While the country struggles to pick its president, the Burbank Chorale has once again made its rather easy choice by acclamation! We all recognize competence, dedication and infectious enthusiasm when we see it. But just who is that lady who writes the “president” columns, and stands up at rehearsal breaks to make important announcements? As it turns out, she’s not only a great leader; she has a fascinating musical background, and a cool public relations business that helps her do her president’s job exceptionally well.Kyrian actually began her musical career at age 2 when her mother took her to a professional studio to record “Sailing, Sailing, over the Bounding Main.” (Top that, Mozart!) She began improvising on the piano at that time, inspiring her parents to give her piano lessons when she started grade school. Kyrian’s other love is writing. So to gratify the urge toward both disciplines, she majored in philosophy and intellectual history at the University of Wisconsin, while performing in rock bands on the side. After college, she began her professional music career, forming a popular band with her former husband, platinum recording artist Jimmy Corona. The couple toured the Western states for the next 10 years. Kyrian played multi-keyboards and was lead singer. They later stopped touring to concentrate on recording, picking up several Billboard songwriting awards in the process.
Looking for new musical challenges, Kyrian soon embarked upon other projects, including film scoring, an alternative music duo with a European art rock icon, performing at the Museum of Art Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, and composing music for London’s Institute of Contemporary Art.
Along the way, Kyrian has managed to study piano performance at Cal State Long Beach, film scoring at UCLA Extension, and composition at Los Angeles Pierce College. After all those musical adventures, fate led Kyrian to join our Chorale in 2005.
As Chorale president, Kyrian does a lot more than make announcements at rehearsals. She runs our Board meetings, taking the lead, with Misha, Georgia, Brad and others, in accomplishing our immediate tasks, and thinking through our future needs. With her skills in writing grants and her professional abilities in public relations, she is a key “player” in raising funds to keep us running, and helping to get the word out to the world about who we are. She even walks through potential concert venues!
It’s a lot of work just to learn the Chichester Psalms or a Mozart mass. Singing is the heart of what of what we do. But it takes a lot more to keep a Chorale in existence. People like Kyrian make it work!
