Board of directors and Staff:
Lynn Shane, Founder and Executive Director
Jacque Wilson, President
Glenn Billingsley
William Cutter
Leslie M.Holmes
Murray Kidd
Matthew Larson
Margaret Lias
Stephanie Mann
Martha Peabody
Beverly Soll
Letitia Stevens
Brenna Wells
John Whittlesey
Joe Stroup, News Editor
Lynn Shane, Executive Director
Lynn Shane is the founder and current Acting Executive Director of Boston Singers' Resource. Under her direction, BSR has become one of the leading resources for serious singers and students of singing in the New England region today. Working with a team of dedicated volunteers and board members since 2001, Ms. Shane has created and maintained the BSR website, organized 17 regional auditions for BSR singers and directors and written nearly 40 web article/interviews. Ms. Shane is an active member of the American Choral Director's Association, the Arts Services Coalition, the Music Educators National Association, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Opera America, and Stagesource. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado. Also an active music teacher and chorus conductor, Lynn Shane has worked with all ages of students from Kindergarden through adult. She currently is on the faculty at Salem State University in Salem, MA where she teaches private voice lessons as well as Women's Chorale, History of Music, and Voice. As an active singer, Ms. Shane has appeared with several regional symphonic, music theater and opera companies as soloist. She is also a 15 year veteran of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus with whom she has recorded several CD's, toured the Far East and Europe.
Jacque Wilson, President
Jacque Wilson, mezzo soprano, is a frequent soloist in the New England area. She received her Masters Degree in Opera Performance from the Boston Conservatory. Opera roles she has gone on to perform with much acclaim include 'Cherubino' in Nozze di Figaro, 'Lola' in Cavalleria Rusticana, 'Meg" in Falstaff, 'Second Knitter' in Game of Chance, 'Mother' in Amahl and the Night Visitors and 'Prince Orlafsky' in Die Fledermaus. She also enjoys a career as a concert soloist and music theatre performer and has performed with the Newton Choral Society, Assabet Valley Masterworks Singers, The Masterworks Chorale, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus to name a few. Ms. Wilson teaches voice at the University of Southern Maine and privately in the area. She was also a Co-Founder of the Boston Opera Project.
Glenn Billingsley
Before entering the world of academic and arts fund raising, baritone Glenn Billingsley made his debut with the New York City Opera National Company and sang with the Santa Fe, Chautauqua and Lake George Opera companies, appeared in the Spoleto and Madeira Bach Festivals, toured Europe and the Western Hemisphere with the Waverly Consort and the SEM Ensemble, and did significant solo work in New York with Musica Sacra, the Ensemble for Early Music, the Bach Aria Group, Johannes Somary's Amor Artis Chorale, and many others, and with numerous choral organizations in Boston. A longtime member of the Choir of the Church of the Advent, he has recently joined the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus. Glenn and his wife Monique Phinney, who is on the voice faculty of The Boston Conservatory, have two adult children - guitarist, drummer, songwriter and Bose customer service guy Ken, and BoCo educated singer and dancer Lisa.
William Cutter
Dr. William Cutter is Director of Choral Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is conductor of the M.I.T. Concert Choir and Chamber Chorus. A member of the conducting and theory faculty and former Director of Choral Studies at the Boston Conservatory he teaches graduate conducting as well as harmony and ear training courses. Dr. Cutter currently serves as the artistic director for the Boston Conservatory Summer Choral Institute for high school vocalists. As assistant to John Oliver for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, he has prepared choruses for John Williams and Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. He served as Chorus master and Associate Conductor of the Boston Lyric Opera Company from 2002-2007. For four summers he was conductor of the Boston University Young Artists Chorus of the Tanglewood Institute, and was music director and conductor of the Opera Laboratory Theater Company, as well as founder and music director of the vocal chamber ensemble CANTO which specialized in contemporary choral music.
Leslie Holmes
Leslie Holmes is a graduate of Wellesley College, well-known in the Boston area for her solo appearances, lectures, radio program on WCRB and studio teaching. She has been a featured performer with the Boston Symphony, Chorus Pro Musica, MIT Choral Society, Wellesley Choral Society, Hammond Castle and Amazing Things Arts Center, to name a few. A champion of women's music, cabaret and French Art song, Ms. Holmes gives lecture/recitals on these subjects troughout the country. Ms. Holmes is a regular interview columnist with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) - Journal of Singing; her interviewees include most of today's leading Opera nd Oratorio stars. She is a former NATS Massachusetts and New England Regional Governor and maintains an active voice studio in Wellesley, MA. Ms. Holmes also serves as President of the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists
Murray Kidd
Murray Kidd has been a singer and educator in the Boston area for the past 20 years. He is the Director of Choirs at UMASS/Lowell as well as the conductor of the Polymnia Society in Melrose. Mr. Kidd's private voice students have performed in venues throughout New England as well as in top music schools throughout the US. He is the founder of New Engand Conservatory's Song Recital Series, now in its 8th year. As a performer, Murray Kidd has has performed extensively with Handel and Haydn Society. He has also appeared with Boston Baroque, Opera Boston, Chorus Pro Musica, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and, most recently, the Boston Pops. He is a member of NATS, ACDA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. Murray Kidd is the founder and manager of BSR's newest program for singers-in-need called the Boston Singers' Relief Fund.
Matt Larson
Matthew Larson received his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University. An accomplished accompanist, Dr. Larson has played over 500 recitals in the United States and Austria. He has worked with many of the country's leading opera stars such as Carol Vaness, Maria Spacagna, Jennifer Larimore and Sherrill Milnes. He has also worked under the direction of Christopher Hogwood, Richard Miller, and Dalton Baldwn. Currently, Dr. Larson is Music Director for UCONN Opera Program, Vocal Coach for Tanglewood Institute's Young Artist Vocal Program and Director of Music at First Congregational Church in Milton, MA
Margaret Lias
Mezzo-soprano, Margaret Lias is currently a professional member and soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society under Harry Christophers and is a staff singer at The Church of the Advent under Mark Dwyer. A lifelong church musician, Margaret last served as a professional chorister and soloist at the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta Georgia, under Bruce Neswick. She has performed regularly as a soloist and professional member of the Atlanta Singers. Other solo engagements include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Shaw, and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra under George Del Gobbo. When she is not singing, Margaret has held positions as administrator and fundraiser in churches and cathedrals, and later as development manager for Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has managed fundraising events from silent auctions to phonathons, written grant proposals, orchestrated mass-mailings, etc. In addition, Margaret has both quantitative and qualitative marketing research experience and has managed data collection and mall intercept firms.
Stephanie Mann
Soprano, Stephanie Mann, is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a Masters of Music in Voice and Opera Performance. She has sung numerous leading roles in and around the Boston area including performances with Mass Theatrica, Longwood Opera, Raylynmor Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera Company, Worcester Opera Works, Riverside Theater Works and Boston Opera Project. Stephanie was one of the founders and directors of the Boston Opera Project, producing Marc Blitzstein's Regina and the New England premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women in conjunction with Orchard House in Concord, MA.. She was on the Board of the New England Gilbert and Sullivan Society for six years, where she has served as the Program Chair and Reviews Editor. Stephanie is part of the administrative staff at the Perkins School for the Blind.
Martha Peabody
Martha Peabody, soprano, has been an active singer, educator, and lecturer in the New England area for the past 25 years. She is currently on the faculty of Northeastern University where she teaches courses on Sound Health, Music and Relaxation, as well as private lessons. Ms. Peabody is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing where she served as the President of the Boston Chapter as well as the District of Massachusetts Governor. She has a Masters of Arts in Wholistic Studies from Lesley University as well as a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of New Hampshire. Ms. Peabody is co-author of the 1988 handbook entitled 'Singers in Boston' by Presto Press from which Boston Singers' Resource drew it's initial inspiration
Beverly Soll
Beverly Soll holds degrees in piano from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland. She has served on the faculty at the State University of New York-Geneseo, George Mason University, and Wayne State College and has presented performances throughout the United States and in Germany. She is the author of I Dream a World: The Operas of William Grant Still, and Arias, Duets and Scenes from the Operas of William Grant Still Vols 1-3. Following nine years coordinating arts and special events at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Ms. Soll is currently a free-lance pianist and adjunct music faculty member at Salem State University.
Brenna Wells
With a voice described as “fresh”, “ethereal”, and “elegant”, soprano Brenna Wells is garnering attention for her varied performances. Her recent operatic roles include La Poesie and La Paix in Les Arts Florissants, Galatea in Acis and Galatea and Première Nymphe de l’Acheron in the Boston Early Music Festival’s production and Grammy-nominated recording of Lully’s Psyché. Ms. Wells has sung and recorded with such acclaimed ensembles as the BEMF Orchestra, Blue Heron, Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Opera Boston, L’Académie, and the Handel and Haydn Society. She has appeared in many festivals and programs world-wide including the London Handel Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, BBC Proms and in both 2008 and 2009, she was selected to perform at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy. She is also featured on two new recordings, Charpentier's Acteon and Blow's Venus and Adonis, both on the CPO label. Highlights from last season included singing First Witch in the BEMF production of Dido and Aeneas and her soloist debut at Symphony Hall under the direction of Harry Christophers. This season includes performances as the soprano soloist in Bach's Christmas Oratorio and singing the role of La Musique in L’Académie’s production of Charpentier’s Les Plaisirs de Versailles.
John Whittlesey
John Whittlesey is the Founder and Artistic Director of Intermezzo: The New England Chamber Opera Series. Now in it's 9th year, Intermezzo has produced 25 chamber operas including 9 world premiers. Intermezzo is dedicated to bringing new and exciting works to the musical life in New England and their artist roster features top-notch local talent. In addition to his busy life as an impresario, John is also an active concert soloist in the area as well as a member of the Boston Lyric Opera ensemble for the past 17 season, where he has taken on numerous comprimario roles. He has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, New England Light Opera, Cape Cod Opera, Longwood Opera, Hackmatack Playhouse, Center for the Arts in Natick, The Masterworks Chorale, Salisbury Singers, Quincy Choral Society, and Chorus North Shore.
Joseph Stroup, News Editor
Joseph Stroup is on the faculty of the Performing Arts Department at the Landmark School in Prides Crossing, teaches piano privately, and is a Board Member and contributing editor to the Boston Singers Resource website. He has been the organist at the First Church in Wenham, MA, since 1986. Prior to this full-time career in music, he was a software engineer in Boston and Portsmouth, NH, holding various positions in the Financial, Insurance and Engineering industries from 1984 through 2002. Joe is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
