BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lynn Shane, President
Lynn Shane is the founder and current volunteer 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 two other dedicated volunteers since 2001, Ms. Shane has created the BSR website, designed a strategic business and marketing plan, developed an extensive mailing list, and organized the first of 7 subsequent regional auditions for singers and directors. She has also written nearly 40 article/interviews for the website and is the primary communicator and daily operations manager for BSR. Ms. Shane is an active member of the American Choral Director's Association, the Arts Services Coalition, the Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts, 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. A natural organizer and former full-time music teacher, Lynn Shane has developed successful music programs and organized dozens of music events for young singers since 1988. She is currently on the faculty at Salem State College in Salem, MA. As an active singer, Ms. Shane appears 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.

Karen Gahagan, Treasurer/Clerk
Karen Gahagan is a free-lance musician in the Boston area. She is a founding Board Member of Boston Singers’ Resource and serves as BSR Audition Coordinator. She has worked as musical director and/or pianist with various groups, including: The Boston Pops, Shakespeare and Company, The Huntington Theatre, The Lyric Stage of Boston, Reagle Players, Salem State College, Emerson College, New England Light Opera, The New Opera and Musical Theatre Initiative, Boston Conservatory of Music, and Suffolk University. When not involved in theatrical pursuits she is an active vocal and instrumental accompanist. Ms. Gahagan maintains a private piano studio and is the Music Director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead. Ms. Gahagan holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music and Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Prior to becoming a fulltime musician she was Assistant Vice President at a non-profit insurance information organization. There she oversaw the information services department, establishing a full service library/research service and corporate web site, as well as producing the corporation’s annual national conference. Ms. Gahagan participated in a number of national research projects and was a contributor to the multi-volume study “An Assessment on Natural Hazards” published by the National Academy Press.

Betty Blanchard Blume, Director
Betty Blume has been a singer, teacher, and contributing board member of various Massachusetts vocal organizations for the past 20 years. An English major from Wheaton College, Ill, she has served on the boards of the All Newton Music School, Youth Pro Musica, Choral Arts New England, Brown Bag Opera, and the Boston Cecilia. Her music experience includes years of dedicated singing with the Boston Cecilia and the prestigious Tanglewood Festival Chorus as well as various solo experiences with the Newton Community Chorus and in churches around Boston and Montreal.

Denise Konicek, Director
With a Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota and a Masters of Arts in Public Affairs from H. Humphrey Institute, Denise Konicek has designed, managed, and facilitated plans for company growth in the area of health services for the past 20 years. Her most recent experiences include working with the Visiting Nurses Association in Lynn, MA as a grantwriter, developing proposals and fundraising strategies for the Greater Lynn Senior Services in Lynn, MA, and working as a senior analyst for the Boston Health Policy Institute at Boston University. Denise is also an accomplished singer and performs regularly with the prestigious Boston Baroque ensemble as well as has a nationally reviewed solo CD.

Martha Peabody, Director
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!

Peter Smith, Director
Peter is a graduate of Columbia, with an MA and PhD in French from the University of Wisconsin. He taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level at Northwestern University prior to entering the information technology field at the former Bank Boston. His area of expertise was database design and data warehousing architecture, which he applied in both the retail banking and insurance industries. His musical background includes choral singing and piano. He has performed locally in productions with Actors Collaborative and Neponset Choral Society, including 1776, HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe, Guys and Dolls, and Music Man. He is currently a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

Joseph Stroup, Director
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.

Brenna Wells, Director
Brenna Wells, soprano, is orginally from Washington State but is quickly establishing herself as a singer on demand in the Boston area as well as abroad. She received her Masters degree from Longy School of Music where she studied with Anna Gabrieli and has since gone on to perform locally as soloist with Boston Secession, Musica Sacra, The Masterworks Chorale, Chorus Pro Musica, Chagall String Quartet, Longitude New Music Ensemble, Belmont Open Sings, Paul Madore Chorale, Marsh Chapel Choir and Lowell House Opera as well as internationally in the Boston Early Music Festival, at the Cambridge (London) Music School, and with the Handel and Haydn Society in the BBC Proms Music Festival. Brenna will also be getting married this June! Brenna Wells Website

Jacque Wilson, Director
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 privately in the area and was also a Co-Founder of the Boston Opera Project. Jacque Wilson Website

John Whittlesey, Director
John Whittlesy, baritone, is Founder and Director of Intermezzo: The New England Chamber Opera Series. Now in it's 5th year, Intermezzo has produced 18 chamber operas including 7 world premiers. The Intermezzo board is dedicated to the mission of 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, Mr. Whittlesey is also an active concert soloist in the area as well as a member of the Boston Lyric Opera chorus where he has enjoyed numerous comprimario roles. He has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with New England Light Opera, Cape Cod Opera, Longwood Opera, Hackmatack Playhouse, Center for the Arts in Natick, The Masterworks Chorale, Salisbury Singers, and Chorus North Shore. Intermezzo Website