The Gertrude Banks Gospel Choir
Healing a Community: The Gertrude Banks Intergenerational Gospel Choir
The Gertrude Banks Gospel Choir was founded in 2019 as a way to bridge gaps between students at Simsbury High School. It has since developed into an intergenerational ensemble ages 11 through 70 including middle school students, high schoolers, parents, grandparents, and local gospel professionals. The ensemble celebrates the American art of Gospel music and provides a place for singers of all levels to perform, learn, and sing together.
Rebecca Salzman, director
Rebecca Saltzman is the Choral Director at Simsbury High School, where she directs 5 ensembles in addition to an extracurricular Gospel ensemble. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Hartt School where she teaches their course on school choral programs and supervises the pre-service educator secondary choral teaching lab experience. Mrs. Saltzman holds a Masters Degree from Florida State University and her Bachelors of Music Education from Ithaca College. She is an active member of both NAFME and ACDA and is currently serving as the ACDA Eastern Division Vocal Jazz and A cappella Repertoire and Resources Chair.
PhilHarmonia
The Unearthing and Illumination of Stories: Music of Melissa Dunphy
Since 2013, PhilHarmonia has delighted audiences with its commitment to musical excellence, and its eclectic range of choral programming and repertoire under the artistic direction of Dr. Mitos Andaya Hart of Temple University. The ensemble opens and closes seasons with free public concerts and also produce two continuing seasonal concert events each year, Winter Spirits and From PhilHarmonia With Love. PhilHarmonia takes pride in collaborations and partnerships with local artists and organizations including Melissa Dunphy, Adam Silverman, the Free Library of Philadelphia, SEPTA, The German Society of Pennsylvania, the Museum of the American Revolution, Nashirah, and Singing City.
Mitos Andaya Hart, director
Mitos Andaya Hart is the Associate Director of Choral Activities in the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. She has taught choral and jazz at the university level in the US, South Africa and Australia. She has served as a clinician and guest conductor for honor and all-state choruses for festivals and workshops nationally and in Germany, Kenya, the Netherlands, and South Korea. Dr. Andaya Hart is the Artistic Director of PhilHarmonia, a Philadelphia-based chamber choir which has commissioned and premiered works including Melissa Dunphy’s American DREAMers based on texts by young American Immigrants and DACA recipients.
Boston City Singers Tour Choir
Creating in the Aural Tradition
The 28-voice Boston City Singers Tour Choir, conducted by Jane Money, Kimani Lumsden, and Dr. Matthew Leese, has a repertoire spanning classic American Jazz standards, traditional compositions from Ukraine to New Zealand, aurally learned Jamaican and South African folk songs, and much more. In alternate years, the Tour Choir ventures to countries that have a deep connection to music as it affects their history, social justice, and culture. For the past 16 years, the Tour Choir has toured to Costa Rica, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Kimani Lumsden & Jane Money, directors
Lead presenter Kimani Lumsden joined Boston City Singers in 2012 as World Rhythm Ensemble Director. He is a vibrant music educator who is passionate about the percussion and dance traditions of West Africa and the African diaspora. Kimani grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, where he studied classical piano, and traditional Jamaican and Caribbean drumming at the Jamaica School of Music. In addition to his work with Boston City Singers, Kimani teaches general music and traditional percussion at the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, an independent, college preparatory school for girls. (Providence, RI)