Board of Directors

Pamela Philbert, born in Trinidad/Tobago, previously resided in Wembley, United Kingdom and Paris, France, before relocating to New York City, and subsequently to the San Francisco By Area. Recently retired, Philbert’s career was focused primarily in the medical profession, including supervisory and management positions at NYU Medical Center in New York City, UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, and Washington Outpatient Surgery Center (WOSC) in Fremont, California. Philbert is Past President of the Tri-Valley Evening Rotary Club, having also served as both Assistant Governor and Youth Service Chairperson of the club. Philbert currently serves on the Board of Directors of three Bay Area arts organizations, namely Livermore Valley Opera, Pacific Chamber Orchestra as Board Chair, and the East Bay Chapter of San Francisco Opera. She and her husband, Dr. Freddie McClendon, currently reside in Lafayette.  A consummate world traveler, Philbert has taken extensive journeys throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa, as well as fulfilling her great passion for voyages on numerous river boat cruises. Pamela can be reached at pamela.philbert@gmail.com

Jen Kraus joined Pacific Chamber Orchestra Board of Directors in 2025 and currently serves as Treasurer. In this role, she helps provide financial oversight and supports the organization’s mission of bringing exceptional live orchestral music to the community.

Professionally, Jennifer serves as Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Underwriting at Fremont Bank, where she leads teams responsible for underwriting and structuring complex commercial real estate transactions. With more than a decade of leadership experience in community banking, she is known for her strategic thinking, attention to detail, and commitment to developing high-performing teams.

Beyond her professional career, Jennifer has a long history of volunteer service and nonprofit involvement. She believes strongly in giving back to the community, mentoring others, and advocating for those whose voices are often unheard. Her volunteer experience spans health, arts, and animal welfare organizations, reflecting a lifelong commitment to service and community engagement.

Jennifer is passionate about helping organizations grow and thrive through thoughtful leadership, sound governance, and fiscal responsibility. She is honored to contribute her financial expertise and leadership experience to PCO and to support its efforts to inspire, educate, and connect audiences through music.

Laura Varner has a deep appreciation for music having been a flautist in her teens, a chorister since her youth, and a lifetime classical music follower.  She serves as PCO Board Secretary supporting professional music performances in the East Bay and representing the Lamorinda community.  Varner is a California Registered Civil and Geotechnical Engineer, working in her earlier professional career consulting in Texas, the Bay Area and Southern California, before staying home to manage raising two boys – now young men matriculating from college.  Laura is now looking forward to a final career act working professionally again using her engineering and management experience to serve the Bay Area in sustainably adjusting to climate change. Varner has served multiple organizations, including acting as parent advocate on various educational Boards, and participating in a state-wide parenting conference as well as local science events in Lafayette.  Professionally, she was a member of the Society of Women Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers committee, coordinating educational seminars in geotechnical engineering. Born and raised in San Antonio, Varner enjoys the outdoors, hiking the East Bay Hills and camping throughout California and beyond.  While working in engineering, she lived in Guam for six months immediately prior to marrying her husband Tom and found that she could survive an environment even more humid than south Texas, weathering intense rains and Hurricane Russ. 

Lawrence Kohl was fortunate to study clarinet with the best of the best, namely Rosaro Mazzeo from the Boston Symphony and Donald Carroll from the San Francisco Symphony. He has performed and toured with the San Francisco Symphony, played concertos with Pacific Chamber Orchestra and has a special affinity for performing as part of the quintet that presents educational programs to the elementary schools. In 2014, Kohl joined the Orinda Arts Council, serving as President for five years, during which time he guided the organization through a systemic transition to add service areas of Lafayette and Moraga, thereby becoming the Lamorinda Arts Council. The LAC mission was revised to include the Literary Arts along with the Performing and Visual Arts, bylaws were revised, the first professional managing director was hired, and new programs were developed. He received, from the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa Country, the 2016 Arts Recognition Award for his contributions to the community. Kohl has experienced the joys of co-parenting his daughter, Sofia, now a student at American University studying International Relations. Back in his high school days, he was an avid member of the Tennis and Chess teams as well as active in Theater. Outside of concert and musical activities, Kohl enjoys hiking the Bay Area trails and frequenting local coffee shops. Lawrwence can be reached at LKohl@pacificchamberorchestra.org

Raquel Holt has a deep-rooted passion for arts education and community engagement, and enjoys listening to music. She is a lifelong devotee of the performing arts, whether it be in a grand scale or in intimate settings – be it opera, musicals, large symphonic orchestra, chamber music, choral music, and recitals.
As much as she relishes classical music, she also likes jazz. Raquel holds a degree in Music Education from the University of the Philippines, and on a full scholarship earned her MS in Music Education from Illinois Wesleyan University.
She has taught at both the high school and the university levels. The year 1992 was significant when Raquel, alongside her late husband, Douglas, and three others founded Livermore Valley Opera. Raquel has remained a dedicated champion of the magic of opera and in promoting the careers of talented singers who are also skillful actors. She led the highly successful annual Opera in the Vineyard for more than two decades, expanding it to two events during summer. Even as she marvels at the rich texture of choral works and the intricacies of a large symphony orchestra, she also greatly admires the more intimate nuances of a chamber orchestra. She appreciates being a member of the board of directors for Pacific Chamber Orchestra, a company that enriches the live arts in the Bay Area.

Paul McKellar has been associated with music and various choirs for over 30 years. He performed in the Chamber and Vocal jazz choirs at Las Positas College. With the Chamber Choir, he performed the Magnificat at the Bankhead Theater and with Vocal Jazz at local Livermore wineries during the holiday season. A few years later he joined the Pacific Chamber Orchestra, and this year will be his tenth year performing the Messiah with the PCO. He appreciates a wide range of music, from classical to contemporary. Semi-retired from the retail tire business, he enjoys fishing in Northern California streams and rivers, or fishing and boating in high Sierra lakes. Serving on the PCO Board of Directors helps nurture his love of music while lending his business acumen to the arts and community. 

Calvin Wood retired from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory after a successful career in his role as Senior Design Physicist. Since that time, Wood has dedicated his time to both community involvement, working with several local nonprofits, and enjoying retirement life with his family. He has served on the Board of Directors for Pacific Chamber Orchestra for a number of years not only to support the performing arts sector in the Tri-Valley but also to collaborate with other Board members in sustaining the growth of the organization. When Wood’s granddaughter has her baby this October, it will be his twentieth great grandchild, and including his five children with their four spouses, he sends out a total of 52 birthday cards each year! He recently celebrated yet another milestone, namely reaching the age of 89, one more year than the number of keys on a piano. Further, when his golf partner urged him hurry up to the next tee box, Cal vowed to obey the eleventh commandment, “Thou shalt not fall,” and refused to move on until he felt confident of keeping his balance; and with that said, Cal’s partner has never uttered another word on the subject!