Alto / Managing Director

“Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking. . . . the new inventive phrases we make up to describe things – all that to me is jazz just as much as the music we play.”
Nina Simone

Heather, an alto, and clinical laboratory scientist, joined OJC in 1995 and became Managing Director in 2008. Her mom, a lyric soprano and concert pianist, was the most influential person along her musical journey. At five, she began training in classical piano. In middle school she became a Motown and chorus enthusiast. In high school she performed in school musicals & choir, and was first introduced to John Coltrane. Her love of jazz continued while attending UC Berkeley, where she ushered at jazz festivals. A lover of all genres of music, she has sung with various community choirs throughout the years. Heather loves crocheting and baking treats each week for OJC rehearsals.