New York Choral Consortium
The New York Choral Consortium is a membership organization composed of choruses that call New York City home, representing a diverse community of singers and choral organizations. The NYCC fosters a spirit of mutual support and collaboration amongst its members and strives to contribute to the cultural appreciation of choral music throughout New York City.
Our Mission:
The New York Choral Consortium (NYCC) is dedicated to nurturing the large and vibrant choral arts community in New York City by –
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Promoting members’ activities to the widest possible audience;
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Educating the public to the powerful experience of choral music;
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Supporting the health of member organizations through cooperation and professional development opportunities.
Even beyond serving choral ensembles within the arts mecca of New York City, the NYCC holds a significant position as choral arts ambassador to the world.
Member organizations have access to strategy seminars, networking events, and social events that promote healthier choruses and a more vibrant choral community. The NYCC publishes a choral calendar on this website and distributes information on upcoming concerts of member organizations through an opt-in email list. Every June, the NYCC sponsors The Big Sing, a massed singing event where singers from member choruses and members of the public gather to sing choral favorites under the batons of NYCC conductors.
Our History:
Logos for your website and programs
We encourage member choruses of NYCC to use our new logo, designed by Audrey Miller, for websites and/or programs. These logos are available here to download in high-resolution PNG format (transparent) in color and b/w:
Deborah King
Board Chair
Deborah Simpkin King, Ph.D., is a choral conductor, new music advocate, and master teacher. She plays an active role in the vibrant Manhattan choral scene and serves the national and international music community through her guest conducting and body of published work.
Her leadership as a conductor is ongoing with the semi-professional Ember of Ember Choral Arts (formerly Schola Cantorum on Hudson, as Director of Music and Arts at the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, NJ, as a conductor within Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival and MidAmerica Productions. Her commitment to nurturing the next generation in the arts can be seen through the arts education initiatives at Ember Choral Arts, her long-standing leadership of the NJ-ACDA High School Choral Festival, and the expansion of New York Choral Consortium’s (which she Chairs) work to include young singers through the Big Sing Jr.
Through PROJECT : ENCORE (which she founded), Dr. King is at the leading edge of the new music industry, working with composers in finding post-premiere performances, and performing many premieres herself.
As a monthly columnist with ACDA’s Choral Journal and host of public radio’s Sounds Choral (syndicated through WWFM) she serves the music community internationally.
Hannah Nacheman
Program's Day
Hannah Nacheman is a conductor, vocalist, and educator based in New York City. A lifelong musician and arts advocate, Hannah has performed on many prestigious stages including Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, the David H. Koch Theater of Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Hannah currently serves as Adjunct Professor and Director of Mixed Chorus at St. John's University, Assistant Conductor to The Choral Society at Grace Church in NY, and Teaching Artist for the VOCES8 Foundation. She is one of the co-creators of Girls Who Conduct, a mentorship program for young women and non-binary musicians, whose mission is to foster diversity and inclusion in classical music. Furthermore, she serves as Guest Faculty for the Juilliard School Preparatory Division, and this season she serves as Resident Assistant Conductor for City Lyric Opera and Associate Conductor as part of Lincoln Center Presents new programming.
In addition to vocal performance, her musical training includes harp, piano, and violin, which she teaches in her private music studio in NYC, along with conducting and musicianship. Hannah holds music degrees from Bryn Mawr College and The Manhattan School of Music, with continued studies at The Juilliard School. Hannah's specialized pedagogical work focuses on the intersection of music and psychology, enabling her to provide students and ensembles with a musical toolkit with which to better approach all aspects of their lives.
Theresa Hubbard
Communications
Theresa Hubbard is an active member of the The Oratorio Society of New York, the Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale, and the adult choir at the Church of Saint Saviour in Brooklyn, NY. She serves as CEO at Fractured Atlas, where for over a decade, she has provided support for more than 15,000 artists and arts organizations raising funds for their creative projects.
Theresa serves on the steering committee of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors and is a regular presenter at conferences and workshops around the country. In 2016, she earned a Certificate in Arts and Culture Strategy through a partnership between National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Syracuse University and previously worked in the education departments for Carnegie Hall and the National Symphony Orchestra.
Ryan Brandau
Treasurer and Webmaster
Ryan James Brandau is the Artistic Director of several ensembles: Amor Artis, a 40-voice chamber choir and baroque orchestra that specializes in Renaissance, Baroque, and Contemporary music; Res Facta, a 14-voice professional chamber ensemble; Princeton Pro Musica, a 100-voice symphonic chorus and orchestra; and Monmouth Civic Chorus, a 100-voice symphonic chorus.
Equally at home leading choruses and orchestras, Dr. Brandau has established a reputation for incisive interpretations and dynamic, uplifting performances. His repertoire spans the Renaissance and Baroque, contemporary music, and the full cannon of large-scale choral-orchestral masterworks. In addition to leading his own performances, he has prepared choruses for the Philadelphia Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony.
As an orchestral and choral arranger, he has created many works for his own and others’ vocal, chamber, and orchestral ensembles. Each December thousands of audience members around the globe have their ears delighted and their hearts warmed by his beautifully-crafted, stirring holiday arrangements, lauded by MET Opera and NY Pops cellist David Heiss as “inventive . . . unfailingly gratifying . . . in a class by themselves.”
He is a host of Sounds Choral, an hour-long radio program on WWFM, the Classical Network, and his essays and program notes have been featured by a variety of ensembles.
John Maclay
Membership
John Maclay has served as Music Director of the Choral Society of Grace Church since 1999. During his tenure, he has built the Choral Society into one of New York City's most admired choral arts organizations. Reviewers have consistently noted his “carefully considered” programming and the “discipline and passion” of the chorus. While in graduate school, John was assistant conductor of the Harvard Glee Club, America’s oldest collegiate chorus. He accompanied and conducted choruses at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, where he co-founded the colleges’ musical theater troupe. Also a practicing lawyer, John is the General Counsel for Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank in the Americas. He currently serves as Membership Chair for the New York Choral Consortium.
Lucy Mayer
Marketing
Lucy Mathias is the current Board secretary and former Managing Director, Development Chair, and Social Media / Marketing Manager for the Young New Yorkers' Chorus. During her tenure as a YNYC leader, the choir has accomplished significant milestones, including making their Carnegie Hall debut, performing as a featured ensemble for iHeartRadio, singing with the New York Philharmonic, and premiering a range of prestigious new music from leading composers. A lifelong musician, Lucy has been engaged in New York's rich choral community since 2012. Lucy has a history in arts marketing and currently works at a marketing and PR firm specializing in architecture and design.
Laurie Nelson
Governance
Laurie Nelson has been involved with serious choral music since her years as a voice major at the H.S. of Music & Art in the early ‘70s. She continued singing at Swarthmore College, and joined The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers (GVCS) , then known as The Greenwich Village Singers, in 1982, while in law school. Over the ensuing 40+ years, she has served GVCS as alto section leader (1999 to date), Treasurer (1998 to date), Board chair and President (2020-2023), and Administrative Director (2000-2023). As a component of her work as a transactional attorney at Ropes & Gray, she has for many years represented various non-profits on a pro bono basis, concentrating on governance, incorporation, tax and contract issues. Last year she was honored to receive her firm’s Deborah Levi award for outstanding pro bono service, and she has been similarly honored by NYC Medics and The Lawyer’s Alliance. She was a member of the board of NYC Medics from 2006 to 2009. As a lifelong choral singer and dedicated avocational chorus manager, she has represented GVCS at NYCC meetings and workshops for many years. She currently serves as governance director for the New York Choral Consortium.
Elisa Nikoloulias
Secretary and Operations
Elisa worked in the finance departments of two top theatrical publishing houses before transitioning to the nonprofit sector. Prior to her current Senior Operations role at the Simons Foundation, she was the Senior Finance & HR Associate at New York State Health Foundation for a decade, Finance Manager for the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, an artist endowed foundation, the Finance Manager for PILnet, a nonprofit focused on connecting with local partners to develop the institutions essential to rights-respecting societies and served as the Finance and Operations Manager for the National School Climate Center, a nonprofit that helps schools integrate crucial social and emotional learning with academic instruction. Elisa is a freelance singer, lifelong arts advocate and actively serves on the Boards of two additional incredible arts organizations.
Joseph Jones
Member at Large
GRAMMY-nominated composer Joseph Jones has established himself as a distinctive, powerful, and eloquent voice on the classical music stage, one whose music creates ‘a vivid impression’ (The Washington Post). A prolific composer whose catalog includes art song, chamber music, choral and choral orchestral works, orchestral, opera, and ballet, Mr. Jones is equally at home in the concert hall and on stage.
A first generation American of Colombian and Spanish descent, Mr. Jones was adopted into a white family as an infant and grew up on a farm in small town in Rhode Island. His love of nature was fostered through this environment. A veritable third culture kid, the complex questions about his identity he’s often faced are subverted by his cosmopolitanism and total commitment to music as a transcendent force: his music speaks with humanity at its center.
Mr. Jones studied at the Peabody Conservatory of music where he worked with Nicholas Maw, and at the Bowdoin festival where he was a student of Dr. Samuel Adler. His music is characterized by a distinctive and personal approach to harmony, consistent use of counterpoint, clear formal structures, and a willingness to embrace the romantic gesture.
His music has been performed at the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie Hall. He has been commissioned by the American Youth Philharmonic, bassoonist Brad Balliett, and soprano Laura Strickling, and appeared as a featured guest composer with the Wichita Symphony.
A consummate musician, Mr. Jones has a performance background in violin, viola, percussion, and voice, playing and singing as an orchestral, chamber, and choral musician and oratorio soloist.
His work on the podium has included assistant and fellowship positions at the Aspen Music Festival, National Music Festival, Gulf Coast Symphony, New York Youth Symphony, and Allentown Symphony.
He currently resides in the New York City area.
Everett McCorvey
Diversity in Action
Everett McCorvey is in his 9th Season as the Artistic Director of the National Chorale and Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York City. The National Chorale, in its 55thSeason, is known for concerts featuring the major titans of the choral repertory as well as New York’s popular Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center, which just celebrated 55 years. Dr. McCorvey is also the Founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, a professional organization which tours throughout the world celebrating the preservation of the American Negro Spiritual. Dr. McCorvey holds the rank of Professor of Voice and the OperaLex Endowed Chair in Opera Studies at the University of Kentucky. He is also the Director and Executive Producer of the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre. He was recently chosen as the recipient of the Southeastern Athletic Conference Faculty Achievement Award for the University of Kentucky. Dr. McCorvey is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Arts Council for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He is also a trustee for the Sullivan Foundation of New York, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding, developing, and furthering the careers of promising opera singers within the United States. He is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and received his degrees from the University of Alabama.
John Goodwin
Symphonic Choruses
John Daly Goodwin has conducted concerts in major venues around the world including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, The Grand Theater in Shanghai, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Sala Nezahualcóyotl and OllinYolitzli in Mexico City, the Cathedrals of Notre Dame and Chartres in France, and the Basilica of San Marco in Venice. He has also been selected to prepare performances for such prominent conductors as Marco Armiliato, Leonard Bernstein, Joseph Colaneri, Dennis Russell Davies, Robert De Cormier, Srba Dinic, Asher Fisch, Lukas Foss, Fabio Luisi, Yehudi Menuhin, John Nelson, Daniel Oren, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Eve Queler, Corrado Rovaris, Julius Rudel, Gerard Schwarz, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and Hugh Wolff. He served as Music Director of the New York Choral Society from 1987 to 2012 and was a founding member of the New York Choral Consortium.
Bryan Zaros
Youth and Education
Bryan Zaros is a young American conductor recognized for his “strong musical imagination” and “deep sense of musicality and communication.” He is the Associate Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Music Director of the Pro Arte Chorale, a lecturer in the Distance Learning program at the Manhattan School of Music and an active coach and clinician of ensembles in the USA. He has been featured as a clinician and conductor at both the National Pastoral Musicians (NPM) and American Choral Director Association (ACDA) Conferences. He is a recipient of several national grants and conducting awards including an American Prize award in Conducting.
A native New Yorker, Bryan began his professional musical training as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus and as a boy chorister and Assistant Choirmaster at The Church of the Transfiguration, NYC. He received a Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College, a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Michigan and is currently ABD for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting at the Manhattan School of Music.
Mark Hanke
Member at Large
Mark currently serves as the Executive Director of Musica Sacra, New York longest continuously running professional chorus. During Mark’s tenure, Musica Sacra has presented its 82ndperformance of Handel’s Messiah, commissioned and presented world premieres by Michael Gilbertson and Wang Jie, and enjoyed collaborations with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more.
As a music educator, Mark has taught voice and music theory at Washington Heights Choir School, a free after-school music program based out of Holyrood Church/Iglesia Santa Cruz. Mark was also the founder, performer, librettist, and CEO of Opera-Tunity, a children’s opera company that created original children’s operas based on a diverse array of myths and folktales. The operas were performed in schools throughout Connecticut and fully integrated into the schools’ curriculum.
Mark also enjoys a career as a freelance musician in New York, singing with many choral ensembles, church choirs, and synagogues around New York City.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Music from The Manhattan School of Music.