Our Staff

Artistic Director Kristina Nakagawa artistic@resoundingachord.org
Executive Director Jan Clayton executive@resoundingachord.org
Conductor, Pariter Vocal Ensemble Albert Mabeza albee@resoundingachord.org
Conductor, Chromatic Convergence Dario Johnson dario@resoundingachord.org
Administrative Coordinator Andrea White andreaw@resoundingachord.org
Special Events Kelli Ghanati contact@resoundingachord.org

Executive Staff Bios

Kristina Nakagawa (Artistic Director, RA Conductor)

Kristina is one of the founders of Resounding Achord Productions and has been the Artistic Director since its inception in 2012. As Artistic Director, Kristina sets the organization’s overall artistic vision and branding, both musically and visually. She collaborates with all levels of the organization’s membership to ensure that the artistic vision is executed appropriately. She strives to embody the mission, vision, and core values of the organization.

Kristina has been performing and directing in Silicon Valley since 2001. Besides serving as Artistic Director for Resounding Achord, Kristina is the Artistic Director of Vivace Youth Chorus of San José, and she previously worked at St. Francis Episcopal Church of Willow Glen, Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills, Carden Hall School in Newport Beach, and she directed two choirs at UC Irvine. Her choirs consistently received superior rankings at California Music Educator’s festivals and Gold awards at Heritage Festivals in Anaheim. She has also worked as the musical director for several productions, including The Wedding Singer, Once on This Island, The Pajama Game, Working, and Once Upon a Mattress, among others.

Kristina sang and served as the Assistant Conductor for The Choral Project from 2005 to 2012 where she participated in many world premieres: “Keramos” by Stephen Schwartz, Divide Light by Leslie Dill and Richard Marriott at Montalvo Arts Center, and Choose Life by Mona Lyn Reese with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. While Kristina sang with the choir, The Choral Project won the First Prize at the 2007 International Choral Festival in San Luis Obispo and was invited to participate in the 2011 International Concorso Corale in Tolosa, Spain. She can be heard on their recordings Winter, One is the All, Tell the World, and Yuletide.

As a soloist, Kristina has performed cabaret shows at Society Cabaret in San Francisco and San Jose, Theatre on San Pedro Square in San Jose, and also at Limelight Theatre in Gilroy. She was featured in the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus production of Enchantingly Wicked with Stephen Schwartz at Davies Symphony Hall, and has performed with Foothill Musical Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, and the Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus.

Kristina graduated in 2001 with a degree in Vocal Performance from UC Irvine and finished a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from San José State University in 2005. While at SJSU, she was honored to study conducting with Dr. Charlene Archibeque and sang with the world-famous Choraliers. With Dr. “A” and the Choraliers, Kristina competed in the Spittal International Choral Festival in Austria and the Seghizzi Choral Competition in Gorizia, Italy.

Jan Clayton (Executive Director & Founding Member)

Jan runs the organization’s administrative function (operations) and helps set the long-range strategy for the organization. She provides the push for developing a corporate infrastructure that will support the organization as it grows and become more versatile. She also works to ensure that the organization follows nonprofit best practices. Jan was Resounding Achord’s initial Board of Directors Chairperson. When the initial Executive Director left the organization in 2014, Jan took over as acting Executive Director. In 2017, she relinquished the Board Chairmanship and became the official Executive Director.

Jan has been involved in singing organizations since the age of 8, usually involved in three or more choirs at a time, and has spent much of that time promoting the choral arts. Soon after she joined The Choral Project in 2006 as a singer, she became involved in the group’s management. She spent a year as Development Director, a year as Outreach Director, and then served as President of the Board for 2½ years. She worked with the organization to establish and grow its student outreach programs. She was also very involved in the organization’s fundraising activities.

Jan has a 30-year career in the high-tech industry, where she started off as an Artificial Intelligence programmer. In 1990, she and a business partner started Expert Support, a documentation, training, and application-development consulting firm. As COO, Jan ran the firm’s day-to-day operations, hired most of the staff, and managed a large part of the business, which averaged about $2.5 million in annual income over her tenure. Jan has since retired from her COO job. She is now a part-time consultant and pistachio farmer.

Jan has a BA in Zoology from UC Santa Barbara, where she also almost finished a BA degree in Music — Vocal Performance. At Stanford University she earned two Master’s degrees, one in Biological Sciences and the other in Computer Science.

Conductor Bios

Albert “Albee” Mabeza (Conductor, Pariter)

Originally from Southern California, Albee received an Associate of Arts degree from Fullerton College and later moved to the Bay Area to pursue a Bachelor of Music at San José State University with a double concentration in music education and vocal performance. While at SJSU, he studied voice with tenor Joseph Frank and conducting with Dr. Jeffrey Benson. He was a section leader, student conductor, and also founded and directed SJSU’s all-male a cappella ensemble, “Pitch, Please!”

Albee currently teaches choir, musical theater, and guitar at Woodside Priory School. He is also an Associate Conductor with Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, and can be heard singing with Resounding Achord, Chromatic Convergence, and the award-winning Fog City Singers.