Tag Archives: Q&A

Alumni Profile: Marnie Breckenridge, Performing Thoughts, Hopes, & Dreams

Marnie Breckenridge is an internationally acclaimed soprano from St. Helena. Growing up, she loved singing and was a natural performer, and her teachers throughout high school and college told her that she could do this professionally. While attending PUC, Marnie majored in music and performed solo many times for vespers and church, which helped her understand what it takes to perform. Since graduating in 1993 with a BS in music, she has been traveling the world working in opera and theatre, performing at Carnegie Hall, and winning the prestige’s San Francisco Conservatory of Music Alumni of the Year award in 2013.

Tell us about being an internationally acclaimed soprano. What do you enjoy most about what you do? What’s the most challenging? 

There’s something truly exhilarating to me about embodying a character in an opera or theatre work— singing their thoughts, hopes, and dreams — being an advocate and vessel for the music as well as for the journey of the specific character and the overall gestalt of the opera — it really floats my boat! When I’m on stage, in costume, making LIVE music with a huge group of people within the machine (takes so many people to make it happen – from costumers, makeup designers, set designers, director, lights, orchestra, conductor, other singers, etc.) it feels as if we, together, can stop time and offer insights on how to change the world with our intentions and vibrations for that moment/hour/performance time. I believe in theatre as a way to enlighten us and awaken us to the many and varied ways in which we can evolve to be better, more empathetic, and loving humans.

I also truly enjoy traveling and seeing the world…but only for about 3 days solo (having my thoughts to myself (silence) and sleeping in — skipping the 6:30 AM wake up and carpooling to school). But after a little time alone to get the lay of the land in the new city, I miss my husband (Alex) and two children (Gus, 12, and Alexa 10) way too much. The biggest downside to traveling and being away for long periods of time is the loneliness. However, when the kids aren’t in school and have a moment to join me, there are many wonderful educational experiences for them to soak up.

What inspired you to become a singer?

I’m not sure exactly what inspired me to become a singer. I think I have just always been one. Like it’s just who I am. Marnie the singer. My parents tell me that I was always singing. I used to line my stuffed animals up in my bedroom as a 7-year-old and sing to them for hours and hours. I would make up stories and sing those stories to them….tears streaming down my face in dramatically imaginative moments and all. I wanted to be “the next Barbra Streisand” when I grew up. Haha! But as I went to PAJA (Pomona Adventist Junior Academy) then MBA (Monterey Bay Academy) then PUC – my dear teachers always encouraged me to sing solos…and a few of them here and there even said little things like, ‘you could do this professionally’, etc. But instead of Contemporary Christian or Broadway, I leaned more towards Classical as I came from the liturgical world of singing in church. Mom was an organist and also sang (beautiful mezzo-soprano voice). Also, my mom’s cousins (a few times removed) were the Hooper family as well as Maurita Phillips Thornburgh. Wayne Hooper wrote such beautiful songs. Maurita sang a lot of his music. She inspired me to think about classical singing as that was the style she had mastered so beautifully. And I was more moved and got more goosebumps while listening to classical music and opera, so that’s the direction I went. I had studied pre-med for like 5 minutes my freshman year then realized quickly I needed to succumb to my own natural talents and leave o-chem, phlebotomy, and biology tests to someone else.

You’ve performed at Carnegie Hall. Can you share with us what that experience was like? 

Carnegie is a great hall. The acoustics are just splendid. Easy place to stand and express knowing the sound will carry in that perfectly reverberant place. When I was a sophomore at PUC, our Pro Musica group sang in a large choir (with other schools) at Carnegie Hall in John Rutter’s “Requiem”. I remember sitting in the audience while another choir was rehearsing, and I said to myself, “I’m going to sing solo in this hall someday”. When it finally happened, it was for the soprano solos in Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”, and mostly it was a really fun experience. I got the new gown, did the hair and nails, took cheeky photos in front of my dressing room with my name on the door…the whole deal. But a funny thing happened- in that the conductor forgot I had a long cadenza (a florid addition to the end of a phrase) towards the end of my first aria, and he just sped on through to the next music as I was singing my cadenza! I had to stop singing it mid-vowel and jump to the new spot in the score. My heart SANK in at moment. Here I was making my Carnegie Hall debut, and the conductor jumped on my line! He made it look like I messed up! It was so sad! So I just kept going — which has been my motto: JUST KEEP SWIMMING (thanks, Dory). But let’s face it, Carnegie Hall is just a HALL. We assign so much ego attachment to things. Yes, I am a professional, and I “deserve” to sing in big important HALLS throughout the world. But would I be any less of a pro singer and actor had I not sung there? Consider, if you will, all of the amazing people who never get to sing in Carnegie or Davies Symphony Hall or at the Metropolitan Opera but they deserve to! It is a numbers game for sure. It’s who you know/where you are in that moment, etc. I only say all of this because although it did feel special to sing at Carnegie, and I’m happy that my life goal came to fruition, I’ve actually had much more artfully fulfilling experiences in little churches at the end of dirt roads, out under the stars by a campfire, or in a teeny theatre with no budget to pay their singers, etc. than at that big important hall. Were those other experiences any less important? I don’t think so.

What opera have you enjoyed the most performing? 

My most performed operas are Cunegonde in “Candide” (Based on the Voltaire) and Lucia di Lammermoor. Both have special places in my heart. They are challenging to sing, and both tell interesting stories about young women who were subjected to their ‘lot in life’ without choice. Cunegonde experiences every embarrassing and belittling thing in life yet emerges on the other side a more wholesome and evolved human. Lucia di Lammermoor is forced to marry a man she doesn’t love so the insanity of it all drives her to murder him then she dies immediately afterward — not before the townsfolk and her family realize they should’ve been nicer to her. 

How did your time at PUC help prepare you for your career? 

We had great fun singing all types of songs and styles of music in Pro Musica with Dr. Jim Kempster and even performed a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, “Trial By Jury”, while I was there. The many times I was able to get up in front of the whole school to perform solo for vespers or church really helped me get a strong foothold in understanding what all it takes to perform. I was also fortunate enough to be able to tour with Dr. Leroy Peterson and a string quartet to Norway and Sweden (which included current PUC orchestra conductor Rachelle Berthelsen Davis).

What did you enjoy the most about your time at PUC? 

I enjoyed just about everything about PUC. What fun years those were. The combination of independence driving myself around in a car in the gorgeous Napa Valley filled with fantastic friends having hilarious adventures with a home base of an excellent institution of higher learning whose teachers were supportive, kind, and encouraging? That’s what I would call an exquisite combo!

What are your hobbies? 

For many years, I have said, “I don’t have any hobbies” because I truly didn’t have time to! With everything I had to learn about how to be an opera singer, it felt like I was continuously reading books on opera, studying languages (Italian, French, German), memorizing the next pieces, etc. My hobby was STUDYING! But now, I like to include attending my children’s sports/theatre performances, hiking, ballet barre workouts, interior design/decorating, letter writing, and practicing calligraphy as hobbies! 

Q&A with President Ralph Trecartin, Ph.D., M.B.A. 

He loves working with students and has a personal mission to provide them great opportunities to reach their goals and shape their futures. The dedication he has to make sure everyone in the Pioneers family belongs here and is valued is incredible. Dr. Trecartin kindly answered some questions for us to get to know more about him.

What brought you to PUC? How/Why did you decide to work here? 

The Seventh-day Adventist education system has had a phenomenal impact on the spread of the gospel message throughout the world. Pacific Union College has been at the forefront of this movement from the very beginning when Ellen G. White helped choose the location and outlined the principles of “True Education.” Our young people today are still called to walk with God and to join him in service to others in a myriad different locations and occupations.  

I love working with young people both inside and outside the church. At our colleges, we are called to a higher mission than merely providing opportunities for intellectual prowess and career preparation. I believe that our young people generally want to belong to an organization where there is purpose and meaning to the lives of those who share common beliefs and aspirations. Choosing to join the PUC team was not on my radar, but I could not resist the opportunity to influence young people and help shape the future of the SDA denomination. The fact that PUC has undoubtedly one of the most beautiful campuses and locations is like adding whipped cream on top of strawberries.  

What is the best thing about being a part of the Pioneers family? 

We get to participate in all aspects of campus life: the peaks of joy coming from achievement, the sorrows of personal setbacks and loss, the friendships that grow and last, the seriousness of diligent study and preparation, and the fun and games that provide the social atmosphere that we all crave. As a member of the Pioneer family, we all belong and are valued.   

What are some of your hobbies?

Both Virginia and I love to participate in physical activity in places of natural beauty. She likes to run or walk fast. I like to saunter and add to my bird list. We both do a lot of hiking, canoeing, wilderness camping, and in general, participate in outdoor life.

What’s something people might be surprised to know about you? 

Given my current body composition, it is hard to imagine that I once ran the Boston Marathon (unofficially).

Do you have a favorite place to eat in the Napa Valley yet? If so, why?

If frequency has anything to do with “favorite” then it has to be the PUC Café. They do a great job. All of the other experiences in Calistoga and St. Helena have also been excellent but I haven’t settled into a “favorite” spot yet.

Where is your favorite spot on campus?

This is a really hard question. I love the Church Bowl surrounded by towering redwoods, several miles back on the mountain bike trails (and still considered on campus). I think the prayer garden, almost hidden from view from the Library, is pretty special. Looking up at Clark Hall with the accompanying gardens and trees or looking down the steps when descending from McReynolds Hall through the woods are very special spots. The special collections room in the Library and the Pitcairn Center have some really exciting secrets waiting for discovery. I even like the effluent pond by the airport – especially when there is a bird, like the American Avocet, wading on the shoreline.

Finish this sentence: On Sunday mornings you can find me… 

Walking through the fields and woods or reading at my desk, unless the farm team invites me to stack hay or clear brush while it is still cool.

We are so delighted to have Dr. Trecartin as our President. If you ever see him around campus, do not hesitate to say hi! 

Sensibilities: Douglas Sandquist at the Rasmussen Art Gallery

By Becky St. Clair

In the early 90s, Douglas Sandquist attended PUC as a bio-chem. Upon being accepted into dental school after his junior year, he left PUC and headed to dental school. He went on to become a dentist back in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, where today he curates the unexpected combination of his dental career and photography. 

In 2016, a photo Sandquist took in Iceland with his iPhone and shared via Instagram was requested by Apple for use in a worldwide marketing campaign. This resulted in mega exposure for this Nevadan dentist-photographer. (More on this in the Q&A—keep reading!)

Some of Sandquist’s photographic art will be displayed in an exhibit in the Rasmussen Art Gallery beginning this Saturday, Oct. 12, with his opening reception at 7 p.m. He will present an artist talk and refreshments will be served. Before you go, though, you may want to learn a bit more about the artist himself. We did, so we asked him a few prodding questions. 

Introducing: Douglas Sandquist.

Where did you grow up, and how did that environment contribute to how you view the physical world? big-image-1

I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s right in the middle of the Southwest part of the United States. California, Utah, and Arizona, along with their beaches, deserts, and National Parks, gave me the opportunity to get out and see what was out there. I’ve never stopped exploring.

 

 

What sparked your original interest in photography?

I actually dabbled with it even as a child. It wasn’t until I wanted to get better at taking photos for my day job as a dentist that I really started getting serious about it. I wanted to somehow be able to capture what I do. Most dental photography is macro photography, but it’s also portrait photography. I originally wanted to learn how to take better clinical photos, so I delved into learning how to better use a camera, how to compose a shot, and how to work with different lighting. One thing led to another, and I started to enjoy photography outside the office just as much as in it.

What was the first camera you used to start shooting artistic/intentional photography?

I bought a Canon 10D in 2004.

What camera is your instrument of choice now?

I currently use a Canon 5D Mark IV and, of course, an iPhone. 

Where do you learn your photography skills?

I’ve never taken a formal photography class. I am mostly self-taught, but I have also participated in workshops all over the world, and have engaged in online mentorship programs for over 10 years.

Okay, let’s talk about the Apple iPhone ads. (You knew it was coming!) How did this happen?

big-image-4

Crazy as it sounds, I didn’t submit my photo to Apple. In January 2016 I took a photo with my iPhone and posted it on Instagram with a few hashtags—as you do—and a few months later, I was contacted by Apple and their advertising agency, requesting the use of my photo in a campaign. I agreed, and within a matter of months, my photo—taken with an iPhone 6S—was on billboards, in magazines, and on signs around the globe.

 

 

 

Where did your photo show up, that you know of? big-image-3

That photo appeared on over 30 billboards all around the world: L.A., San Francisco, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Paris, India, six cities in China—including Shanghai—Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Tokyo, and Turkey, and on the back of magazines all over the world. 

 

What inspires you as a photographer?

I love challenging what I see and then attempting to capture it. It also means I get to get out there and go see the world. 

What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

I particularly enjoy capturing cold landscapes and the stars in the American Southwest. 

How do you think the desert of the American Southwest and the frozen tundra of Iceland are connected for you? What draws you to those environs to shoot? big-image-2

Both of these regions offer plenty of opportunities to ask, “How did this happen?” Whether it’s a massive arch-like Double Window in Arches National Park or the glacier ice that ends up on the black sand beaches of Iceland, there are always unique views and perspectives to capture and ponder. I also love the way the light transforms these elements. Different times of the day or year create different scenes that often catch me off-guard and illuminate my sensibilities.  

We have to ask one completely abstract question, so here goes: If the experience of taking the perfect photo had a color, what would it be? big-image

Sunset Orange 🙂