Colla Voce forges ahead with interim conductor

After 20 years, founder and Artistic Director Janine Dexter retired in December from conducting the Colla Voce Chamber Singers, a local choral group that has dazzled the Auburn community for just more than two decades. In January, the reins were handed over to Interim Conductor Charlane Lines. By day, Lines is a pastor and serves in the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, but her love of music drew her to Colla Voce. For the past several years, Lines has been the pianist for the chamber group. She has loved working alongside Dexter and being a part of this choir that is really more akin to a family. The beauty one witnesses when seeing a Colla Voce performance is an experience that can only come from a group that so masterfully works together – radiating through the concert venue. The singers have a versatility, performing pieces from classical to pop to gospel, covering a broad stylistic range while keeping their audience members deeply engaged in the experience. It's not just music, it's multi-sensory storytelling through different modes of art, often including spoken word or visual artwork as a part of the concerts. This spring, Lines was inspired by poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy, who wrote in Ode, "We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." The chamber singers will be performing a concert all about dreams – discovered, lost, remembered, fulfilled. The concert series also includes audience participation and will feature artwork by a Placer High School student. As Colla Voce continues into the bright future, one thing remains the same – a group dedicated to bringing collaborative art to the Auburn community. Dreamers of Dreams is running next week with three concerts at the General Gomez Art & Event Center on Lincoln Way: Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 18, at 3 p.m. and Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. Tickets are available at collavoce.org/performances and 530-270-9047.