Bios

Betsy has been singing all of her life in various ensembles, from church choirs to madrigal groups to a brief stint in a Hawaiian rock band. Between her husband and 3 kids, her job as a government attorney, and her various volunteer activities, she manages to stay out of trouble most of the time. Her favorite  part of Venus rehearsals is the wine and the laughing, but the singing part is o.k., too.

Dolores looks forward to Venus rehearsals as a refuge from her home office, where she works to help nonprofits raise money to support great causes, all the while rooting for the Washington Nationals and for her sons, Ian & Noah to do well in school so they can someday move out of the house.  You see, she and husband, Jamie are to empty nesting as Sarah Palin is to Russia:  they can see it from here!

After a freak accident involving a false eyelash and a disco ball derailed Beth‘s dream to sing back up for Robert Palmer, she turned to Venus for solace and musical adventure. Today, she serves as the group’s musical director – bringing years of piano lessons, collegiate a cappella experience, and post-graduate work in cat herding to the job.

The daughter of an Air Force top gun pilot, Kristin was forced to abandon her plans to follow in his footsteps when in the third grade her eyesight slipped to 20-200. Instead she became a lobbyist, where she is better served by a keen sense of smell. Thankfully for us, she also is one of Venus’s “rock solid altos.”  Having grown up wandering the back roads of upstate New York, she thanks Montgomery county zoning and those rich people in Middleburg for the great cycling around Washington.

Patti is the newest Venusian, having joined in the spring of 2004. She’s a stodgy classical geek trying to branch out with a cappella, but the girls tolerate her because she has cute dogs, an entertaining cat who thinks he’s a dog, and a decent wine cellar. She was born with a bit of a handicap: She is cursed with perfect pitch, which comes in handy when Beth can’t find a pocket for her pitch-pipe. Oh, and she’s the youngest member, actually born in the 1970s, nyah nyah. She lives in Alexandria with the aforementioned critters and a plus one named Matt.

Mary has loved to sing since she was a very young kid, and is grateful that Patty has offered up so many sop 1 and sop 2 parts for her to learn! And she is glad to be able to leave several of the higher ones for Patty to continue to sing.

 

Robin has sung at Carnegie Hall…well, the steps of Carnegie Hall… performed at Lincoln Center…ok, the cab was passing Lincoln Center…and brought the house down at the Kennedy Center…no really, that one’s true! She’s tall, blonde on a good day, alto when she remembers to be and on key when she’s paying attention which is usually on Thursdays around 3 to 3:15 – thus the stage name Oblivious de Havilland.  Talented. Musical. Funny. Entertaining. Robin has heard all of these words. She’s also heard rutabaga, wingtip, Alhambra and smudge.  She lives in Bethesda with one kid and a big dog and her celebrity crush is Brian Dennehy…I know, right?

Amy has played “legit” classical violin since the age of 9, but early in life was bitten by the pop/jazz bug, which blossomed in college a cappella at Yale. In real life, she’s a multi-media director/producer and speaker. She and her a cappella-singing hubby have two  aca-children who have spent more of their lives listening to singing group rehearsals than most kids spend in school.