Derek Tam, guest conductor
Derek Tam is the director of music at First Church Berkeley (First Congregational), where he leads two choirs, and is also the artistic director of the Berkeley Bach Cantata Group. He recently served as the artistic director of the Vallejo Choral Society.
Praised not only for his “deft” conducting (San Francisco Chronicle) but also as a “a master of [the harpsichord]” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and “the fortepianist of the beguiling fingers” (Bloomington Herald-Times), Derek Tam appears regularly throughout the Bay Area and beyond as a conductor and historical keyboardist.
He is the executive director of the San Francisco Early Music Society, a major advocate for early music in the United States, and serves as the artistic director of the biennial Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, an internationally-renowned celebration of early music.
Tam is the president of the board of Early Music America, a national organization dedicated to strengthening historical performance.
