Jonathan Hirsh
Artistic Director

Director of Choral and Orchestral Activities at Smith College, Jonathan Hirsh conducts the Orchestra, Glee Club and Chamber Singers. He has a national reputation as both conductor, adjudicator, and pedagogue. His ensembles are invited regularly to perform at regional, national and international festivals. 

Paul Rardin
Adult Program Director, 2022

Paul Rardin is Elaine Brown Chair of Choral Music and Chair of the Vocal Arts Department at Temple University. He previously taught at the University of Michigan and Towson University, and was formerly artistic director of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. Rardin has served as a guest conductor for all-state choirs in eighteen states, for divisional honor choirs for ACDA and NAfME, and for Manhattan Concert Productions at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Alyssa Kayser-Hirsh
Program Director, A Cappella Instructor

Alyssa is an arts administrator, teacher, and writer in New York City. She currently works in Digital Content & Engagement at Carnegie Hall,  runs Luna Composition Lab at the Kaufman Music Center, and writes for I Care if You Listen. Alyssa studied Music and American Studies at Wellesley College, where she was also the president of the Wellesley College Choir. She performs with Amor Artis and has previously sung in the New School Chorus and the Smith College Glee Club. She is also a pianist and cellist. 

Ryan Brandau
Adult Program Director, 2019

Ryan Brandau has broad experience with a variety of choral and orchestral ensembles. Currently he is Artistic Director of Amor Artis, Princeton Pro Musica, and Monmouth Civic Chorus. He serves on the faculty of Westminster Choir College, where he prepares the Symphonic Choir for performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony. His arrangements and compositions have been heard across the globe.

Todd Fruth
Choir Conductor

Todd Fruth directs the choral program at Amherst Regional High School, where he leads three ensembles and teaches music theory and music production classes. In addition to his teaching duties, he performs as a tenor with local choral ensembles Illuminati and Novi Cantori, and he directs the adult a cappella group the Green Street Brew. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, yoga, and cross-country travel.

Sarah Paquet
Choir Conductor

Sarah Paquet is a conductor, mezzo-soprano and music educator. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Smith College, where she teaches Introduction to Choral Singing, voice lessons and aural skills classes, and also works with the Smith College Glee Club and Chamber Singers. Her past appointments include director roles at Avon Old Farms School (Avon, CT), University of Detroit Jesuit High School (Detroit, MI) and St. Mary Student Parish (Ann Arbor, MI).

Anita Anderson Cooper
Musical Theater Instructor

Anita Anderson Cooper currently teaches three choral ensembles and AP Music Theory at Minnechaug High School. She previously taught Music Theory at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City for twelve years and also worked as a professional musician and conductor. She is a frequent soloist and guest conductor for district festivals.

Katherine Kayser-Hirsh
A Cappella Instructor

Katherine is an Elementary School teacher in the Pioneer Valley. During her undergraduate career at Mount Holyoke College she was a member of The Diversions a cappella group, Chamber Singers, Glee Club, and was on the Lacrosse team for 4 years. She studied voice for six years with Cheryl Cobb and continues to recreationally play piano, viola, and guitar in her spare time. 

Karen Smith Emerson

Soprano Karen Smith Emerson has enjoyed a balanced career as singer and educator. Currently professor of music at Smith College, she has sung a wide variety of opera and concert repertoire with professional organizations around the United States. She has recorded two solo CDs on the Albany and Centaur labels, and was first place winner of the NATS Artist Award, the Oratorio Society of NY solo competition and the Musica Sacra Bach competition.

Mallorie Chernin

Mallorie Chernin has been Director of Choral Music at Amherst College since 1986. She conducts and coaches four choirs, and also teaches conducting. In demand as a conductor, adjudicator and clinician, recent festivals include the Vermont All State Chorus, and the Massachusetts South Eastern District Festival Chorus.

Stephanie Council

Stephanie Council is the Director of Choral Ensembles and Lecturer in Music at Mount Holyoke College where she conducts Glee Club, Chorale, and Chamber Singers and teaches conducting and independent studies in choral music. She is sought after as a guest lecturer for choral music education students and as a clinician for collegiate, high school and youth honor choirs around the United States. In 2013 she was a finalist in the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting Competition.

Mary Hubbell

Mary Hubbell, described in the New York Times as “a soprano with a sweetly focused tone,” holds degrees from Boston College; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the Royal Conservatory in The Hague; and a DMA from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Orchestral engagements have included Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with the Beaufort Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Cantata BWV 202 (“Wedding”) with Musica Viva of New York, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Amherst College Orchestra, and Haydn’s Creation with the South Hadley Chorale. Ms. Hubbell is an adjunct faculty member of Smith College and UMass-Amherst.

Hannah Grasso
Assistant Conductor, Counselor

Hannah Grasso is a conductor, soprano, and arts administrator. In fall 2019, she will begin earning her Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Temple University. Hannah studied Music and Italian at Smith College. While at Smith, she served as Assistant Conductor and President of the Glee Club. She is delighted to return to SING! for her second summer!

Noah Kayser-Hirsh
Assistant Conductor, Counselor

Noah Kayser-Hirsh recently graduated from Vassar College with honors in Music and a minor in Philosophy. He played French Horn in the Vassar Orchestra and was the Assistant Conductor of the Vassar College Choir. Noah is back for his eighth year working at SING! and is thrilled to get a whole new set of a cappella songs stuck in his head!

Dustin Patrick
Percussion Teacher

Performer, educator, and arranger, Dustin Patrick received his master’s in percussion performance from UMass-Amherst. He has performed and taught in various settings throughout New England including work with various marching bands, drum corps, percussion ensembles, concert bands, and orchestras in the area. Currently Dustin is a freelance artist in western Massachusetts and regularly teaches at Mount Holyoke College, Belchertown Public Schools, and Enfield High School.

Keeley Firinne
Movement Teacher, Counselor

Keeley Firinne is a rising sophomore at Ithaca College with a major in Sociology and a minor in Environmental Studies. She has been singing, dancing, and acting since age eight, and she is a SING! alum. She has choreographed and volunteered for Starlight’s Youth Theater in Sunderland, MA. In her free time she loves to sing and take part in clubs on campus.

Anna Stanforth
Movement Teacher, Counselor

Anna Stanforth is an incoming Freshman at McGill University who recently graduated from Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School. She started dance at age 4, and recently taught a “Creative Movement” class at Amherst Ballet. In her free time she enjoys dancing and learning languages. 

Caleb Ireland
Counselor

Caleb Ireland recently graduated from Amherst Regional High School and will be a freshman at Bates College in the fall. He plans on studying History, Environmental Studies, and German while singing in one of the Bates a cappella groups and performing in musical theater productions. In his free time, Caleb enjoys trail running and playing Baroque music on the violin and viola.

Eli Kayser-Hirsh
CIT

Eli Kayser-Hirsh is a rising senior at Amherst Regional High School. He enjoys singing in the ARHS Chorale and playing French Horn in the Wind Ensemble. Eli played Miles Tuck in ARHS’s 2019 production of Tuck Everlasting. He also plays on the varsity baseball and golf teams. In his free time he enjoys basketball, writing music, and video games.