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.

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) is celebrating his 20th year as a member of The Chamber Singers of Keene and currently serves as the group’s treasurer. Patrick is also currently performing with the Monadnock Chorus, the Monadnock Chamber Singers and the Keene State College Concert Choir.  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 jogging, biking and mushroom hunting.  Patrick is currently an electrical design engineer at Markem-Imaje in Keene.

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. 

Eleanor Martin (alto)

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.

Elizabeth Nieckoski (alto)

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.

Sue Walthour (soprano) happily returned to CSK in fall 2017 after a many-year hiatus. Previously, she was a member of the Keene Chorale and Monadnock Chorus. Some years ago, while living in the Upper Valley and working at Dartmouth Medical School, she was a member of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College under the leadership of Melinda O’Neal. The highlight of this experience was performing at Carnegie Hall in December 1991, under the direction of Skitch Henderson. A long-time resident of Keene, Sue works at Keene State, ushers at the Colonial Theater, does volunteer works in various capacities, and lovingly watches over her 90 and 92-year-old parents. She lives for moments of hilarity with her college-sophomore daughter, Schuyler. A kayaker, lake-swimmer, skier, and hiker, Sue is (slowly) working on the NH 48 4,000 footers list.