Petaluman Linda Manuilow’s life full of music and song

Over the years and throughout the world, music has played different roles in different cultures. Whether the art of song is used in celebration and joy, or times of grief and hardship, everyone is influenced by music - whether they know it or not.

For music director Linda Manuilow, music is life.

Without it, she said, “I don’t know if I’d be here. It’s kept me going.”

For that reason, Linda has surrounded herself with music for her entire life. She was recently hired as director for the Petaluma community singing group known as “Petaluma Chorale.”

Laila Schoenlein created the first version of this group about forty years ago, when it was known as two separate groups of men and women, called the “Harmoneers” and “Harmonettes.” They started out singing songs primarily from the musical theatre repertoire, but have evolved over time to sing songs of a much greater variety.

Now Linda will carry on that legacy as she teaches multiple generations of students to sing in a chorus setting.

“Music, especially choral music, is extremely powerful,” she said. “The fact that it’s a human instrument, with multiple people singing together - that’s what makes it so powerful.”

After completing her undergraduate studies in Music Education at Asbury College, Linda graduated with a Master’s degree in Vocal Pedagogy at Oakland University. From then on, she has enjoyed teaching voice music to singers all around the country. After years of travel, she found her home in Petaluma in the early 2000s. In 2015 she founded her own singing group, called the North Bay Singers, which she continues to work with today.

As Linda looks back on her life as a musician, she says she hopes that she can pass on that love of music to her singers, so that they might experience the astonishing magic and healing remedies music has brought to her own life.

“Music gave me an outlet, a way forward, and a sense of rightness in my soul and my values as a person,” Linda said. “It’s made a difference in my life, and I hope that it reaches the students, and into the audience.”

The ability to make a difference in people’s lives with this art form that Linda calls “poetry” is certainly one of the most important reasons why she continues on her journey through teaching. She allows that she didn’t quite realize how much of a difference she has made until recently attending the wedding celebration of one of her students.

“He came up to me and said, ‘I wouldn’t have done any of this if it hadn’t been for you,’” she said. “It may have meant a lot to him, but he has no idea how much it meant to me.”