Staff
Brendon Shapiro, Artistic Director
Pianist, vocal coach, and conductor, Brendon Shapiro, is a champion of vocal music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Brendon is a regular at Boston Lyric Opera where he was an Emerging Artist pianist and has served as pianist and coach for numerous productions and events since 2019. Brendon is also an alumnus of LA Opera's Young Artist Program where he worked with such artists as Renée Fleming and Susan Graham and played a key role in the musical preparation for the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice, along with many other productions, and returned to in 2022 to work on Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Omar. Brendon has also recently worked on productions at San Francisco Opera, Opera Omaha, Odyssey Opera, Bard SummerScape Festival, Opera Maine, among others.
As a conductor and musical director, Brendon helps bring new works to life at Catalyst New Music, a company he co-founded with his husband, Omar Najmi, in 2022, through which they have workshopped Najmi’s operas This is Not That Dawn and En la ardiente oscuridad and started FUSE: Collaborations in Song, an art song development program. Brendon has also conducted at Opera Fayetteville, Boston Opera Collaborative, MassOpera, and Boston Conservatory.
Brendon is the Artistic Director of Boston Singers’ Resource, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing classical singers with the tools they need as they pursue their careers. While at BSR, Brendon has been developing new programs designed to provide more opportunities to emerging singers in the New England area. He has been on faculty as a vocal coach at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, The Empowered Musician, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and coaches extensively from his home in Malden, Massachusetts, where he lives with his husband, tenor and composer, Omar Najmi, and his tuxedo cat Wally. www.brendonshapiro.com
Ryan Mewhorter, Executive Director
A lyric Baritone, Ryan Mewhorter has worked in a variety of capacities throughout Boston. Ryan has sung with the Boston University Opera Institute, where he has been seen performing in roles such as Don Alfonso from Cosi Fan Tutte and Charles Babbage in The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace. In addition to Opera Performances, Ryan sings with the Cantata Singers and serves as the Baritone Section leader at All Saints Parish in Brookline. Ryan has sung on Boston stages such as Symphony Hall, Sanders Theater, Jordan Hall, and Booth Theater.
A strong advocate for the arts and young musicians, Ryan has worked with several musical organizations. Ryan holds the position of Program Manager of the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department at New England Conservatory, where he assists young musicians in building a successful and meaningful life in music through passionate work in fundraising & development, audience building, production management, and leadership coaching. Through his work at the conservatory, Ryan has aided young musicians in finding professorships at leading intuitions in the US and abroad, secure funds from major foundations like the Mass Cultural Council and the New York Foundation for the Arts, and developing strategic career plans to advance a freelance and performance career.
Rozime Lindsey, Development & Marketing Associate
Originally from Philadelphia, baritone Rozime Lindsey recently graduated with his Bachelor of Music degree in Performance at Boston University, studying voice under the tutelage of Penelope Bitzas. As a frequent freelance musician in Boston, Rozime has performed numerous concerts with groups such as the Copley Singers, Newton Baroque, St. Paul’s Choir School, and Church of the Advent. In the Summer of 2023, Rozime interned with Fletcher Artist Management, an opera artist management company, to help facilitate the logistics for artists’ housing and travel and boost their marketing efforts. In the Summer of 2022, Rozime was selected as an Emerging Artist with the Bach Roots Festival, performing as a soloist and chorister in the St. Matthew Passion. As an All-City Philadelphia Chorus and Orchestra member, Rozime has been honored to perform for President Joseph Biden and Pope Francis. With the All-City Philadelphia Chorus, he has also performed numerous concerts under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera. In addition to performing, Rozime interned with Juventas New Music Ensemble, focusing on outreach and educational programming.
Shannon Rose McAuliffe, Advocacy Associate
Shannon Rose McAuliffe enjoys an active career in the arts, working at the nexus of performance, scholarship, advocacy, and education. She is an active freelance singer of choral, chamber, and operatic repertoire, with engagements throughout the United States. Her musicological work includes writing program notes and presenting pre-concert lectures for area performing arts organizations, and she has served as a successful grant writer for Emmanuel Music, the Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Huntsville, Nahant Music Festival, and many others. She is also an active arts educator, and teaches myriad courses about music, arts advocacy, and cultural entrepreneurship at Boston University, Northeastern University, and MIT. Ms. McAuliffe earned her MS in Arts Administration and MM in Historical Performance/Musicology from Boston University, and a BM in Music History and Vocal Performance from the University of Massachusetts.
Board of Directors
Melynda Davis
Lyric soprano Melynda Davis has performed with companies including Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, the Boston Pops, Boston Opera Collaborative, Lowell House Opera, Opera Providence, Empire Opera, New York Lyric Opera, the Martha Cardona Theater and Manhattan Opera Studio. She has placed first in the NATS Competition and second in Boston's Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition, and was a finalist in Connecticut Opera Guild’s Competition. Melynda sang in the East Coast premiere of Mary Watkin’s American Opera Dark River with the Mount Holyoke Orchestra. Recently, she performed Dan Shore's Freedom Ride with MassOpera, and performed with Boston Modern Opera Project in their "Roaring Twenties" concert. On the roster of Opera on Tap Boston and member of their Board, she participates in performances in and around the Boston area. She is currently the soprano section leader at the First Baptist Church, Lexington.
Sandra Piques Eddy
Praised for her “dark sensuous mezzo and charming stage presence’ (Opera Magazine) Sandra Piques Eddy recently added the roles of Desirée in A Little Night Music (Opera North UK), Lilah in When the Sun Comes Out (Leslie Uyeda-US Premiere Portland Opera) Maddalena in Rigoletto (Opera Colorado), Dido in Dido and Aeneas (Florentine Opera), Orfeo in Orfeo ed Eurydice (Portland Opera), Meg Page in Falstaff (Opera Colorado) Paula in Florencia en al Amazonas (Pittsburgh Opera) Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (Inland Pacific Northwest Opera ) and Mistress Revels in the Grammy nominated recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players.
A celebrated Carmen, Sandra performed the role with various companies including; Portland Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Chicago Opera Theater, Austin Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera North (UK) tour, and twice with Maestro Seiji Ozawa touring Japan. Career highlights include: Charlotte Werther with Boston Lyric Opera; Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri with Vancouver Opera, Arizona Opera, Austin Opera, Atlanta Opera; Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Nashville Opera, Vancouver Opera, Austin Opera, a tour with New Zealand Opera; Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Japan, New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera; La Cenerentola with Spoleto Festival USA, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera Saratoga and Greensboro Opera, Poppea in The Coronation of Poppea tour at Opera North (UK); With over 100 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Sandra’s roles include; Fiona in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, La Badessa in Suor Angelica, Mercédès in Carmen, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Zulma in L’Italiana in Algeri, among others. Sandra created the role of the Young Wife in Scott Wheeler’s opera Naga which premiered in Boston as a part of the Ouroboros Trilogy through Beth Morrison Projects. www.sandrapiqueseddy.com
James C.S. Liu
James Liu (he/him/his) is a physician with varied musical interests. He has announced and produced classical music programming at WHRB. He has sung in many choruses, including the Cantata Singers and the all-professional choir of First Church in Boston. His art song repertoire includes Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, Dichterliebe, Histoires naturelles and Don Quichotte à Dulcinée. He has appeared with Indian Hill Music, Lowell House Opera, Harvard Early Music Society, Opera del West, Longwood Opera, Opera51, Boston Opera Collaborative, and Opera Boston. Roles include The Magic Flute (Second Man in Armour, Papageno), The Marriage of Figaro (Antonio, Bartolo, Almaviva), Così fan tutte (Guglielmo, Alfonso), Fledermaus (Dr. Falke), Gounod's Faust (Valentin) and Roméo et Juliette (Capulet), Verdi's Otello (Montano) and Falstaff (Pistola), Ariadne auf Naxos (Music Teacher), Hansel and Gretel (The Father), Fidelio (Don Fernando), and John Eccles's Semele (Jupiter). He is indebted to his voice teacher, Frank Kelley, and to his infinitely patient wife who makes all of this possible. Learn more at www.jamescsliu.com.
Erin Merceruio Nelson, Treasurer
Hailed as “secure and sonorous” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, soprano Erin Merceruio Nelson (she/her/hers) performs actively throughout New England and beyond. Her recent performances include Gretel in Longwood Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel and Frasquita in Oprea Breve’s (NY) production of Carmen. Erin participated in Odyssey Opera of Boston’s "Trial by Fire" season, performing in Norman Dello Joio’s The Trial at Rouen (December 2017), and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s production of Bizet’s Carmen (January 2018).
Erin is the Director of Development and Operations for Shelter Music Boston, a local nonprofit that employs classical musicians to present chamber music concerts in area homeless shelters and recovery centers. She previously served as the Senior Program Administrator for the Free for All Concert Fund, and as Development Assistant at Hebrew SeniorLife. A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Erin holds an M.M. in Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Shenandoah University in Virginia. Visit Erin at www.erinmerceruionelson.com.
Peter Pulsifer, President
Peter Pulsifer began singing in his church choir as a boy soprano and first became serious about choral music when as a graduate student in physics in the 1980s he joined the Tanglewood Festival Chorus under John Oliver. After graduation he lived in Washington, D.C., for 16 years, where he sang with the Washington Chorus under Robert Shafer. Currently he sings regularly with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Chorus pro Musica, and when possible with the New World Chorale, Odyssey Opera, and others. He studied voice for many years with Robert Honeysucker. Peter is active in promoting culture and the arts, including service since 2003 on the board of Choral Arts New England, which gives grants, publishes an online directory, calendar, and newsletter, and works in other ways to support choral singing in the six New England states. He also serves on the Winchester Cultural Council and is a former Trustee of the Winchester Community Music School. Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Peter earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. from Boston College, both in Physics. Currently he does scientific and technical consulting in the Boston area. Previously, he has been a theoretical plasma physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, has served as a scientific program manager, and has been a staff editor at the magazine Physics Today.
Martin Thomson
Martin Thomson, tenor, has studied at the Oberlin Conservatory and with Boston University’s Frank Kelley. He has performed as a soloist with the Boston Pops, the Cantata Singers and — thanks to connections made through the BSR — with various community choruses and orchestras. A member of the BSO’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus since 1993, he also performs regularly in the High Holy Days quintet at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline. In addition to his work with the BSR, Martin is Board President of the Community Music Center of Boston. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife, two cats and a dog.
Margaret Felice, Executive Director Emerita
Margaret Felice (she/her/hers) is a singer, conductor, educator and writer living in Boston. She has been a member of Boston Singers’ Resource since BSR’s founding and was Administrative/Executive Director from 2015-2021. From 2007–2009 Margaret was President of Boston Opera Collaborative, Boston’s operatic repertory company. She later served as the Public Relations coordinator for that group, spearheading BOC’s email marketing, local media relations and social media presence. She currently directs the Liturgical Musicians at Boston College High School, is an assistant director of the Liturgy Arts Group of Boston College, and is on the religious education faculty at Boston College High School
As a performer, Margaret’s repertoire ranges from classical opera to modern musical theater, from early music to the Great American Songbook. She has sung principal roles in Suor Angelica, The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, The Crucible, Carmen, and Don Giovanni, as well as in theatrical productions of Titanic, Company, Fiorello! Annie, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She has a particular love of sacred music and has been soprano soloist in J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass, Handel's Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Faure’s Requiem, and other choral masterworks. Margaret has sung with Tanglewood Festival Chorus since 2005.
The author of a popular spirituality blog, Margaret and her writing on music and spirituality have been featured on PrayTell and Loyola Press’s dotMagis blog. She also has been published in GIA Quarterly, Pastoral Music, Classical Singer Magazine, Notre Dame Church Life Journal and Classical Music Indy. Her first book, the 2019 edition of Loyola Press’s A Book of Grace-Filled Days devotional series, was published in fall 2018.
Margaret is a regular speaker on liturgical music and spirituality, participating as a keynote presenter at Notre Dame Vision’s inaugural Summer Conference for Liturgical Music Ministers and at an Ignatian Identity Conference at Leopard’s Hill School in Lusaka, Zambia. Margaret holds degrees from Boston College and The Boston Conservatory and also studied at Emerald City Opera Institute and the Songfest Professional Program. Originally from South Windsor, CT, she now lives in Dorchester with her husband, Robert Goulston. Her résumé, calendar and blog can be found at www.margaretfelice.com.
Lynn Shane, Founder
Lynn Shane is the founder and former Executive Director of Boston Singers' Resource. Under her direction, BSR became one of the leading resources for serious singers and students of singing in the New England region. Working with a team of dedicated volunteers and board members since 2001, Ms. Shane 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.