The Larkdales
Lark fell in love with some of the old bluegrass gospel tunes, noticed that few groups sang them anymore, and wanted to share them for the joy they inspire (without needing to take the words literally!) Turns out Dale (our bass emeritus) loved them too. We then reached out and found Mark, our tenor, and the Larkdales came to be. Our repertoire includes a cappella and accompanied music that can broadly be called “Americana”, including bluegrass, old gospel, and country with a sprinkle of pirate songs and more. We are drawn to music that has heart and soul and joy and humor and look forward to sharing it with you soon!
Lark Coryell
Lark is the founder of the Larkdales and sings baritone and tenor (and yes, sometimes even bass). She has sung with and recorded 3 CDs with Solstice, an award-winning women’s septet, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the Pacific Mozart Ensemble (now Pacific Edge Voices). With PME, she recorded several CDs and was a soloist on the Kent Nagano/Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Grammy-nominated recording of Bernstein’s Mass, and performed with Dave Brubeck, Sufjan Stevens, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Bobby McFerrin.
Mark Shepherd
Mark Shepherd (tenor vocals and guitar) has been singing acappella for decades. He met Lark and Dale (the original Larkdales) through an online ad for gospel/country acappella singers. Before the Larkdales, Mark co-founded the bay area acappella jazz quintet One Night Stand, and was also a founding member of the pop/jazz group Just Voices, in Marin county. Mark has studied singing with bay area teachers Jan Pedersen-Schiff, Kristen Womack, the Ali Akbar School of Indian music, and the Freight & Salvage.
Jim Kamphoefner
Jim joined The Larkdales in the spring of 2019, bringing with him a lifelong passion for singing nurtured in a large musical family and refined in his high school choir, which toured Germany. He has since honed his voice with instructors Dr. Craig Singleton of Dominican University and Kristin Womack. A versatile bass, Jim currently performs with several classical choruses, including Consort Chorale, Marin Symphony Chorus and Chamber Chorus, and Valley of the Moon Chamber Ensemble. In addition to his classical work, he sings with an a cappella jazz group, lifting spirits at area hospitals and retirement homes. Jim also enjoys singing, cantoring, and arranging for his church choir in Corte Madera and frequently solos at local churches. His performance resume extends to the Sing for America choir in San Francisco and the Dominican University Chorale.
Dale Engle, Larkdales Emeritus
Dale upped and moved to Oregon in Spring 2019, don’t know why he didn’t want to commute to the Bay Area for rehearsals… you can still hear and see him here on our site.