Kayla Werlin, President

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.

Bill Pappazisis, President Elect

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.  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 currently serves as High School R&S Chair for the Eastern Division.   He just completed his term as recording secretary for Mass ACDA, and was the State High School R&S Chair from 1999-2001.  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.  Under the direction of Gerald Mack, Bill served as Assistant Conductor of the Worcester Chorus, with which he has toured Europe, and with which he has performed with the Boston, Baltimore, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras.  He is also active in the Mass Music Educators Association for which he has served in many capacities.  At the state level, Bill was active at the Mass Department of Education, and was one of the authors of the Commonwealth’s first state-mandated arts curriculum. 

As much as Bill enjoys, and is committed to his career as an arts administrator, his passion is teaching music to young people through the choral art.           

Bob Eaton, VP, Past President, Treasurer

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.

In addition Dr. Eaton has been an organist/choir director for most of his career, active in the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, Music Educators National Conference, and Central District Mass. Music Educators Association. He has served as adjudicator and manager of All-State and District choruses and clinician/ adjudicator for Festivals of Music. He received a Master of Music Education degree from Hartt School of Music with Dr. Gerald Mack and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting with Dr. James Jordan, also from Hartt. His DMA Dissertation was on Duruflé’s  Requiem.   Dr. Eaton has also studied conducting with Allen Lannom, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Sir David Willcocks.

Chet Laskosky, Secretary

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.

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.

Jen Moss, Publicity

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.

Sheila Heffernon, Youth & Student

For the past twenty-five years, Sheila Heffernon has served as the Director of the Choral Program at Northfield Mount Hermon School, where she has three choirs and two a cappella groups.  She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Massachusetts, where she teaches Choral Methods in the Music Education program.  In addition, she is active as a soprano soloist, clinician, and composer.  Sheila holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Smith College, and a Master of Music from New England Conservatory.  She has studied at the Aspen Music Festival and the Carnegie Hall Conducting Symposium with Robert Shaw.  Her awards include the Pflug Faculty Chair in 1987–1991 and 1996–1998, and the Faculty Innovation Award in 1998.

Catharine Melhorn, Women's Choirs

Catharine Melhorn, choral director at Mount Holyoke since 1971, has a B.A. from Smith College, and M.A. in musicology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a D.M.A. in choral music--with a minor in viola--from the University of Illinois. In 1993-94, Ms. Melhorn was a Fulbright Fellow in Ghana, West Africa. She has traveled extensively with Mount Holyoke choral groups; during the 35 years of Melhorn's leadership, the College's choirs have won critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and abroad, in South America, Russia, Sweden, Spain, central and eastern Europe, England, Wales, and Costa Rica.

Claire Cayot, Middle School

Claire Cayot (pronounced “K.O.”) has been a music educator since 1979 and has taught preschool through high school, choral, classroom, and instrumental music. She is in her eleventh year as General Music Teacher and Choral Director for the Ipswich Middle School where she conducts five choirs. Claire is a member of Cantemus, a chamber chorus from Boston’s North Shore.  Claire received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her Master’s Degree in Integrated Studies from Cambridge College. She holds Orff Certification and Level One Certification in teaching Music Technology from TI:ME.

Kevin McDonald, High School

Kevin J. McDonald is currently the Choral Director at Wellesley High School in Wellesley, Massachusetts and a DMA candidate in Music Education with an emphasis in choral conducting in the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut.  Prior to his studies at Hartt, Mr. McDonald served as the Director of Music at Cathedral high School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he established a reputable music program that was recognized for outstanding growth and musical achievements.  He has taught at Kearsarge Regional Middle School in New London, New Hampshire and the Madison Boy Choir in Madison, Wisconsin.  Mr. McDonald also holds the post of Director of Youth Music at the Wellesley Village Church and is active as a guest conductor, performer, adjudicator, and clinician.  He has conducted festival bands and choirs in the Pacific Northwest and the New England area. Mr. McDonald is a recipient of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce Teaching Excellence Award and the Music Educators National Conference Professional Achievement Award.  His professional affiliations include MENC, ACDA, and the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society.  Mr. McDonald's education includes a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Music Degree in Instrumental Music Performance  from the University of Idaho.

John Delorey, Men's Choirs

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, Show Choirs

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.

Brad Wells, College and University

Brad Wells is Choral Conductor at Williams College. He has extensive experience as a conductor, singer, and music educator. He has held conducting positions at Yale University, Trinity College (Hartford, CT) and University of California at Berkeley and, most recently, was Director of Choral Activities at California State University, Chico. As a singer he has performed and recorded with such ensembles as Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the California Choral Company. Wells has directed choirs of all ages and his ensembles have performed throughout the U.S., Mexico and Europe. Also an active composer and arranger, Wells holds degrees in music from Yale University, University of Texas at Austin, and Principia College.

Michelle Graveline, Community Choirs

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.

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.  

An active performing pianist, Malcolm Halliday has performed in the United States and Europe, both as a soloist and in collaboration with singers, instrumentalists, and orchestra. He has performed frequently with historical pianos from museum and private collections, using period instruments in concerts at Jordan Hall and Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and other locations throughout New England. A champion of more recent and contemporary music, Malcolm Halliday can also be heard on two recordings of the music of the American composer Leo Sowerby, released through Albany Records. Resident pianist for the American Schubert Institute in Boston, Malcolm Halliday is also pianist with mezzo-soprano D'Anna Fortunato and clarinetist Chester Brezniak in the Blackstone Trio.  Halliday received degrees in piano from Oberlin Conservatory and Boston University.

Allyssa Jones, Jazz Chorus

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 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 has been involved with the design and testing of gyroscopes and accelerometers for more than thirty-five years, currently with Analog Devices, and previously with the Northrop Grumman Corporation.  Early in his career he developed a strong affinity for computers and computing.  Somewhat later he became interested in graphical design and layout.  His musical education, begun with piano lessons which commenced at age eight, was furthered by participation in college and church choirs, often under the direction of Faith Lueth.  He holds two degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.