Meet the Artists
The Letterboxers were formed in 2017 by Winona Hendrick and John Mansfield. The two band members met at San Francisco State while completing their music education degrees. Since 2010, the two have performed in multiple groups together, ranging from Renaissance choirs to Afro-Cuban ensembles. John and Winona married in 2014 and began teaching music in San Francisco public schools. The band's most recent accomplishment was performing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2018, where they performed with two of their middle school music ensembles. The band's name comes from the duo's shared hobby "letterboxing," a scavenger hunt-like pastime enjoyed around the world. Find out more about letterboxing at atlasquest.com.
Winona Hendrick grew up in Crescent City, a small town on the coast of California. She grew up in a very musical family; her parents and brother all sang and played instruments. She first started singing in church where her mom was the music director, and then began singing in the local children's choir. Winona began playing trumpet in elementary school, and began learning guitar in middle school with help from her dad. In high school, she continued singing in choirs, and playing trumpet in band, and enjoyed occasionally singing with the school's jazz band. After high school, Winona attended San Francisco State on academic scholarship. Currently, she performs as a classical singer in the Bay Area, and teaches middle school band and choir.
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John Mansfield, a San Francisco native, grew up singing in his family’s folk band. In highschool, John discovered his love of music, performing in the choirs and musical theater productions, as well as studying accordion privately. John continued on to San Francisco State University, where he graduated with a degree and teaching credential in music education. He began playing ukulele on his honeymoon to Hawaii, teaching himself chords on a cheap souvenir instrument. In 2015, he began teaching general and instrumental music in San Francisco public schools. As a classically-trained tenor, John enjoys regular performances around the Bay Area. This year, John will join the SF Symphony Chorus for the second half of the season.
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