GBCC Board Director Nominations, Fall 2024
The following represents the slate for proposed new board directors-at-large for GBCC, each to serve a 3-year term beginning Nov. 16, 2024, and ending July 31, 2027.
A vote will be taken by the GBCC membership at GBCC’s annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. Each member chorus in good standing is allowed one vote. If no one from your chorus is available to attend the meeting, please submit your vote here by Friday, Nov. 15.
Elinor Armsby (proposed for Director-at-Large)
Elinor A. Armsby (“Ellie”) has been active as a choral conductor and clinician in Massachusetts and the Philadelphia area for over thirty years. She currently serves as Artistic Director of the Arlington based women’s ensemble Cantilena and as Senior Choir Director at Acton Congregational Church. Previously, she served as Music Director at First Church in Marlborough UCC and the Northborough Area Community Chorus, Artistic Director for the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware, Director of Music at First United Methodist Church of Germantown (PA), and Director of Choirs at Philadelphia’s Central High School. Ellie has been praised for her success in working with singers at all levels and her ability to create interesting programs showcasing music from diverse repertoires.
In addition to her conducting activities, Ellie is the president of Hildegard Publishing Company, a publisher whose mission is to publish compositions by women composers of all time periods and genres. Prior to her work with Hildegard, she spent many years in various roles at the Theodore Presser Company.
Max Holman (proposed for Director-at-Large)
Max Holman is a Boston-based musician recognized for his “clear and expressive” conducting, “sensitive” collaborative instincts, and “clever” improvisations, arrangements, and continuo playing. Equally comfortable in front of professional, community, and youth ensembles, his expertise as a vocal coach and choral clinician has transformed seasoned, aging, and changing voices alike. A passionate educator, Max infuses practical musicianship skills, musical literacy, and healthy technique into fun and engaging rehearsals through relevant and diverse programming. He is currently Executive & Artistic Director of the Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus, Middle & Upper School Choral Music and Spanish Teacher at Brimmer and May School, Director of the Five Cities Baroque Festival Youth Academy, and a Collaborative Pianist for the Boston Children’s Chorus.
Max is in demand locally as a freelance conductor, collaborative pianist, harpsichordist, organist, and singer, recently specializing in filling in with less than 24-hours notice to conduct the Choir of St. Paul’s Church Harvard Square, performing as a soloist and chorister with Cambridge-based Musica Sacra, and accompanying the choirs of Boston Latin School in concert. Max received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education: Voice from Rutgers University and his Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he was awarded the Hugh Giles Prize and the Hugh Porter Scholarship. When he’s not making music, Max enjoys cooking, cycling, immersing himself in new cultures, forever improving his Spanish, attempting to learn how to dance, making people laugh, and playing fetch with his cat, Estrella.
Erik Peregrine (proposed for Director-at-Large)
Dr. Erik Peregrine (they/them/theirs) is a visionary conductor, musicologist, and educator whose work centers relationship as the fundamental basis for music-making. Peregrine currently serves as the artistic director of Ensemble Companio, an award-winning Northeastern regional chamber choir, and the founding director of LIFT!, an independent conducting studio which centers the development of musical leaders whose identities are un/underrepresented in the field.
As a conductor, Peregrine’s ensembles are hailed for their transformative programming, advocacy for historically-excluded composers, and vibrant, compelling performances of repertoire ranging from early music to newly-commissioned works. Under Peregrine’s direction, Ensemble Companio won third prize in the American Prize for Choral Performance (community division) as well in the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music in both 2018 and 2019 for performances of works by historically-excluded living composers.
As an educator, Peregrine is both an award-winning teacher and internationally-recognized expert on best practices for transgender affirming ensembles. During their recent tenure as Director of Choirs at UC Davis, Peregrine was awarded both the 2023 UC Davis University Honors Program Faculty Mentorship Award and the 2023 ASUCD Excellence in Education Award for their outstanding commitment to undergraduate education. They regularly present their work on creating LGBTQIA+ inclusive choruses, transgender vocal pedagogy, and diversity in choral music at conferences hosted by Chorus America, GALA Choruses, and the American Choral Directors Association, among others.
Peregrine holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in choral conducting and historical musicology from the University of Arizona. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Peregrine also holds a MM in choral conducting from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) and a BA in Music from Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR).
Stephanie Riley (proposed for Director-at-Large)
Stephanie Riley is in her 21st year teaching choral music, having taught K-12 music and chorus for each year ranging from 5th grade to 12th grade. In addition to her public school position, Stephanie founded the SSA choir Soleil with support from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. As a performer, Stephanie sings with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and takes advantage of every opportunity to perform that she possibly can.
As Stephanie notes, “What I think I could bring to the table (as a GBCC board director) is someone who, yes, lives and works on Cape Cod, and is a person who is connected within the Greater Boston Choral scene by attending and performing in concerts throughout the city and beyond, subbing in for colleagues when requested. The Boston and Greater Boston area is so incredibly rich with choral music serving communities with offerings of traditional choirs, barbershop, sweet adelines, treble, children’s choirs, and so much more. By attending concerts and performing myself, I have had many opportunities to meet and work with a wide range of choir professionals and personnel and have been graced with a solid understanding of the history of these groups and their vision for the future.”