wife and two children. He currently resides in Sunnyvale.

Ed Hegstrom enjoys performing guitar regularly for seniors and assisted living facilities throughout the Bay Area, as well as in bluegrass festivals and other community events, such as San Jose’s Christmas in the Park. Professionally, Ed is a graphic designer and illustrator with numerous years of experience in the fields of marketing communications and digital arts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design from BYU. He also teaches digital media at West Valley college. He and his wife, Kathy, reside in Saratoga.

Tim Hegstrom plays both the harmonica and guitar. He is the former Dean of Social Sciences at San Jose State University, as well as an Emeritus Faculty and Department Chair of Communications Studies. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has been a visiting professor at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. He has also been a corporate consultant, has served on board of directors of the Public Dialogue Consortium, and has been a member of the CA Education Round Table as well as the CalState University Academic Senate. He and his wife are parents of three children.

Eric Kuhnen is managing partner of Focal Partners and has over 20 years of experience in product research, development, and management. He has been responsible for competitive pricing, product marketing, and product management at Astoria Software, GoRemote (acquired by iPass), and Oracle. He speaks widely and has received numerous awards for multiple product launches across many industries. Musically, Eric has owned a successful record label and excels at piano improvisation. He lives in Menlo Park with his wife Wendy, who is also a professional singer. Together, they have three children.

Frank Chang started piano lessons at the age of 12, at the suggestion of his younger sister. While in school, Frank moonlighted as an accompanist for singers, big bands, choirs, and small jazz ensembles. In San Diego, he hosted late night underground jam sessions and recorded with local artists like Randy Morser and the Air Mail Special Jazz Orchestra. 

After graduating from the University of California, San Diego with a Ph.D. in Mathematics, he found work as an actuary and volunteers with the Casualty Actuarial Society, having served on their Board of Directors. 

Frank has four children and currently lives in Oakland with his wife, Tina.

Jacquie Garcés began playing piano at age four and clarinet at age 10. She has performed clarinet, flute and saxophone in wind symphonies, orchestras and jazz bands for many years. Jacquie graduated from BYU, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance, with an emphasis on clarinet. She also studied with the resident clarinet professor at Stanford University. She currently teaches private piano and clarinet lessons. Jacquie remembers with fondness her time serving as principal clarinet with the Oakland Temple Pageant Orchestra. Professionally, Jacquie works in corporate communications at a high tech company. She served as a missionary in the Colombia-Bogota Mission and continues using her Spanish language to serve the Hispanic community. Jacquie has two grown children and resides in Sunnyvale with her husband and German shepherd dog.

Rachel is from Modesto, California. She graduated from California State University Stanislaus in June 2011 where she received BM degrees in vocal performance and composition. Grider studied voice with Dr. Joseph Wiggett and composition with Dr. Deborah Kavasch. She has performed and studied a number of roles including Pamina, from The Magic Flute. Rachel has been a member of various choral groups, including the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Rachel graduated from Peabody Conservatory in 2013 with MM degrees in Voice Performance and Music Theory Pedagogy. She studied voice with Phyllis Bryn-Julson and John Shirley-Quirk and composition with Dr. Judah Adashi. In Baltimore she performed with the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. Her main interest is nineteenth-century Russian music, which she has studied in depth with Vera Danchenko-Stern and John Shirley-Quirk. In 2012, Rachel performed at the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. Presently, she is working as a voice instructor and building her career as a performer of art song, oratorio, and sacred music.

Stephanie Melchor began acting as a shy middle-schooler and began singing in public as a slightly less-shy high schooler. She began singing more seriously during graduate school, where she competed (and placed) twice in the Virginia NATS Vocal Competition. Stephanie made her professional debut as a singer/actress in an outdoor production of The Sound of Music in central Virginia while finishing her doctorate in immunology—running experiments by day and understudying Maria von Trapp by night.  She is currently a freelance science journalist in the Bay Area, and mom to a very sweet shepherd rescue dog.

David Palaski is a Bay Area native who has been classically trained on the piano since the age of eight via the Suzuki Method Pedagogy. Currently, David is a multi-instrumentalist who enjoys playing many different genres of music both in groups and as a soloist. He has accompanied many singers over the years as well as performed in musicals including Scrooge!, The Garden, The Will Rogers Follies, and Olympus On My Mind. He has also been a music educator for over 25 years to both students and other Bay Area music teachers. He is co-creator of breezekeys.com — a new, multi-sensory, 21st century piano method designed for all ages of beginning piano students. David is passionate about playing and creating music as well as helping others to become “musically self-expressed” in their lives.

"Now in its 23rd year, director Alan Chipman says there is no better place to hear music, than standing right in front of this inspiring choir. What a blessing." He continues, "Music brings us alive and connects us with heaven." What better inspiration does a choir need than to hear the praises of its director.

Originating from decades of performing together in the Oakland Temple Pageant — And It Came to Pass, members of that choir continued their strong association with one another as the Temple Hill Choir under the leadership of Alan Chipman and Jennifer Brown. Now, a couple of decades later, the choir has a rich history under its belt. They perform concerts on Temple Hill and around the Bay Area, and have been known for taking an occasional tour deep into the Pacific Northwest. They have been singing many of their best loved songs from their favorite Christmas concerts, and they also perform at least one oratorio that requires a large choir and several soloists. The choir performs the Lamb of God Easter oratorio in April and features a 120-voice choir, 150-voice youth choir, and 13 soloists. In addition, they perform for Days of Christmas events and for Scrooge! The Musical. 

Barbara Whitfield is the founder of the End Time Prophetic Movement Minutes. The ministry was established in 1999. It has aired every Monday night at 6:30 PM for sixteen years on BVEN Ch. 26 Comcast cable network.

Barbara Whitfield developed her singing gift and voice at the tender age of seven. She started singing first in her local church choir. Because of her God-given talent and a gift many people requested Barbara to sing at many events. Barbara has helped and developed many Bay Area local choirs. As lead singer and choir director, Barbara’s angelic voice is always touching the hearts of the people of God. Barbara had the great opportunity to sing with the legendary Helen Stevens, and Daryl Coley, plus many more great gospel singers and songwriters. One of Barbara’s greatest highlights came in 2010, when she had the prestigious opportunity to sing at the Oakland Coliseum, Oracle Arena. How sweet the sound, with a renowned and legendary Donald Lawrence. Barbara is also a talented songwriter, and producer. Barbara strives and continues her mission and journey, to encourage humanity with her unique angelic voice.