Join us for our fall concerts:

Tactus SF presents

T R A N S C E N D E N C E

Saturday, November 14, 2026, 2 pm
St Mark’s Episcopal Church, Berkeley
Tickets to Saturday show

Thursday, November 19, 2026, 7:30 pm
St Matthews Lutheran Church, San Francisco
Tickets to Thursday show

Virtual Tickets
High-quality concert recording available the week after the performances

From laments to the light: 21-voice choir Tactus SF traces a journey of redemption in choral music spanning three centuries and two continents. From the waters of Babylon, music of exile and grief, the program turns slowly toward hope and ends in radiance. Songs by Guillaume Dufay, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Juana de la Cruz, Jean Mouton, William Billings, and others, along with poetry readings, describe a transformation from pain and darkness into light and love.

Suggested price is $20 per ticket. Tickets can also be purchased at the door at a suggested price of $25.
Wine reception to follow after each concert.

We are excited to announce that this concert set will be led by Co-Directors Jane McDougle and Susan Swerdlow.

Jane formerly sang in Tactus SF. She holds a DMA (early music, voice) from Stanford University and has worked for many years as the music director at St. Bede's Episcopal Church. Having focused on being an Episcopal priest in San Francisco in the past ten years, Jane is delighted to return to Tactus SF for more music-making.
Music has always been an important part of Jane’s life. She is a choral singer, has been a church choir director for many years, as well as a teacher of voice and classroom music. Jane has sung with a number of groups over the years including Clare College Choir, Cambridge, with John Rutter; Horniman Singers, London, with Sebastian Forbes; Stanford Early Music Singers with William Mahrt, and the Theater of Voices, with Paul Hillier. She particularly loves singing Renaissance and early Baroque music in small ensembles.

Mezzo/alto Susan Swerdlow has enjoyed singing in Tactus since 2017, and has served as the group's Associate Conductor for years. Upon retiring after several fulfilling decades teaching choral music at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, she threw herself into singing as never before. In addition to Tactus, she does choral and solo work with the Berkeley Bach Cantata Group and Marin Baroque. Susan, who holds an M.M. in choral conducting from Temple University, trained the choruses for many productions at Berkeley Opera (now West Edge Opera) and Oakland Opera Theater, and is a former director of Sacred and Profane Chamber Chorus and the Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble (WAVE).

Watch this space and sign up for our mailing list for updates.

Tactus SF at Ten: "Touching Hearts Then and Now"

Tactus SF gave the first of many Bay Area concerts in 2016 under the direction of founding director Tanmoy Laskar. In the next ten years, the choir, which specializes in the polyphonic music of the Renaissance, has given some thirty public concerts in the Bay Area. Before and after the pandemic, Tactus SF was led by music directors Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Kimble. Now comprising about two dozen auditioned singers, the choir is conducted by vocologist and teacher Sven Edward Olbash.

The name “Tactus” comes from the Latin for touch, signifying the rhythmic pulse of music, which Renaissance singers often transmitted by actual physical contact. As Tactus SF has grown through these ten years, it holds to the image of the touch—extending it, figuratively, to include singers, conductors, and audiences.

During the first two years of the pandemic, Tactus SF moved to rehearsals in open air venues such as an East Bay parking garage and a Diamond Heights strip mall. Online “Salon” performances also kept the music going until the choir could resume in-person rehearsals and performances.


Tactus SF performing in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakland. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Kimble)

    Music Director

    Sven Edward Olbash is the Music Director of Tactus SF beginning with the 2024–2025 season. Sven is a specialist in music before 1600 and has an interest in the therapeutic potential of music, particularly for those dealing with grief. His album you who sow in tears will reap in joy with medieval vocal ensemble Euouae is available for streaming at euouae.bandcamp.com. He teaches Vocal Physiology and Voice Pedagogy at San Francisco Conservatory and individual singing lessons through Voice Science Studio.

    Sven has been a guest conductor for San Francisco Renaissance Voices and the Gregorian Institute of Canada and has completed two Music Performance Residencies with SF Opera. As a singer, Sven has performed in recital at Old First Concerts & Center for New Music, at Other Minds Festival, and with new music ensemble Volti. He holds degrees in singing and voice pedagogy from Boston University and New England Conservatory and lives in Lower Haight with his chihuahua Tupperware.


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