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Salinas Valley Voices is as local as…well, John Steinbeck. The group performs music from the 20s to the 60s with a zest that stems from each member’s love of singing and is nourished by the enthusiastic appreciation of audiences from nine to ninety-nine.
Over the years they, and accompanist Barbara Vella, have put together a extraordinary sound: the Jazz classics of the 30s and Swing from the 40s seasoned with the good old rock ‘n roll of the 50s and 60s performed in tight four-part harmony.
Old favorites like “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” and “It Had to Be You”, using those precise harmonies and specially arranged for a mixed quartet, keep listeners tapping their toes and bouncing in their seats.
The “Voices”:
Sandy Rudo, resident Alto and co-founder of the Salinas Valley Voices, was born in Fremont, Nebraska. Her love of music and singing began at an early age—both of her parents sang in church and at home, so it was natural for her to learn to love music as well. Piano lessons started by age 5 and playing the piano and singing continue to be her passion.
Sandy received her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Music Education from Chicago Music College which is part of Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. While studying in Chicago she met her husband, and in 1975 moved with him to San Francisco where he completed his surgical residency.
Sandy has taught K-12 music in both private and public schools in Illinois and California. Additionally, she has directed various choirs, taught general music education and was musical director of musicals such as You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Fiddler On The Roof and Finian's Rainbow. Since moving to Salinas with her husband and two children in 1988, Sandy has been teaching a voice class and two choral singing groups at Hartnell College.
Now that her children are grown, she has more time to pursue her music as well as her hobbies which include golf, horseback riding and sewing.
Paul Sallabedra, Bass and co-founder of the Voices, was born in Long Beach, California. Paul can't seem to remember when his ears weren't being filled with the wonderful sounds of popular music from the 1920s to the 1960s stemming from his mother's and grandmother's love of the music of their day. With their fingers flying over the piano and voices lifted in song, he received an early exposure to this genre from which he may never recover.
While he didn't pursue music as a younger man (his voice dropped from soprano to alto to tenor within about a year and a half before entering middle school), he never lost his appreciation for those terrific melodies and harmonies he heard as a child. He began studying music and choral singing with Cabrillo College in Aptos over 20 years ago. After finishing his music degree at Hartnell, Paul was the choir director for the Gonzales Community Church for three years in Gonzales, California.
Paul has performed and recorded with several groups over the past couple of decades, including the Mount Madonna Choir, Cabrillo Renaissance Singers, A Wing And A Prayer, all of the Hartnell College vocal groups and, most recently, the Monterey Peninsula Choral Society. In his copious spare time, he has appeared in a number of local theater productions, mostly at The Western Stage. However, Paul feels that his artistic home is with this small, select group and finding the just the right mix of tuneful melodies and true harmony thereby bringing joy to both their listeners and themselves!
Soprano Kathryn Hart, next senior member of the Voices, is a Salinas Valley born talent. Kathryn began singing before she can remember under the tutelage of her mother, a jazz and blues singer with the USO in World War II and a popular lyric soprano soloist for area Messiah's during the 1970s. As a child, Kathryn won several vocal competitions and was a member of the State Honor Choir in high school.
In 1982, Kathryn and her mother and sister were cast in a production of The Music Man and a lifelong love of theatre and performing was born. Her favorite roles have been Mary Jane in Big River, Hodel in Fiddler On The Roof and The Mistress in Evita. Kathryn has sung the Star Spangled Banner for the closing ceremonies of the Salinas Rodeo, is a soloist in her church, and can be seen singing in Victorian costume each Christmas at several local shopping areas with her own group, The Merry Carolers. Kathryn enjoys singing tight harmonies with this amazing group of musicians.
Korby Paulsen, Tenor, guitarist and pilot, is a 16 year resident of Pacific Grove. He learned to play guitar in middle school and later used that talent to lead his youth group in singing while in Junior High & High School. He studied music theory and sang tenor in the men's choir while attending Azusa Pacific University. During college he also played guitar (both alone and in contemporary groups), continued to lead singing in youth groups, and served as a church music director. This experience provided him a diverse musical background - learning classical & spiritual genres in group singing, while at the same time pursuing his interest in the folk & blues genres through his guitar playing.
After graduating college and entering the workforce, Korby's musical activities eventually slowed, but his interest remained. He studied recording engineering and enjoyed the occasional opportunity to perform with local talents. In 2006, Korby came to Hartnell College as the Audio/Video Technician where he met Sandy whose jesting invitation to join in a Karoke event led to an even better invitation: to sing with the Salinas Valley Voices. Korby is pleased to be performing regularly again and is especially excited to be applying a favorite performance method to a favorite style of music: singing classic, American music with a group of talented friends. Korby is currently on hiatus from the group but sends all his best as he pursues new career opportunities.
Michael Maisonneuve, our most recent addition & tenor, is another Salinas-born talent. Michael has been singing since he was 9 when he sang his first solo at church. Since then he has performed with numerous honor choirs and semi-professional ensembles.
Michael's passion is theatre. He started performing at the Wharf Theater in Monterey, California, where he played in The Pirates of Penzance, My Fair Lady, and The Mikado. He later performed for The Western Stage as "Moley" in The Wind In The Willows, "Huck" in Big River, and "Noah Claypole" in Oliver! He also played in the first show at the Saltshaker Theatre in Salinas as "Ugly" in their production of Honk! At Saltshaker, he has also served as the Assistant Stage Manager for Cinderella and Co-Stage Manager for Murder In The Manor. Michael just finished a run at the Golden Bough Theatre in Carmel playing "Jean-Michel" in La Cage Aux Folles this last March/April 2007.
Michael is currently on hiatus from the Voices to attend classes at the performing arts academy in Santa Maria, California later this year. Best of luck, Michael (we expect you on back whenever school's on break!!)
Together they remind us that the Salinas Valley grows incredible talent!
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