Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann - Artistic Director
Dr. Sylvia Lee Mann is an internationally recognized composer, conductor and virtuoso performer, appearing often with many orchestras and musical organizations in the Southern California area. In addition to her position as Artistic Director of the Southland Rainbow Chorale, she is the Music Director and Conductor of Southland Symphony, The West Covina Symphony Orchestra , California State University Dominguez Hills Orchestra and San Gabriel Valley Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of Bethel Arts. She serves on the faculty at California State University Dominguez Hills campus, is the Minister of Music at the Bethel UCC Congregational Church of Ontario,CA and associate conductor of the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra.She is a popular guest conductor for the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, the Coachella Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Inland Valley Symphony, among others. She is a performer with The Chamber Orchestra of the South Bay, The Rio Hondo, La Mirada, Peninsula and Southeast Symphony Orchestras, and is principal violist of the Culver City Symphony & Beach Cities Symphony Orchestras.Her music is heard on the concert stage, as well as in film, television, and various media outlets.
Her musical studies began at age 4. She completed her undergraduate studies at Chapman College, and did her graduate studies at the University of Southern California & London University.
She studied viola and violin with such notable teachers as Dr. Thomas G. Hall, Louis Debovsky, John Coppin, Noumi Fischer, Francis Tersi, David Stockhammer and Milton Thomas. As a composer, her mentors include William Kraft, Gunther Schuller and Samuel Adler. Her conducting studies included such notable pedagogues as Maestro John Koshak, who studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Dr. James Vail of the University of Southern California, Daniel Lewis and Dr. Rodney Eichenberger.
From 1987 - 2002, Dr. Mann lived in Louisiana, where she served as the principal violist of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, The Baroque Artists of Shreveport and violist of the Premier String Quartet. She was the Music Director of the Ark-La-Tex Youth Symphony Orchestra program. She also enjoyed performing with the popular all-woman rock band, “Lip Service” and was the recipient of the Shreveport LA Regional Arts Council's prestigious Music Fellowship Award.
Sylvia is currently composing, conducting and recording the music for an upcoming documentary film, and for a large mixed format(live and film) production set for release in fall of 2012. She has recently composed incidental music for a number of short festival films and theatre productions in the Los Angeles area, as well as multiple chamber music works and symphonic pieces for films. symphony orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and choral groups across the nation. Her original recorded music is now available at iTunes, Napster, Real Rhapsody, CDBaby, and a number of other digital music services. She also is a signed artist for DMX, Spafax and Face music - which program music for major cable television shows & music channels, as well as for major airline music selection channels. More information about her original compositions can be found on her website, http://sylvialeemann.com