Bill Pappazisis, President

William T. Pappazisis is the Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools, where he leads a comprehensive program in music, the visual arts, theatre and dance.  In addition to his responsibilities in the Belmont Public Schools, Bill teaches choral methods at Boston University.  Prior to his tenure in Belmont, he was High School Choral Director and Fine Arts Coordinator for the Westborough Public Schools for over twenty years.  Before that, he taught elementary general music and children’s choirs in the West Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut.  He received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Hartt School, a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a diploma from the Kodaly Musical Training Institute.  Bill furthered his graduate education in curriculum and instruction, and arts administration at the University of Massachusetts and Fitchburg State College. 

Bill has been a long-time active member of ACDA, for which he served in several capacities- Massachusetts High School R&S Chair from 1998-2001, Secretary from 2002-2004, and Eastern Division High School R&S Chair from 2004-2006.   Bill is well known throughout Massachusetts for his choral work.  He is frequently sought after throughout New England as a choral clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor at both the middle and high school levels. He received the MICCA Paul Smith Conductor of the Year Award in 2003. For many years, Bill served as conducting assistant to Dr. Gerald Mack, Artistic Director of the Worcester Chorus, with which he toured Europe, and performed with the Boston, Baltimore, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.  He is very active in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, both at the district and state levels.  At the state level, Bill was active at the Massachusetts Department of Education, and was one of the authors of the Commonwealth’s first state-mandated arts curriculum.  In 2005 he received the MMEA Visionary Leadership Award.

Michelle Graveline is Associate Professor of Music at Assumption College in Worcester, MA, where she has taught and conducted the Assumption College Chorale for 18 years.  She is the Music Director of the Salisbury Singers of Worcester, which has more than doubled in size under her direction over the last 5 years.  She is also the Music Director of the Polymnia Choral Society in Melrose.

A graduate of Boston University and the University of Michigan, Dr. Graveline has conducted many choral works to critical acclaim, including Bach Mass in B Minor, Verdi Requiem, and Haydn Creation.  She has been an adjudicator for the Mass. Instrumental and Choral Conductors state festival and has guest-conducted massed choirs for the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, and for other Massachusetts festivals and concerts. She has led the Assumption Chorale on 8 national and international concert tours.  Her choirs have sung at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and have twice had the distinction of singing for Pope John Paul II.  She has worked with such distinguished conductors as Robert Page, Vance George, Dale Warland, and Margaret Hillis.

Kayla Werlin is a native of Lexington, Massachusetts. She received her musical training at the University of Michigan and the University of Massachusetts. A veteran of twenty years’ public school teaching experience, Kayla has taught vocal music at every level, from kindergarten through college. Kayla joined the music staff of the Longmeadow Public Schools in 1995, and spent her first years in Longmeadow building a large middle school choral program. She currently directs women's choirs and teaches Music Theory at Longmeadow High School.

Kayla is the founding director of the Springfield Children’s Chorus at the Community Music School of Springfield. This six year old program provides choral opportunities for a highly diverse population of children from kindergarten through high school in the greater Springfield area. She has just been appointed to direct Makhela, a community chorus in western Massachusetts focusing on the wide range of Jewish music.

Kayla's guest conducting experiences have included middle school and high school choruses in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey. She has presented workshops and reading sessions on vocal music at state and division MENC and ACDA conferences. She teaches voice privately as well, and performs as a soloist in area concert halls. She is a member of 'Cantabile,' the Pioneer Valley's professional vocal chamber ensemble, and appears annually as a soloist with Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra. 

Kayla lives, cooks, and gardens in Hadley, Massachusetts, with her husband E. Wayne Abercrombie.

Dr. Robert P. Eaton is founder and director of the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a 70 voice regional chorus dedicated to the performance of major choral masterworks, and also the sixteen voice Assabet Valley Chambersingers.  Dr. Eaton has a long career in church music and is currently Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Lexington, MA.  He is a Past President of Mass. ACDA and is currently the Vice President and Treasurer of the chapter. He also serves as Honors Choir Coordinator for the Eastern Division ACDA conferences in 2006 and 2008. 

Dr. Eaton was Choral Director at Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA for many years.  Dr. Eaton’s choruses won numerous awards at festivals and competitions, including gold medals for Jazz Choir, Camerata Choir, Chamber Choir, and Concert Choir.   Dr. Eaton’s students have been selected for National and Regional Honors Choirs and were always well represented in District and All State Choruses.  In 1994 he was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award at Algonquin for his work in developing Humanities courses and a Senior Interdisciplinary Pilot Project.

Heather Tryon, Secretary

Jennifer Moss received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from UMass Amherst, where she studied voice with Jon Humphrey and Paulina Stark, and conducting with E. Wayne Abercrombie.  While at UMass, she interned with the Springfield Children's Chorus under the direction of Kayla Werlin.  Jennifer completed her Masters of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Temple University with Alan Harler, Director of Choral Activities, and Artistic Director of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.  While in Pennsylvania, Jennifer served as Assistant Conductor for the Bucks County Choral Society for two years and taught general music and chorus in the Pennsbury School District.  Jennifer now serves as Director of Choral Activities at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and Junior High School.

Richard conducts the Longy Chamber Chorus, as well as the Junior Chorus and the Youth Chamber Chorus at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. He teaches at the Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea where he conducts the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade choirs, seventh grade handbells and teaches general music classes. Internationally trained in Vienna and Boston as a conductor and musicologist, Richard received his Bachelor’s degree from Boston University, studied conducting at the Konservatorium Wien (Vienna Conservatory) and earned a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the New England Conservatory under Simon Carrington. He has taught at the University of the Philippines, St. Scholastica’s College and the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music in the Philippines. Closer to home, he has also taught at Camp Encore/Coda in Sweden, Maine as well as conducted area ensembles such as the Nashua Choral Society, the Vox Consort, and the Pilgrim Festival Chorus.

Chet Laskosky, Middle School Choirs

Chet Laskosky majored in music education and received a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude. He has been the choral director at East Middle School in Braintree for the past thirteen years, where he conducts four choirs; grades 6 through 8. During his tenure at East Middle School he has directed and produced several musicals and student-faculty variety shows.  He has conducted the MMEA Central District Jr. High Chorus and has served as an adjudicator for SEMSBA. He has been a clinician at MMEA State Conferences, RIACDA Fall Conference and ACDA Summer Conferences.  He has been the Middle School Repertoire and Standards Committee Chair for the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and is currently the Secretary of the chapter.  He lives in Framingham with his wife, Pam and his two children.

Community Choirs

College and University

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Joshua Miller is in his third year as Director of Choral Activities at Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, MA.  Josh obtained his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Marshall University and his Master of Music Degree in Conducting from The Ohio State University where he studied with Hillary Apfelstadt, national president of ACDA. He has also studied conducting at the Eastman School of Music Conducting Institute with Joseph Flummerfelt and participated in Yale University’s Choral Conducting Workshop with Simon Carrington.  Josh has conducted productions for The Boston Opera Collaborative, The College Light Opera Company, Opera Columbus and The Ohio State University.  He has also prepared choruses and coached singers for Harvard University's Lowell Opera.  He maintains his own singing career as a tenor with Boston's Cantata Singers and he has performed in musical theatre, light opera, and opera productions throughout New England.  Josh has sung professionally for the Columbus Bach Ensemble in J.S. Bach's great B Minor Mass, with the Columbus ProMusica in their fully staged production of Leonard Bernstein's Mass, and as a part of the Capital University Contemporary Music Festival with composer Eric Whitacre.   He is currently studying voice at the New England Conservatory of Music. 

John F. Delorey received his BA in Music History from Vassar College, studied Conducting at Harvard University with Jameson Marvin, Composition at Berklee College of Music and received his Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from The Boston Conservatory, where he studied with William Cutter and Yoichi Udagawa.  He received his early choral training in the historic Choir of Men and Boys at All Saints Church, Worcester, Massachusetts. He was also a member of the nationally renowned Berkshire Boys Choir working with Sir George Guest, Allen Wicks and Alan Ridout, from which he was chosen to sing at the opening of the Kennedy Center in the premier of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. It was Bernstein who first put a baton in Delorey’s hand which sparked a lasting friendship. Delorey has sung and recorded with the Boston Camarata, Schola Cantorum of Boston and Schola Discantus of San Francisco, both as a tenor and countertenor. Delorey specializes in early music, and is currently researching materials for a new edition of Thomas Tallis's monumental motet "Spem in Alium." When not cavorting through the Renaissance, he is developing new methods toward the creation of a paperless choral environment. He is currently the Director of Choral Music and Assistant Instructor of Music at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Choral Director at The Boston Conservatory.

Michael Winslow is entering his third year as Choral Director and Music Teacher at Somerset High School in Somerset, MA.  Along with conducting the Concert Choir and Treble Choir, he directs an a cappella choir and the award winning show choir "Electrify."  A graduate of the The Hartt School with a Bachelor's degree in Music Education, his first teaching position was in the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District.  In Dudley, Michael spent five years directing the high school show choir "Fantasy."  He is an organist and soloist at First United Methodist Church in Southbridge, MA.  Mr. Winslow is an active soloist, accompanist, and arranger in the community.  He is a member of MENC, MMEA, and ACDA.

Sheila Heffernon, Student Activities

In her sixth year as the Evelyn Barry Director of Choral Music, Lisa Graham conducts the the Wellesley College Choir, Glee Club, and Chamber Singers as well as teaching academic courses in the music department. In 2004 she founded the Choral Scholars Program, consisting of four scholarship students selected to study conducting and choral music.

Under her direction, the Wellesley College Choirs have toured internationally to England, Wales, Canada, and Spain in addition to domestic tours annually. The Wellesley Choirs regularly perform in the Boston area, on professional concert series and in collaboration with other choirs nationally.  Both the Chamber Singers and the Choir were recorded for the motion picture, "Mona Lisa Smile."

An active participant in the musical life of the greater Boston area, she is the conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society’s Young Women’s Chorus and Music Director of the Brookline Chorus. Additionally, she is a founding member and the Vice President of the National Collegiate Choral Conductor’s Organization and is invited as a Guest Conductor for college and high school choruses around the country, recently including the 2006 Northeast Senior District Festival and Massachusetts ACDA High School Womens Honor Choir.

Malcolm Halliday, Music in Worship

Malcolm Halliday is Minister of Music at the First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury, where he leads one of the largest mainline protestant church music ministries (170 participants) in New England.  He has been Artistic Director and Conductor of the Master Singers of Worcester (MSW) in Worcester, MA since the fall of 1998. This community chorus performs a broad range of repertoire from music of the medieval and renaissance periods (featured in the annual Boar’s Head Festival) through the Baroque (Handel’s Israel in Egypt), classical and romantic styles (Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle) to jazz (Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts) and music of contemporary composers (Ruth Watson Henderson’s Voices of Earth.) Malcolm Halliday is also the Choral Director at the Performing Arts School of Worcester where he directs the Worcester Children’s Chorus and the Worcester Youth Chorale. He currently resides in Worcester, MA where he is also on the music faculty at Clark University.  

Allyssa Jones began piano lessons at the age of 5, and continued at Adelphi University receiving a B.S. in Music Education and Northern Illinois University where she received a M.M. in Music Education. She has taught at the Coatesville Area School District in Pennsylvania. A recipient of the Massachusetts Department of Education's Attracting Excellence to Teaching Award, she has served as the Artistic Director of the Boston Children's Chorus Inaugural Camp and has taught college-level courses in music appreciation and teaching methods. Currently, Ms. Jones is the Curriculum Coordinator for the Bubs Foundation's "Be the Music" initiative, which brings a cappella choral programs to Boston area schools without music programs.
An active workshop leader/panelist, Ms. Jones has presented during the NARAS Careers in Music Seminar at Berklee College of Music in 2001 and 2002, the LCMS Eastern District Convention in 2003, and the Summer Institute at Boston Arts Academy in 2004. At the 2005 International Association for Jazz Education annual conference, she is a presenter at the first-ever workshop on teaching vocal jazz ensembles in urban schools at the International Association for Jazz Education's annual conference.

Sam Martinborough, Ethnic & Multicultural

Sam Martinborough obtained a Bachelor of Music in education from Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, and a Master of Arts in theatre education from Emerson College, Boston.  Born in Guyana, South America, Sam has worked with choirs of all ages in Guyana, Trinidad, Antigua and Tortola, and Boston, and was the founding director and conductor of the Indian Hill Arts Treble Singers.  Sam has taught music and theatre at both the elementary & secondary levels at Antigua Seventh-Day Adventist School (Antigua, West Indies) South Lancaster Academy/Browning Elementary Schools (South Lancaster, MA), Brookwood School (Manchester, MA) and Boston Arts Academy. (Boston, MA).  His interest in theatre has landed him roles at the Rochester Opera House, Fiddlehead Theatre, and Boston’s ImprovAsylum.  Sam has also performed with and written shows for the Handel and Haydn Society’s Outreach Vocal Quartette.  In the past few years he has been involved in researching Broadway musicals with predominantly Black casts along with classical music written by Black composers. This and his passion for World Music has prompted Sam to form a new company, Mssng Lnks, dedicated to supporting aspiring HS Vocalists from Boston’s Urban Neighborhoods through in-depth collaboration with Boston Performing Organizations & Choral Education in the ensemble, Chrysalis.

Faith Lueth has taught choral music for over thirty years. Her choral groups have been selected to perform for state, regional, and national conferences. She is an active clinician, conductor and adjudicator for ACDA, MENC, and MMEA and has given choral workshops throughout New England and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mrs. Lueth serves on the executive board of MMEA and the MMEA conference committee. She has been the Eastern Division Middle School R&S Chair for ACDA and is a past president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Mrs. Lueth is the recipient of several awards, including the Lowell Mason Award from MMEA, the MMEA Distinguished Service Award, and the TEC Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She teaches at Berklee College of Music and conducts the Gordon College Women’s Choir.

Rick Lueth, Newsletter & Website

Rick Lueth has been involved for more than thirty-five years with the design and testing of gyroscopes and accelerometers.  These sensors, which measure change in velocity and rate of rotation, find a wide variety of uses in navigation, stability control, crash protection, and tilt sensing.  One of them is found in the Nintendo Wii; others find application in cell phones, camcorders, blood pressure monitors, and even football helmets, where they measure the force of impact when NFL players butt heads. 

Rick received his formal education at MIT, from which he holds the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering.

His musical education includes seven years of classical piano instruction, and participation in the MIT Glee Club and several church choirs.