Metered on-street parking is available on Nassau Street and adjoining streets, and there are parking garages behind Palmer Square on Hulfish Street and Chambers Street.
A downtown parking map and further details are available on the Princeton Parking website.
The Addams Family
They’re creepy and they’re kooky
Mysterious and spooky
They’re all together ooky
The Addams family
Their house is a museum
When people come to see ‘em
They really are a scree-um
The Addams family
Neat
Sweet
Petite
So get a witch’s shawl on
A broomstick you can crawl on
We’re going to pay a call on
The Addams family
Fueled by the power of a girl’s voice, Princeton Girlchoir presents extraordinary performances at home and throughout the world, while educating the musician, building confidence, and fostering a life-long love of singing together. Founded in 1989 as an after- school activity for girls interested in choral music, Princeton Girlchoir has grown into the area’s premier training and performance choir for girls, with over 300 choristers participating each year. The organization has seven choirs, comprising girls in 3rd through 12th grade. These choirs present music from a wide array of genres, conductors and composers. While honing their musicianship, choristers begin life-long friendships, enjoy professional performance opportunities, and travel the world.
Princeton Girlchoir has been honored to perform in a wide array of venues for audiences both nationally and internationally. Notable performances include the North American premiere of Tan Dun’s Symphony 1997 with Yo- Yo Ma at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center; multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall; performances for dignitaries such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jeb Bush, Rush Holt, and Sandra Day O’Connor; performing the national anthem at several professional sporting events; and appearances at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, Organization of American Kodály Educators, and NJ Music Educators Association.
Princeton Girlchoir is a program of Westrick Music Academy, home to choirs, music classes, and summer camps for musicians from kindergarten through adulthood.
Click here to learn more about our staff
Lynnel Joy Jenkins, DMA (Artistic Director, Concert Choir and Ensemble) is Artistic Director of Westrick Music Academy and Choral Teacher at Timberlane Middle School of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. At Westrick Music Academy, Dr. Jenkins conducts advanced groups, Princeton Girlchoir Ensemble and Concert Choir. She is a choral educator of international stature, having lectured and conducted choral festivals or music programs in Switzerland, China, Hong Kong, Iceland, and South Africa. Nationally, she has conducted honor choruses for one national, four regional, and several state conferences for American Choral Directors Association, two national conferences for OAKE, and numerous All-State choruses. Jenkins has earned degrees from Westminster Choir College (B.M.), Temple University (M.M.), and University of Arizona (D.M.A.), and at the first two institutions was awarded the Elaine Brown Conducting Award.
Fred Meads (WMA Education Director & PBC Music Director, Conductor, Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Princeton Boychoir) Fred Meads holds several roles in the Westrick Music Academy organization. He serves as Education Director of Westrick Music Academy, Conductor of two choirs in Princeton Girlchoir and Music Director of the Princeton Boychoir. Previously he was Director of Vocal Studies at the American Boychoir School for nine years.
Mr. Meads has been director of choirs in public and private schools, churches and at the collegiate level for the past twenty-five years. From 1999–2009, he was Artistic Director of the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir in Fort Wayne, IN, where he led the group on national and international tours, prepared the choir for annual symphonic engagements, and commissioned works from diverse and renowned composers. Mr. Meads has been invited to conduct various honor choirs and all-state choirs in Wyoming, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma. In 2017 and 2011 he led the Organization of Kodály Educators National Children’s Honor Choirs. In 2014, he conducted the Northwest ACDA Division Children’s Honor Choir in Seattle. Internationally, he traveled to Hong Kong to present choral workshops for music educators and the Yip Children’s Choir. Mr. Meads has also presented workshops for the Indiana Music Educators Association, ACDA, OAKE and Westminster Choir College. He has served on the boards of both the Indiana Choral Directors Association and the New Jersey Choral Directors Association.
Mr. Meads received the Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Ithaca College, NY and the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He completed his Kodály training at Capital University in Columbus, OH where he was a scholarship recipient. He was selected as a participant in master classes for Chorus America and the Toronto Children’s Chorus and was a recipient of the Excellence in Arts Award when living in Fort Wayne, IN.
Fred Meads is enjoying his twelfth year on the staff of Westrick Music Academy. He first served as an accompanist for Semi-Tones.
Chaequan Anderson (Associate Director, Cantores) is an active choral conductor and music educator based in Princeton, New Jersey. Mr. Anderson has varied choral experience directing school, community youth and children, and professional choirs. In addition to his work with Princeton Girlchoir, Mr. Anderson is Director of Middle School Choirs at Montclair Kimberley Academy, Intermediate Choir Director at Trenton Children’s Chorus, Cantus Choir Director at Westminster Conservatory, and Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble, a professional choir based in Ewing, NJ.
He has performed with several choral ensembles in the area, including the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir, Princeton Pro Musica, and VOICES Chorale of Hopewell. Additionally, he was a member of the highly acclaimed Westminster Choir of Westminster Choir College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Kodály Certification from Westminster Choir College, and professional member-ships with American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Educators and Organization of American Kodály Educators.
Francois Suhr (Associate Director Conductor, Apprentice Choir; Collaborative Pianist, Eighth Notes) François Suhr is the choral and general music teacher at Monmouth Junction and Constable Elementary Schools of the South Brunswick School District. During the summer, he acts as the professor of musicianship classes for the Kodály certification and Masters degree program at the American Kodály Institute at Loyola University Maryland. It is from this institution that François earned his Kodály certification and Master of Education in Kodály Music Education. He also holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
In addition to teaching, François works as a pianist and music director for many different community theatres throughout the state of New Jersey most recently completing projects at the Villager’s Theatre, Kelsey Theatre and with Phoenix Productions.
Stefanie Watson (Collaborative Pianist, Quarter Notes and Ensemble) serves as pianist with Princeton Girlchoir. She also accompanies area choirs, including many state and regional honor choirs and the Hopewell Valley Chorus. Stefanie works at The College of New Jersey as staff pianist, adjunct professor, and music director of the Lyric Theatre program. She is also the music director of Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Brunswick and maintains a private piano studio. Stefanie studied Piano Performance at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (B.A.) and Collaborative Piano at Rutgers University (M.M.)
Tyler Weakland (Assistant to the PBC Music Director, Collaborative Pianist, Treble Choir, Young Men’s Ensemble) Praised for his verve and adroit collaborative piano playing by the Charleston City Paper, Tyler Weakland is a vocal coach, conductor, composer, and pianist. He accompanies voice students at Mannes School of Music of the New School in New York City. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Sacred Music with concentrations in piano and voice from Westminster Choir College, where he studied with Steve Pilkington, J.J. Penna, Ingrid Clarfield, and Kathy Price. An experienced choral accompanist, Mr. Weakland has worked extensively with the choirs of Westminster Choir College, performing at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Kimmel Center. He’s worked closely with James Jordan, Joe Miller, Amanda Quist, Charles Bruffy, Weston Noble, Dalton Baldwin, Benita Valente, Sharon Sweet, and Laquita Mitchell. Recent conducting and orchestrating credits include a Disney TV pilot for Hulu, and his compositions and arrangements have been heard across the country, specifically his new art songs. Mr. Weakland has conducted choirs in Vienna, and Oxford as part of the Choral Music Institute where he studied the boychoir tradition in churches of the United Kingdom. While a member of the renowned Westminster Choir, Mr. Weakland enjoyed several residencies at the Spoleto Festival USA and was a member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. In addition to working with the Princeton Boychoir, he currently serves as the Handbell and Children’s Choir Director at Christ Church United Methodist on 60th and Park Avenue in NYC.
Maddie Meier (Cantores and Ensemble Conducting Fellow) Maddie Meier, an internationally-trained soprano, conductor and teacher from St. Louis, Missouri, received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Bachelor of Arts in German with a minor in French from Montclair State University. She graduated in 2020, summa cum laude. During her time at Montclair, she received a full-ride scholarship to study for a year at the Kunstuniversität Graz in Austria. She has done solo voice work with different Baroque Chamber Ensembles in and outside of the United States, and has sung a variety of different operatic and musical theater roles, in addition to concert works. Recently, she has performed as a soprano soloist for Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and the American Repertory Ballet Theater. She has also performed as the soprano soloist for Handel’s Messiah, in addition to performing as the soprano soloist for Haydn’s Creation with the South Orange Symphony Orchestra. Maddie Meier was a finalist in The Kentucky Bach Choir’s Audrey Rooney Vocal Bach Competition in 2021. As a conductor, Ms. Meier has been accepted as a Conducting Fellow at various conducting institutes across the country. She is looking forward to working as a Conducting Fellow with the Princeton Girlchoir this coming Fall (2022), in addition to continuing her work as a Conducting Fellow with The Adult Rise Up Community Chorus. Ms. Meier will also be starting this Fall as the Choral Music Director at Neptune Township High School, where she will direct two auditioned choirs and direct the school musicals. She currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey, where she actively performs and runs her own private voice, violin, piano and language studio (Maddie Meier Music Studio, LLC). In her spare time, Maddie is a voracious reader, who loves to paint, hike, cook and garden.
Princeton Girlchoir and Westrick Music Academy wishes to thank the following individuals and organizations for making today’s concert possible:
- New Jersey State Council on the Arts
- Discover Jersey Arts
- Princeton Area Community Foundation
- Nassau Presbyterian Church
- Our wonderful volunteers who help in so many ways
- Our donors like you who made this concert possible!
Board of Directors
Archana Pradhan, MD, MPH, President
Mark J. Badros, Treasurer
Daniela M. Phayme, Secretary
Kristy V. Kyriakopoulos
Xiaobing Li
Jena Prideaux McWha
Frederick A. Pettit, Esq.
Laura Fenster Rothschild, PsyD
Craig Vachris
Joan A. Valcin
Michael Wasden
Mary Jane Weiss, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Lynnel Joy Jenkins, DMA, Artistic Director, Ex Officio
Hilary K. Butler, Executive Director, Ex Officio
Advisory Board
S. Tina Biswas
Carol Burden
Jordan M. Corn
Patricia Cornet
Barbara Burke DiCostanzo
James M. Jordan
Peter F. Kelly, Esq., Legal Advisor
John P. Leonard, DM
Beth Nichols
Janet H. Perkins
Carolyn Sauer
Alice Teti
Jason Vodicka, DMA
Jan A. Westrick
Princeton Girlchoir Staff
Lynnel Joy Jenkins, DMA, Artistic Director, Concert Choir and Ensemble
Hilary K. Butler, Executive Director
Fred Meads, Education Director, Eighth Notes and Quarter Notes
Chaequan Anderson, Associate Director, Cantores
Tom Shelton, Associate Director, Semi-Tones
Rachel DiBlasio, Operations Manager
Jenna Rose Cipolla, Operations Assistant
Carolyn Sienicki, Communications Director
Blanca Gonzalez, Office Manager
Jaeyeon Chung, Collaborative Pianist
Julia Hanna, Collaborative Pianist
François Suhr, Collaborative Pianist
Stefanie Watson, Collaborative Pianist
Zoe Beaton, Cantores Conducting Fellow
Maddie Meier, Concert Choir and Ensemble Conducting Fellow
Megan Sholette, Concert Choir Conducting Fellow
Rachel Herway, Eighth Notes Intern
Anya Nirschl, Eighth Notes Intern
Visa Ramanathan, Quarter Notes Intern
Henna Sharma, Semi-Tones Intern
Julia Weiss, Semi-Tones Intern
Devin Embrich, Rehearsal Coordinator
Rebecca Mercedat, Rehearsal Coordinator
Jasmin Villatoro, Rehearsal Coordinator
Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to help keep Princeton Girlchoir singing.
We are holding auditions after the concert tonight for anyone that would like to join Princeton Girlchoir or Princeton Boychoir.
Not ready to audition tonight? That’s okay, you can schedule an audition at westrickmusic.org/auditions
