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Lumen: Pass It On 2023, Concert Program

Concert Choir
Adhya Abi
Anamitra Abi
Annika Alden-Siegel
Anika Amin
Sai Brinda Bhupatiraju
Kavya Billa
Dianna Bonefont
Pranavi Dronadula
Julia Ferencz
Katherine Ferencz
Robin Freeman
Radha Gagarani
Treya Ghosh
Shreya Goda
Annabelle Grayson
Samantha Henderson
Abigail Johnson
Keerthna Kartik
Melina Kyriakopoulos
Vivian Ma
Rachael Mann
Jaszlene Martinez
Suki McNulty
Ashmi Mehta
Aishani Mukherjee
Diya Nagella
Kavya Nayak
Hansika Nittala
Siri Parakoti
Brianna Polite
Celina Qian
Sara Quddus
Aditi Rapaka
Catalina Rivera
Holly Robinson
Juliet Roden
Savannah Ruiz-Hinson
Emma Salas
Veidika Sen
Kaeya Shah
Mahi Sharma
Aria Shi
Olivia Strauli-Ellis
Shriya Sumanth
Saanvi Trivedi
Leah Valcin
Marjorie Williams
Sydney Williams
Alicia Xu
Penelope Yeung
Julia Zhou

Cantores
Sakhi Balaji
Naina Biswas
Katherine Cargille
Anshu Cherukumilli
Elizabeth Chorba
Grace Choy
Angelina Diaz
Nomah Elliot
Julia Franklin
Ria Giri
Pavana Gujjar
Lamya Hussain
Julia James
Aryianna Johnson
Meghana Kakaraparthi
Sheila Kelly
Lauren Kim
Marianna LeCompte
Thea Legins
Sophia Magee
Sara Miller
Valerie Oginsky
Kena Patel
Megan Pressler
Visalakshi Ramanathan
Rima Ravi
Sofia Romagnoli
Nikita Sargunar
Rathi Sundar
Zuri Williams
Janneth Wojtowicz
Surbhi Yerramilli

Ensemble
Eliana Bice
Rhea Cadambi
Emilia Carbajal
Sierra Chow
Sophie Deerberg
Saana Dharia
Leanne Griffiths
Jahnavi Gupta
Rachel Herway
Sonia Ivancic
Sonia Lackey
Sarah Nichols
Anya Nirschl
Lois Oppong
Cara Pretto
Miranda Qing
Avery Richardson
Maya Sawhney
Abby Scatena
Henna Sharma
Devin Vandenberg
Sowmya Venkatesh
Syona Wadhwa
Rebekah Wang
Julia Weiss

 

2023 PGC Seniors

With bittersweet feelings, we acknowledge these seniors today. But once a member of Princeton Girlchoir, always a member! We hope you continue to attend Princeton Girlchoir concerts and sing with us as alumnae!

Naina Biswas
Emilia Carbajal*
Katherine Cargille
Sophie Deerberg
Angelina Diaz
Nomah Elliot
Julia Franklin
Ria Giri
Leanne Griffiths
Jahnavi Gupta
Rachel Herway
Meghana Kakaraparthi
Sarah Nichols
Cara Pretto*
Miranda Qing*
Sangeeta Quddus*
Sofia Romagnoli
Maya Sawhney
Abby Scatena
Devin Vandenberg*
Julia Weiss*
Zuri Williams
Janneth Wojtowicz

* “Lifer” – chorister since third grade

 

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, Quarter Notes & Eighth Notes) 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) Chaequan Anderson is an active choral conductor and music educator based in Princeton, New Jersey. Chaequan has varied choral experience directing school, community youth and children, and professional choirs. As a teacher and conductor, Chaequan has held positions with Trenton Children’s Chorus, and Westminster Conservatory, and has served as a guest conductor and clinician with ensembles in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

Currently, Chaequan is Director of Middle School Choirs at Montclair Kimberley Academy, Associate Director & Conductor Cantores at Princeton Girlchoir, & is the Founding Artistic Director of Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble, a professional choir based in Ewing, NJ.

As a performer, he has performed with several choral ensembles in the area, including the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir, Princeton Pro Musica, & 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 Levels I & II  from Westminster Choir College. Professional memberships include the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Educators, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, the National Association of Negro Musicians, & New Jersey Music Educators Association. He is currently completing a MM in Choral Conducting at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University- New Brunswick.

Julia Hanna 
(Collaborative Pianist, Concert Choir) has performed widely in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, building an extensive repertoire of solo and chamber music.   Currently, she serves as a coach and accompanist at Westminster Choir College.   As an accompanist she has also performed and toured with several choirs from the New York area, in which capacity the New York Times has praised her performances as “vivid” and “deft.”   In 2018 Julia was honored to be a featured performer in a Philip Glass opera workshop in North Adams, Massachusetts.

 

Stefanie Watson
(Collaborative Pianist, Quarter Notes and Ensemble) Stefanie Watson enjoys being active in a variety of musical facets. She has performed in and organized recitals in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and her home state of Maryland. Stefanie served as staff pianist for Lied Austria International, a month-long summer program near Graz, Austria focused on intense study of German art song and poetry. During the academic year, Stefanie can be found at The College of New Jersey performing as a staff pianist, working as a musical director for the Lyric Theatre program, and teaching group keyboard classes to non-music majors.

An in-demand choral pianist, Stefanie performs with state and regional honor choruses in New Jersey, school choirs of every age, and with the Hopewell Valley Chorus, in addition to her work with Princeton Girlchoir and WMA. She has served as rehearsal pianist for the Princeton Festival’s opera productions and for a Carnegie Hall performance of Robert Schumann’s Requiem, Op. 148. Stefanie also has been a keyboardist in instrumental ensembles, including the Garden State Philharmonic, Adelphi Orchestra, and the Eastern Wind Symphony. She is on the administrative staff and participates in the Chamber Music Conference, among other chamber music collaborations.

Stefanie has taught piano privately in NJ for nearly 15 years and is music director at Emanuel Lutheran Church in New Brunswick, where she directs a three-octave handbell and handchime choir. She holds a Masters degree in Collaborative Piano from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts and a Bachelors in Piano Performance from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a minor in Spanish. When she is home, Stefanie can be found catering to her cats Kalahari and Cinnamon.

Tyler Weakland (Collaborative Pianist, Cantores) 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.

Rochelle EllisRochelle Ellis (Vocal Coach) Rochelle Ellis is a performer and teacher. She holds positions as Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and as Lecturer of Voice at Princeton University. As a performer, she has distinguished herself in a broad repertoire that extends from Bach and Brahms to Verdi and Gershwin.  She made her New York City Opera debut as “Serena” in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and her Carnegie Hall debut in Bach’s Cantata 140, with Joseph Flummerfelt. Internationally, she has performed the Verdi Requiem with the National Opera of China in Beijing, sung opera favorites at the Prague [Czech Republic] Autumn Music Festival, and has performed solo recitals in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. She has frequently performed in the Princeton area with Princeton Pro Musica, VOICES Chorale, and the Richardson Chamber Players.

Active in community outreach in music, Dr. Ellis is currently a Faculty Fellow with Trenton Arts at Princeton. She teaches in the summer Westminster Conservatory High School Vocal Institute and the Solo Vocal Artist Camp. Dr. Ellis has served as Teaching Artist for The Princeton Festival Guild and has served as Music Director and Solo/Small Ensemble Director for the Trenton Children’s Chorus. She has recently completed a term as a member of the Board of Directors with Capital Singers of Trenton, a community choral ensemble.

The St. Louis native received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She received her Master of Music Education degree from Westminster Choir College of Rider University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

Zoe Beaton, Cantores Conducting Fellow
Maddie Meier, Concert Choir and Ensemble Conducting Fellow
Megan Sholette, Concert Choir Conducting Fellow
Devin Embrich, Rehearsal Coordinator
Rebecca Mercedat, Rehearsal Coordinator
Jasmin Villatoro, Rehearsal Coordinator

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

Westrick Music Academy Staff

Dr. Beth Guerriero, Interim Executive Director
Blanca Gonzalez, Office Manager
Rachel DiBlasio, Operations Manager
Jenna Rose Cipolla, Operations Assistant
Jena McWha, Development Director
Carolyn Sienicki, Communications Director

We are growing and auditioning for all choirs! If you know a student in grades 3 through 12 that loves to sing, encourage them to audition and sing with us! westrickmusic.org/auditions

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
  • New Jersey Arts & Cultural Renewal Fund
  • Princeton Area Community Foundation
  • The College of New Jersey
  • Our wonderful volunteers who help in so many ways
  • Our donors like you who made this concert possible

Sincerest Appreciation to WMA’s Generous Supporters:

Foundation Patrons
$10,000+

Horizon Foundation
New Jersey State Council On The Arts
Princeton Area Community Foundation
The George H. and Estelle M. Sands Foundation
The Presser Foundation

$1,000 – $9,999
Bell Family Foundation
Honey Perkins Family Foundation
The Fruscione Foundation

Individual Patrons

$5000+
Anonymous
Janet Westrick & G. Frederick Schott

$1,000 – $4,999

Mary & David Blair
Jena & Matt McWha

$500-$999

Cacilda Barros & Neil Gomes
Barbara DiCostanzo & Christopher DiCostanzo
Oxana & Arve Hanstveit
Laura Fenster Rothschild & Adam Rothschild
Anjali & Rahul Shah
Mary Alice & Len Teti
Joan & Martin Valcin
Jessica Vieira & Matthew Roden
Amy Xu & Ming Xu

$100-$499

Jaya Balasubramaniam & Franjo Ivancic
Beth Behrend & Robert Eaton
Leigh & Olivier Brigaud
Kellie Ciofalo
Michele Cleary
Abbi Clissold & Brian Clissold
Greg & Susan Elliott
Terri & Jon Epstein
Bill & Harriet Gude
Elizabeth Guerriero
Al Heary
David & Debbie Herman
Paul & Michelle Klein
Kristy & Georgios Kyriakopoulos
Annette & Robert LaCanna
Elizabeth Lewandrowski
Shufen Lin & Chaofa Chuang
Lisa & Frederick Pettit
Natalie & Hung Pho
Deborah Purdon
Catherine Quinlan
Douglas Raichle
Ravi Menon & Roshni Ravi
Raymond & Brenda Ruiz
Julie & Steve Scatena
Sybil Shainwald
Xin Yu & Jiming Shi
Bruce & Robin Taylor
Norah & Michael Wasden
Mary Jane Weiss & Tom Zane

Up to $99

Radhika Adiga & Arun Karpur
Marrein Agwaro
Guy Amoresano
Danielle & Jeremy Bahr
Yelena & Andras Baraz
Chaitra & Eric Baum
Sucharita Bhattacharyya & Indrajit Giri
Sarika Bhumkar & Subramaniyam Seetha Raman
Jan Bishop & Edward Tetelman
Jonathon & Brogann Bowden
Hilary K. Butler
Dipti Chauhan & Hemang Maheria
Linda Clemens
Jordan Corn
Minoti & Ramesh Dhanaraj
Adam Eggleston
Blair Elliot
Joseph Fulciniti
Marie & Ian Griffiths
Bing Jiang
Scott & Rosemary Karlin
Anna Kilishina & Gregory Rabitsky
Sarah Legins & Keith Legins
Michael Levine & Lily Mirels
Shenzhi Li & Wenbin Ma
Andrew Liput
Lihua Ma & Vincent Choy
John Magovern
Shonda Gordon-Mann & Robert Mann
Jeannie & William Mark
Stephen McGerty
Jill Miller
Mary Nicoson
Giselle Olmo
Christiana & Steve Oppong
Lucinda & Occhio Orsini
Michael Paleudis & Samantha Rosenstock
Rasheeda & Philip Pretto
Patricia Polite
Patricia Proctor
Saikiran Rapaka
Lakshmi & Alangaram Ramalingam
Margo Salem
Vineet & Neha Sharma
Dennis Sheppard
Kaihan & Sayera Siddiqui
Puneet & Shatrughan Sinha
Amos & Marion Stults
Swapna & Vishwas Tengshe
Barb Weinrib
Daniel Weiss
Melodee Zheng
Anonymous (4)

Corporate, Donor-Advised & Matching Patrons

Amazon Smile
Blackrock
Bristol Myers Squibb
Charities Aid Foundation of America
Dell Corporation
Johnson & Johnson
Microsoft
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
United Way Of Delaware

 

 

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to help keep Princeton Girlchoir singing.

Click here to learn more or make a donation today!

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. Housed by Westrick Music Academy — along with Princeton Boychoir and Poco Voce Choir (1st and 2nd Grade Choir) — WMA has nine choirs, comprising students in 3rd through 12th grade. These choirs present music from a wide array of genres, conductors and composers and have performed with artists such as Michael Bublé, Joyce DiDonato, Rollo Dilworth, Yo Yo Ma, and have performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall. While honing their musicianship, choristers begin life-long friendships, enjoy professional performance opportunities, and travel the world.

SING WITH US!

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