Allan Robert Petker has conducted choirs of all ages in festivals, honor choirs, workshops, and tours throughout the US and Europe. He just completed his 14th season with Consort Chorale, an ensemble of 40 select voices from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is Minister of Music at the First Presbyterian Church, San Pedro. In 2004 he became the Artistic Director for the Santa Clarita Master Chorale, a 60-voice auditioned choir.

In 1995, as the American guest conductor/composer for the Cathedral Choir Tour in England, Mr. Petker shared the podium with such luminaries as John Rutter, Andrew Carter, Peter Aston, and Norman Morris. In 2003 he was the featured clinician for the National Association of Choirs annual conference in Winchester, England, and in the spring of 2005 he returned for a third UK engagement.

Allan is a composer and arranger with more than 250 published works with numerous publishing houses. His collection of conducting books, "Choral Questions and Answers" has become a staple in school curricula and as a secondary resource material. His crusade to offer a cure for musical illiteracy culminated in the publication of the ADVANCE learning series.

As a commissioned composer, he has written numerous choral anthems and larger works for choir and orchestra. His “Canticle of Saint Augustine” (Gentry Publications), a work in five movements, was recorded by the London National Philharmonic, and the Advent work has been performed by choirs across America. His most recent large-scale commissions for choir and orchestra, "Resounding Praise" and "Te Deum to Music" were enthusiastically received. Petker’s commissioned piece, "Speak of Peace," premiered at the American Choral Directors Association 25th National Convention.

Allan has been involved in the choral music publishing industry for many years. In 1977 he became the Director of Publications for Fred Bock Music Company and subsidiaries, a post he still holds. In 1989 he established his own company, Pavane Publishing, now expanded to include representation for the distinguished English firms, Banks Music Publications, and the Basil Ramsey Catalogue. He later added John Rich Music Press to his portfolio.

As an instrumentalist, Allan has done free-lance studio work and occasional concert playing. His specialized understanding of both instrumental and choral music enables him to be a sensitive and communicative conductor. He currently leads three-day choral workshops around the country, gathering church and community musicians together to perfect their art. Five of them have become much-anticipated annual events; one of them now in its fourteenth year. He serves as Dean at two summer church music conferences at Lake Tahoe, “Summer Sing” and “Tuning at Tahoe.” The conferences have included renowned guest conductors Weston Noble, Paul Smith, Brad Ellingboe and Charles Bruffy. The featured guest for 2008 will be Jo-Michael Scheibe (soon to head the choral music program at the University of Southern California).

Allan holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from California State University at Northridge in music, specializing in viola (BA), voice and choral conducting (MA) and is a past President of the National Association of Church Musicians.

Accompanist

Jan Sanborn is a pianist whose style and flexibility combine with her classical knowledge to give her audiences a truly memorable musical experience. With a broad foundation in the classics, Jan also brings fresh life and unexpected nuance to jazz works and standards.

Her piano studies began in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University, continued at Drake University, then on to California where she studied at Westmont College, and finishing at California State University, Northridge, as a student of Dr. Charles Fierro.

She is now the choral staff accompanist at CSU-Northridge, and has served as the accompanist for the Roger Wagner Chorale on its tours of Japan and the Far East, and as accompanist for the Los Angeles Chamber Singers. In addition, she has served as organist and coordinator of music at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, as organist at Lake Avenue in Pasadena, and a number of other southland churches.

Jan is a member of ASCAP and the composer of many published choral works and piano books with Alfred Publishing, Fred Bock Music Company, Hinshaw Music, Pavane Publishing and Shawnee Press. She has recorded five solo piano CDs, and in 2008, she will be releasing a book of Standards and a Christmas collection (Alfred), both delightful confirmations of her elegant skill as an arranger.

She is past president of the National Association of Church Musicians (formerly CCG), a member of ACDA, and a member of the Dominant Club of Los Angeles. She lives with her husband, veteran stuntman Loren Janes, in Canyon Country, California.