Pacific Boychoir Faculty & Staff

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The Boychoir Academy's faculty is carefully selected to be supportive, creative, and enthusiastic individuals who work to pursue the mission of the Boychoir Academy.The academic faculty is selected to cultivate enthusiasm for learning and to develop critical thinkers who can feel well-prepared in the most demanding high schools. The Boychoir's Music Staff is composed of professional musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area. They use their experience in boychoir vocal technique, Kodaly and Orff methodology to develop exceptional musicians.


	Kevin Fox Founding Artistic Director send an e-mail Mr Fox has been involved with boys choirs since the age of eight. He holds degrees in Music (with Honors) and Economics from Wesleyan University, Connecticut, where he studied voice with tenor Wayne Rivera, conducting with Mel Strauss, composing with Neely Bruce, and received the Lipsky Prize for outstanding scholarship in choral studies. He studied music at Oxford University, England, with Edward Higginbottom, and choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton with Jim Jordan and Vincent Metallo. He has served as Proctor for the American Boychoir, working with Jim Litton and Craig Denison, and has sung with the choirs of Trinity Church in New Haven, Trinity Church in Princeton, American Bach Soloists, the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, and the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys in San Francisco, where he also worked as Interim Assistant Choirmaster. Under his direction, the Pacific Boychoir Academy has grown from six to 150 choristers in four treble choirs and one alumni choir. Working with the PBA staff, Mr. Fox has developed a proprietary music reading and music theory training program comparable to university-level music classes. In 2002, Mr. Fox developed a business plan for the choir school, a comprehensive document compiling the ideas of staff and board members in preparation for the opening of the school in the fall of 2004. In 2010, mr. Fox accepted the Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance for the PBA's particpation on Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Fox has been on over 40 tours with boys choirs to almost all 50 states including Alaska and Hawai'i, as well as to Brasil, Argentina, Taiwan, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Wales, Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, Spain, and South Africa. Drawing on his experience as math teacher for Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco, Mr. Fox teaches 7th nd 8th grade math to the PBA day school students.
	Jim Gaines Head of School send an e-mail Jim Gaines has enjoyed a distinguished 18 year career in education, starting with 8 years in the classroom after his BA Degree from Vassar College and California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. His last 10 years in education were in school leadership roles, first heading the Resurrection Episcopal Day School (REDS) in New York City, and then the Terra Linda Montessori School in Marin Country, and most recently as Assistant Head of School (English speaking program) at École Bilingue in Berkeley. Growing up, Jim Gaines’ family lived in Europe, first in Brussels and then in England. Through his personal educational experience in British boys’ schools and his lifelong attachment to music and choral groups, Mr. Gaines understands the value of boy schools, choirs and choral groups, and international exposure. Jim remembers both the supportive exploration focus of the progressive Montessori school he attended in Belgium and the discipline and rigor of the boys’ school he attended in England. During his years of educational training and teaching, Mr. Gaines developed a philosophy of education that combines the best of each tradition. Mr. Gaines’ experience has convinced him of the positive brain development impact and cultural exposure produced by immersion in the arts and sees daily music and choir touring as producing powerful intellectual and developmental benefits for PBA students. He also sees the PBA’s high musical ambitions as a way to access and develop the internal determination in middle school boys, triggering their intrinsic motivation to achieve excellence and to encourage their inclinations to create beauty
	Pamela Weimer Assistant Head of School; Managing Director send an e-mail Mrs. Weimer has been a teacher for over 20 years. In addition to teaching classes in psychology and child development at the junior college level, she has taught at all levels of elementary education for both public and private schools in the Bay Area, and has held administrative positions as well. 10 years ago, she began to focus on single gender education when she taught 5th grade math and history at Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco. Mrs. Weimer is one of the original staff of the PBA. She served on the founding board of directors and became the Managing Director for the after school program, a position she still holds. When the PBA began the Day School, she served at the school’s first Head as well as a teacher. She is currently the Assistant Head of School and continues to teach math and science. Mrs. Weimer earned an MA in Psychology and Child Development from San Francisco State University, following a BA in Psychology from UCLA.
	Marcia Roy Assistant Music Director send an e-mail Ms Roy is a founding member of the Pacific Boychoir staff. She has a Masters degree in Music from Cal State Hayward, and has been the organist at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland for 15 years. Formerly, Ms Roy served as choral conductor at Holy Names High School in Oakland and at the San Francisco Girls Chorus. She has worked with professional boychoirs in the Bay Area for the past 20 years and has a large active studio for private piano students. Ms. Roy serves as Music LIbrarian for the PBA's 400+ titles, as well as school music instructor, assistant director of the Intermezzi group, and accompanist.
	Brenna MacIlvaine Fourth Grade send an e-mail Ms. MacIlvaine grew up in Oakland and moved to Tacoma, Washington, where she graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with her bachelor's degree in education. Previous to taking on the PBA's new fourth grade class, she worked as a second grade teacher in Tacoma. She has a special interest in geological sciences and drama. Mrs. MacIlvaine grew up doing theater with the Lamplighters in San Francisco and has studied voice for ten years. Her favorite food is mint chocolate chip ice cream.
	Mateal Lovaas Humanities send an e-mail Ms. Mateal graduated from Middlebury College where she completed her bachelor's degree in International Studies with concentrations in Political Science, African Studies, and French. Her senior thesis pulled from her field work in Senegal, where she traveled on a fully funded research grant. Ms. Mateal has traveled or lived in almost 40 countries in Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and speaks four languages. She has worked as a college writing tutor, professional editor, homeschool teacher, play therapist for children with cognitive disabilities, and in positions in the field of international development and diplomacy. On a volunteer basis, Ms. Mateal has served a chapter president of the Student Global AIDS Campaign.Her activism stems from the four years her parents lived in Cape Town, South Africa, working on income generation projects with HIV-positive women. At PBA, Ms. Mateal teaches English and History to grades 6-8.
	Brandon Adams Associate Music Director send an e-mail Brandon Adams is a choral director, voice teacher, and piano accompanist with over seven years of experience with Elementary and Middle School choirs. A native Texan, he sang for three years with the Singing Boys of Houston, and he attended the Vocal Music Department of the Houston School of Performing and Visual Arts. Brandon received an A. B. from Dartmouth College and a Masters in Choral Conducting from Indiana University with a Minor in Vocal Pedagogy. He has been in the Bay Area for thirteen years. Currently, he sings with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and he has also sung with Volti, Pacific Collegeum, and the Oakland Symphony Chorus (for whom he served for two years as an assistant conductor). Brandon has also been a guest conductor for the Silicon Valley Symphony Chorus, the Vocal Director for San Francisco Opera Guild's Opera Day Camp, and the Choir Director at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland. Brandon is also a frequent Musical Director at a number of Bay Area regional theatres, including 42nd St Moon, Marin Theatre Company, Center Rep and Woodminster Summer Musicals. Currently, he is the choral director at the Urban School of San Francisco, where he has been teaching for over six years. Mr. Adams directs the PBA's Cantori choir and teaches day school music classes.
	Stella Brown Associate Music Director send an e-mail Mrs Brown is one of the founding music teachers of the PBA. She has a Masters in Early Childhood Music Education with an emphasis in Kodaly techniques from the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, Connecticut. For the past ten years, she has taught music to both adults and children in various settings, as well as piano pedagogy at the University of Montemorelos in Mexico. She currently teaches music in the Contra Costa Unified School District, conducts the Minstrel choir and directs the Orff training for the Boychoir.
	Joseph Lim Associate Music Director send an e--mail For the past four years, Mr. Lim has taught general music, chorus, and instrumental music at Tassajara Hills Elementary in Danville. Prior to joining the PBA, he accompanied for and toured with other well-known Bay Area children's choirs, including Contra Costa Children's Chorus in Walnut Creek and Danville Girls Chorus. He currently serves as Choirmaster and Organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Martinez. Mr. Lim directs the Intermezzi after school choir.
	Kevin Ambrogi Marketing Coordinator & Concert Manager send an e-mail Kevin Ambrogi plans, promotes concerts and appearances and coordinates marketing and advertising for the Pacific Boychoir Academy. He also edits the monthly PBA e-newsletter and concerts programs. Kevin has more than five years of experience working in special event coordination, marketing and communications, plus a five-year early career as a professional jazz musician and music educator in Europe. Kevin has helped manage program and special events for the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York, where he administered the French American Cultural Exchange Programs. Before that he worked as a project coordinator for Lille 2004 European Capital of Culture in France. Kevin earned his bachelor's degree in Business administration and Applied Languages - French, English and German - and his master's degree in Multicultural Management and International Cooperation from the Charles-De-Gaulle University in Lille, France. He is also a certifed fundraising professional by the European Fundraising Association (EFA), a certifed associate in project management (CAPM) by the American Project Management Institute (PMI) and holds a master's degree in Jazz performance and composition from the National Conservatory of Lille, France. Contact Kevin if you would like to pitch concert venues, marketing ideas, or your own volunteer skills.