Meet the Performers

Photo by George Mitchell

Director Alan Rowe, son of Mary Rowe and Dr. Harry Rowe, began conducting the chorus in the autumn of 1999. He holds degrees from the University of Vermont and Vandercook College of Music, Chicago, and is currently president of the Vermont Chapter of the American Choral Directors’ Association. Since 1984 Alan has taught at St. Johnsbury Academy, where he directs the choral and band programs, including the Academy's select chorus, The Hilltones. He is a frequent conductor at Vermont music festivals.

Alan is an accomplished clarinetist. While growing up in Wells River, Vermont, Alan played in high school orchestra and band, sang in his church choir and the North Country Chorus, performed in All-State and All-New England music festivals, and attended New England Music Camp in Oakland, Maine.

Alan lives in St Johnsbury with his wife Stephanie and their three children.

Jean Anderson, a professional pianist with degrees from West Chester (PA) State University and Hofstra University, has accompanied the North Country Chorus since 1989. Before retiring to Vermont she taught public school music and performed instrumental and vocal music on Long Island, serving as pianist for the Metropolitan Opera auditions, New York City Center, and the Long Island Vocal Ensemble. She continues an active schedule — performing chamber music, accompanying choral groups and teaching privately.

Mary Holley, left, and Jean Anderson are frequent performers in the Peacham area.

Julie Drown Proia, soprano, has been singing since the age of five, when she would sing along with her father's recordings of Risë Stevens and Jan Peerce! In 1982 she joined the North Country Chorus and began studying voice with Claire Taylor. Since then she has delighted NCC audiences with her voice and her interpretation of numerous solos in the choral repertoire. She has been a frequent collaborator with Jean Anderson, Jean's late husband Ray, and Mary Holley in solo recitals. Julie also studied with Mark Hull and Katherine DeBoer, and has performed with Vermont Opera Theater and Valley Singers. She is often invited to sing for private family functions.

Photo by George Mitchell

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Phil Brown, tenor, earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University. Phil has been involved in various aspects of church music his entire life. He currently serves a music director at South Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, VT, where he has directed the choral, handbell and instrumental ministry for 24 years. He is an adjunct instructor in Fine and Performing Arts at Lyndon State College and serves as manager and music director for St. J. Jazz, an arts organization dedicated to supporting the live performance of traditional and classic jazz in northern New England. Phil performs across many genres including classical tenor soloist with North Country Chorus and Lyndon Community Chorus, jazz bassist and vocalist with Maple Leaf Seven, Swing North Big Band and his own jazz trio, and folk guitarist and vocalist. He has been a frequent clinician and instructor at local, state, regional, and national handbell workshops and festivals.

Maria Weber Lamson, mezzo-soprano, developed a love of choral music in her college choir, the SUNY Geneseo Chamber Singers. Before moving to the Upper Valley she sang with the Norfolk Camerata in Virginia and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in Boston. She was a longtime member of Bel Canto Chamber Singers, and for the last 15 years has sung with Sounding Joy! under the direction of Marjorie Drysdale in Randolph, VT. She’s a frequent soloist in central Vermont and enjoys vocal coaching for musical productions in the South Royalton High School. Along with Marjorie Drysdale and artist Valerie Daniel, she helps direct a collaborative arts camp for children. Maria is the Chelsea School librarian. A mother of four, she lives with her family in South Royalton.

Gary Moreau, baritone, is a native of Burlington. He received his B.S. in Music Education, and M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instructional Development from the University of Vermont and is in very much in demand as a soloist throughout Vermont. Gary has performed with the Vermont Symphony, Vermont Mozart Festival, Oriana Singers, Rutland Community Chorus, Middlebury Community Chorus, and Castleton State College Choir among others. He has also performed internationally in Quebec City and at the Vatican in Rome.

Since 1976 Gary has taught in Essex Junction at the A.D. Lawton Intermediate School, where he teaches general music, handbells, and chorus. Gary has been a key figure in the District III Middle School Music Festival where he has served as the Festival Director for more than fifteen years. He is currently the President of the Vermont Music Educators Association and coordinates the Vermont All-State Scholarship Competition.

Additional music activities include work in various churches throughout the Burlington area as organist, cantor and choir director. He directs the Vermont Choral Union, a semi-professional choral ensemble in Burlington. Gary is a member of the National Association for Music Education (MENC), Vermont Association of Arts Educators (VAAE), and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

Geoffrey Penar, baritone, is a senior at St. Johnsbury Academy and will be attending the Eastman School of Music next fall (2007) as a vocal performance major. Geoff has been very active in musical theatre, participating in productions at Burlington's Lyric Theatre as well as each of the Academy's musicals for the past three years. In the school’s the production of Les Miserables last fall, Geoffrey earned rave reviews for his portrayal of Jean Valjean. Geoff has received the top All State Scholarship for voice the past two years, giving him the opportunity to perform at this year's festival in Newport, VT on May 10. Geoff participates in the choral and instrumental programs at the Academy where he plays lead tenor saxophonist in the Jazz Band. Public Radio listeners may have heard Geoffrey sing on December 3, 2006 on From the Top, a weekly program featuring outstanding young classical musicians.

T Bradley Stouffer earned his Bachelor of Music in Applied Percussion from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. His repertoire includes jazz, classical, and musical theater, and he has performed with numerous groups, including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, and many regional orchestra and bands in Colorado, Florida and Vermont. He has taught music in Vermont and New Hampshire schools and now teaches privately in Holland, VT.

Elia Nelson has been playing harp since 1987. She studied privately at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and in Dayton, Ohio for a total of 14 years. She earned a minor in music from Earlham College in 2001. Elia plays classical repertoire on the pedal harp and Celtic/folk music on a smaller lap harp.

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Mary Holley has served as organist at the Peacham Congregational Church since 1985 and holds the Colleague Certificate from the American Guild of Organists. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of Massachusetts and is active in the American Choral Directors Association. She has recently retired from teaching public school music in Lyndonville, VT.

Baritone Robert Mead, pictured with Mary Rowe and Jean Anderson, has sung with the chorus since 1976. He studied voice with Earl Norwood at Plymouth State College and with Katherine DeBoer. He teaches mathematics.

Kathy Wonson Eddy, a native of Beverly, MA, received her degree in music from Middlebury College in 1973, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. After earning her M. Div. at Yale Divinity School in 1976, she was ordained as a pastor in the United Church of Christ and began her work at Bethany Church in Randolph, VT, the church she continues to serve.

Occasional sabbaticals have allowed Kathy to continue her education in music composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. She is a prolific writer and composer; she has completed more than 200 compositions for voices and instruments, which have been widely performed across the country and internationally. Kathy has been married for thirty years to Bob Eddy; they have two sons.

“I have known and admired Mary Rowe since coming to serve as a pastor in Vermont twenty-seven years ago... I feel SO FORTUNATE to have known Mary and to have been able to compose this piece in gratitude for her life. All during the writing of it, I felt her twinkly smile!”

Bronx native Arthur Zorn studied at the High School of Music and Art and the Manhattan School of Music before moving to Vermont. After completing his degree in music education with honors at Lyndon State College, he became the director of choral music at Spaulding High School in Barre, a position he has held for 25 years. He is a frequent guest conductor at student music festivals throughout Vermont and has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching. Arthur serves as the Music Director at Bethany Congregational Church in Barre. He is a frequent vocal soloist with the Vermont Philharmonic and has performed with many other vocal ensembles. He has performed some of his original piano compositions live on Vermont Public Radio. Arthur lives in Montpelier with his wife and son.

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