Lynn Bergman (alto) has been a member of the Keene Chamber Singers
for six years. She was a music major at the University of Rochester
(Eastman School of Music) where she played oboe in various ensembles and sang
in the Chapel Choir. After college, she attended
graduate school in social work at Columbia University and has been a social
worker for many years, the last 25 years in private practice in Keene. A
lifelong lover of classical music she is overjoyed to be singing again. In
addition to singing, she occasionally plays recorder, enjoys kayaking, playing
scrabble and dominoes, traveling, and visiting her two adult daughters with her
husband, Ken. Chester Bowles (baritone) Whether it was
church choirs, school choirs, or community choruses, he can’t remember a time
when he hasn’t been singing in a group of some sort. He attended Park
College (MO) where he majored in music and education. He later earned his
MBA from Missouri State University. While at Park College, Chet met his
wife, an alto, in the college touring group. Chet and Sue moved to NH in
1982 and immediately joined the Monadnock Chorus. Chet served as
Treasurer of the Chorus for five years and was recently re-elected to that
position. In addition, both he and Sue each served three year terms as
President of the Chorus. Chet sang with the Peterborough Chamber Choir
from its inception in 1992 and he was also appointed to a six year term on the
NH State Council on the Arts. Chet and Sue live in Sharon. They
have two sons and two grandchildren.
June Churchill
(alto) Before coming to Keene, June spent most of her life in mid-Upstate NY,
where she was involved with music from an early age. Starting with piano and
some cello and flute in grade school, she went on to major in oboe at Ithaca
(NY) College before obtaining a BS in Music Education. At college, she met and
married a fellow musician and music teacher and taught for several years before
they started a family. Once their two daughters were grown, June decided to
return to education, this time in French, in which she became certified and
earned a Master’s degree from Middlebury. June began singing with the Mohawk
Valley Choral Society, eventually becoming a soloist at the Christian Science
Church in Utica. After retirement the priority was to move closer to family in
NH and VT. The first community June and husband Dexter checked out was Keene
and that is where they ended up, attracted by the college town, the music
department at Keene State College (KSC), and the vibrant music scene in the
Monadnock region. June has been a member of the Keene Pops Choir and The Keene
Chorale. Seeking a small-choir experience, she joined the Chamber Singers of
Keene in 2004. June sings with the Brattleboro Concert Choir and is a soloist
at the Christian Science Church in Keene. She tutors adults in English, enjoys
courses at KSC’s Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning, plays bridge, and
spends time visiting four grandchildren. June appreciates the gold mine of
musical experiences offered in this area and says that living in Keene has even
surpassed her high expectations.
Scott Clarke (tenor) Scott is a musical product of Keene High
School, under the vocal direction of Jean Nelson, and Robert Cummings for
instrumental. He was chosen twice to perform at the All New England music festival
and All Eastern during his junior year at Keene High. He attended the
University of Rochester, performing in the Men’s Glee Club under John
Silantian. Scott was a supporter of A capella singing long before its
recent popularity, singing in the U of R YELLOWJACKETS for 4 years; serving as the
vocal director in his senior year. After College, he performed summer
theatre for many years in Waltham MA. More recently, he has performed
theatre repertoire with ”Main Street Four“ here in Keene. Singing
remains an important part of life, and Scott is thrilled to have come full
circle by sharing music with the Chamber Singers.
Alfrieda J. “Dita” Englund (soprano) has been a member of
CSK since its inception. Dita has
sung with many groups including the University of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Chapel
Choir, St. Cecelia Choir NYC (with David Randolph), the Choral Union,
Burlington, VT (under Jim Chapman), and numerous church choirs including St.
James Episcopal Church where she worships. She was a founding member of the
Keene Chorale and sang with them for ten years. She plays violin and performed
for many years with the Keene Chamber Orchestra; she has also been a
violin participant at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. Since her move to
this area in 1976, Dita has served on numerous non-profit boards, presently
including Arts Alive!, Chair of Stoddard School Board, Vice
President of the Stoddard Historical Society, and past president of Apple
Hill Center for Chamber Music. She was a two-term City-appointed
trustee to the Keene Public Library and made an unsuccessful run for the State
Legislature in 2006. After receiving a MAT in English from Keene State, she was
a teacher at Keene High School, retiring in 1999. In August 2010 she received
the Elm City Rotary Paul Harris Award for community service. In January 2015, she received the Community Service Award (Citizen of the Year) from the Keene Chamber of Commerce. Presently she is co-chair of the Keene Public Library Campaign Committee. She now lives in
Munsonville with her husband. They have four children and ten grandchildren.
Kerry Ford (bass) Kerry is a bass/baritone who has been singing in choral groups his entire adult life beginning with his church choir while he was in high school. In addition, he has sung in a variety of vocal groups ranging from small a cappella ensembles (Voyces a cappella, Waco, TX) to large symphonic choruses (San Antonio Symphony Mastersingers, San Antonio, TX). Kerry began singing with the chancel choir at Saint James Episcopal Church in Keene after retiring to New Hampshire from Texas in 2016. He began singing with the Chamber Singers of Keene in 2017. Hal Grant (bass) starting singing and
acting in 2nd grade by getting the lead in the play "THE KITCHEN CLOCK' and
was bitten by the bug. Pushed and
prodded by the Antrim Schools music teacher Izi Nichols, he has sung ever since. Picked up the trombone in Jr. High and played
Dixie land and dance music for school dances.
Acting continued with the Antrim Players for 40 years. Chorus singing includes Raylynmor Opera, Monadnock
Chorus, Keene Pops. Hal loves to Contra Dance,
hike, play bridge, drive cars with the top down, pun, sail and play with the children
in his life. Hal worked with the deaf and
physically challenged at Crotched Mt. Center in his early career. He now owns and operates Hal Grant Real
Estate. Hal lives in Harrisville with wife
Janet, daughter Schuyler and step and surrogate children Alexis, Shanna. Peter and
Nelly.
Peter D. Hansel (tenor) has been singing with the Chamber
Singers of Keene since its inception in 1994 and currently serves as president of the Board of Directors. He has also been a member
of the St. James Episcopal Church choir in Keene since 1979. In his other
life, Peter is President of Filtrine Manufacturing Company in Keene and is
active in a number of environmental and community service organizations.
Originally from New Jersey and then Connecticut, Peter with his wife Bridget
has lived in Keene for over thirty years. They have four children and three
grandchildren.
Ken Herman (bass)
Melissa Herman (soprano) joined the CSK in 2009 after a multi-decade hiatus in music-making. She grew up south of Boston, took piano lessons, sang with her church choir and high school chorus (for which she also served as accompanist), and received her BA in German from the University of Vermont. Distracted by the demands of college and the working world for many years, several of them overseas, she limited her music pleasure to listening. Along the way she became convinced that she could not sing, so didn’t. After Melissa and her husband, Ken, retired to Richmond, a fellow member of St. James Episcopal Church encouraged her to join the choir. Then, suspecting that she might actually learn how to sing, she took some voice lessons. Melissa has sung with Animaterra women’s chorus, the Keene Chorale, Monadnock Chorus and Greenfield Harmony. She enjoys volunteering and reading and being a dog parent. Between them Melissa and Ken share three children and eight grandchildren. Membership in the CSK fulfills Melissa’s dream of being part of an ensemble specializing in serious vocal music.
Barbara Hudgik (soprano)
| Patrick Joyce (tenor) has been a member of The Chamber
Singers of Keene since 1994 and currently serves as the group’s treasurer. Prior to the Chamber
Singers Patrick had an active choral experience in high school under the
direction of Dr. Wayne Scarborough in Henrietta NY. Notable experiences
included NYSMA solo evaluation and Chautauqua summer music
workshop. In addition to singing, Patrick enjoys hiking, biking and
mushroom hunting. Patrick is also an electrical design engineer
at Markem-Imaje in Keene and also an adjunct professor at Keene State College. Bonnie
Johnson (soprano) grew up in a family where music was a part of
life. She has been singing with church
and school choirs since elementary school, was a member of the University of
Maine Oratorio Society and, more recently, has sung with the Monadnock Chorus
and Keene Chorale. Bonnie also played
flute for 9 years. Living in Marlborough
with her husband, she retired as Deputy Chief from Southwestern New Hampshire
District Fire Mutual Aid after working at the Dispatch Center for over 31
years. She is now enjoying more time
with her grandchildren, working on compiling the genealogy of the family (both
hers and her husband’s), traveling, and knitting - as well as singing! Pam Knight (alto), an IT Project Manager for Hewlett-Packard (HP), considers music to be an essential component of life. Her formal music training consisted of 10 years of piano lessons as a child in South Carolina, along with 3 years playing clarinet in her junior high school band. She began singing alto in the adult choir at church while in high school and has sung informally (often accompanying herself on guitar) for many years. As an adult she performed in a recorder ensemble in Nashville and participated in community choruses in Berea, Ohio and Tulsa, Oklahoma. She became serious about singing in Tulsa, when she performed in the chorus for several Broadway plays presented at her church (yes, church), and she subsequently joined the Chancel Choir. When she moved to Keene, NH in 2007, she joined the Chamber Singers, which has proven to be one of the most enriching facets of her life in New England. Pam holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Religion from Emory and Vanderbilt respectively. Pam and her husband, Hank, have two grown children and two grandsons, who live far away, and a Parson Russell Terrier who keeps them company in Keene.
Charlotte Lesser (soprano) joined the
Chamber Singers in 2000 and loves being part of this amazing group. She
has sung her whole life and been part of many singing groups from a tiny
madrigal group to a chorus of 120! She studied voice at the Brattleboro
Music Center and has sung with Raylynmor Opera and other opera companies with a
particular love for Gilbert & Sullivan. Although she is now retired,
she spent her career working as a elementary school and public library
children's librarian. When not singing she can be found spending time
with her husband, David, and her son and two grandchildren and enjoying her
hobbies of scrapbooking, traveling, playing bridge and ballroom dancing. Susan Murata (alto) Music has
been very important to Susan since her first piano lesson at age 7. In her youth she helped out as organist in
her small community church in Langdon, NH, sang in high school choruses, and
played flute in the marching band every Memorial Day. Then came college, work, and raising kids. Music took the form of an occasional
Malaguena practice session on the piano, singing camp songs with the kids or in
the church choir. She even sold her piano, thinking it wasn’t being used
enough. Then she moved back to the Keene area, her three kids grew up,
moved away, and her musical world opened up. Besides singing in the Keene Unitarian Universalist Church choir,
she became a founding member of Animaterra Women’s Chorus – and bought another
piano(!) She has sung with the Keene Chorale, various choruses conducted by
Peter Amidon and now with Matthew Leese and the Chamber Singers of Keene. She
especially enjoys the scope and beauty of the music she gets to sing with
CSK. Summers are full with 18C reenacting events, but fall/spring she
commutes to rehearsals from her house in Swanzey where she lives with her
husband, Gary, and Amos the cat. Ryan Owens (bass) has been a member of the Chamber Singers of Keene since moving to the area in 2006. He has sung with numerous groups, including the Dartmouth Chamber Singers, where he met his future wife Amy; the Handel Society of Dartmouth College; the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics, a co-ed a cappella group; and the Burlington (VT) Choral Society. When singing, he prefers low notes, and anything around middle C and above makes the veins pop out on his forehead. Ryan is executive director of the Monadnock Conservancy a non-profit land conservation trust that has protected over 17,000 acres (and counting) of beautiful southwest New Hampshire. He enjoys baking bread, wandering the woods, digging rocks out of the garden, working with wood, and eating anything cooked by Amy. Jim Peale (baritone) began choral singing at 32 with the choir at the Keene Unitarian-Universalist Church. He sang with the Keene Chorale before joining the Chamber Singers. Jim enjoys modern and traditional folk music and plays guitar a little. He enjoys multi-part harmonies and is fond of eighteenth century American music. Jim is an attorney and an administrator in the New Hampshire Superior Court system. He lives in Swanzey with his wife Carol McIntyre-Peale. Deborah Rainey (alto) has been singing since childhood, when her father typed up songbooks and sang with the family. She studied music education at Keene State College, and received her Master’s in Education at Antioch New England University. She was choir director at Fitzwilliam Community Church for nine years, and has taught music at Rindge Memorial School for as long as anyone can remember. She has performed with various local ensembles, including the Monadnock Chorus, the Keene Chorale and Lachrimae. She has been with the Chamber Singers since its inception. In addition to singing, she loves hiking, kayaking, dancing, dogs, board games, and most especially, visiting her lovely English family. Art Simington (tenor) joined the Chamber Singers in 1995. After an ardent high school ramble through guitar, banjo and Kingston Trio material, he joined the glee club at Dartmouth College and its small, mostly jazz ensemble the Injunaires in the early ‘60’s. He rejoined the Glee Club to celebrate its 120 year anniversary at Carnegie Hall in 2001. He is a founding member of the Keene Chorale and a long-standing member of the choir at the United Church of Christ in Keene. He is an enthusiastic recorder player and has a special interest in early music. He is a retired general pediatrician after 35 years with Dartmouth Hitchcock-Keene and Dartmouth Medical School. He lives in Keene with his wife, Lynn; he gardens, plays some golf and squash, gets into the mountains, and commutes to California to see granddaughters as much as he can.
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