Susan Senft founded Pacifica Children’s Chorus in 1993 after serving with a local girls’ choir for four years as a conductor and musicianship teacher. She has served on the faculty of Seattle Pacific University since 1991, and administers and teaches (conducting, musicianship, choir, choral techniques) in the Kodály Certification program, where she also taught musicianship methods for the older beginner. She also served on the faculty of the University of Puget Sound in the Suzuki Summer Camp program from 1992 through 1995.
Ms. Senft was music director for the Puget Sound Revels (1993-2003), a local offshoot of John Langstaff’s Revels in Boston. She brings a touch of theater to many of the choir’s concerts. She was formerly active in opera and music theater with lead roles in Mozart’s Impresario, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, along with Music Man, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, No Strings, and The Boyfriend among others. She was a member of Gamelan Pacifica, a resident ensemble at Cornish College of the Arts and director of the Gamelan Pacifica Chorus. She was a singer in Seattle with Hodie Madrigali!, a vocal quintet, and The Esoterics, a 24-voice a cappella ensemble devoted to performance of 20th century vocal music, and also with Pacific Madrigal Singers in Berkeley, California.
As a voice specialist, Ms. Senft maintains private voice studios in Seattle and Tacoma. She has taught classroom and choral music for 1st through 8th grades in public and private schools. She has been a guest conductor for the Bethel School District’s South Area Choral Festival, and has been an in-service teacher for elementary music teachers with the Auburn Public Schools.
Ms. Senft received a Master of Music in Music Education with Kodály Emphasis from Holy Names College in Oakland, California in 1989; a Bachelor of Fine Arts (magna cum laude) in vocal performance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington in 1986. Ms. Senft has completed two levels of Creating Artistry with Henry Leck and the prestigious Indianapolis Children’s Chorus at Butler University, Indiana. She has also done post-graduate conducting studies with Abraham Kaplan, University of Washington; and Eva Vendrai and Edward Bolkovac, Holy Names College. Pacifica is her favorite occupation.
