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Welcome to the Nashoba Valley Chorale October Newsletter!
Nashoba Valley Chorale is a premier community choir comprised of 90+ members from the Nashoba Valley area and beyond with a large local audience attending each season. We are a non-auditioned group welcoming adult singers of all ages and abilities.
Nashoba Valley Chorale is thrilled to announce our upcoming Fall Masterworks concerts, featuring Poulenc's Gloria and Brahms' Nänie, in collaboration with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the UMass Lowell Choral ensembles.
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Fall Masterworks Concert
Poulenc Gloria, Brahms Nänie
Nashoba Valley Chorale in collaboration with
Cambridge Symphony Orchestra,
UMass Lowell University Choral ensemble
New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street,
Friday, October 30, 2026 at 8:00 pm Jordan Hall, Boston
UMass Lowell's Moloney Performance Art Center
35 Wilder Street, Lowell, MA
Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 4:00 pm
Francis Poulenc's Gloria is a vibrant choral work for soprano soloist, chorus and orchestra that balances grand, brassy fanfares with quiet, lyrical serenity.
Johannes Brahms’ Nänie is an exceedingly beautiful composition set to Friedrich Schiller’s poem of the same name. It features a lush and moving choral and instrumental sound.
Tickets will be available soon at
https://www.nvcsings.org. We hope to see you there!
| | Anne's Reflections on the Season | | |
Anne Watson Born,
Music Director
The Chorale is embarking upon another challenging and rewarding season. We’ll begin with two Fall Masterworks concerts (October 30 in Jordan Hall and November 8 at UMass Lowell), with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra (Cynthia Woods, Music Director) and the UMass Lowell Choral Ensembles (Jonathan Richter, Director of Choral Activities). The Chorale will be singing Johannes Brahms’ gorgeous Nänie and the joyful and brilliantly-scored Gloria by Francis Poulenc. Our soprano soloist for the Gloria will be Laura Santamaria. Ms Santamaria was an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera last year, and this fall she begins her tenure in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
It is a rare treat to perform the Gloria – it is a work that seems simple but has harmonic and rhythmic complexities; it seems straightforward in its emotion, but it can (and does) turn on a dime, leaving the listener bewildered and yet fully engaged. I like this quote about Poulenc from Oliver Soden (in the Guardian): “It is very hard to catch Poulenc being a genius. He could somehow take a handful of almost brazenly familiar tropes and, unseen, nudge them from cliche into magic. This elusive tonal alchemy is part of his attraction: how can shallows have such depths, obviousness such subtlety, conventionality such subversiveness? The more Poulenc emulates other composers, the more he sounds like nobody other than himself. Perhaps it is simply that his reverence for them is worn right next to his heart, on his impeccably tailored sleeve.”
In December we will again sing in the Worcester Youth Orchestra’s Holiday Concerts in Mechanics Hall, under the direction of Jonathan Colby, WYO’s Artistic Director – every year this is a high point in our season, and this year we will participate in two concerts, on December 19 and 20, singing excerpts from the Vivaldi Gloria and a wonderful medley of tunes by Irving Berlin.
And, on April 24, 2027, the Chorale and I will present our final concert together. We will perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, a showcase for our long-time collaborative pianist, Shawn McCann. Also on the program is one of my favorite works, Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, aka the Nelson Mass. The concert will also include some other works, tbd.
As I did last year, while planning our 50th Anniversary season repertoire, I am spending some time considering what this season’s rep says about the Nashoba Valley Chorale. The Chorale began from a vision of its founders (Mike Manugian and Ruth Treen Wise) - a vision of a chorus for all singers, a non-auditioned group that would sing high-level repertoire and have a good time doing it. The 2026-2027 season will continue that tradition, while presenting music in a variety of styles and textures. We look forward to seeing you at our concerts.
Anne Watson Born
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Dane Krampitz - Bass - Fundraising Chair
I grew up near New York and came to Boston for my first job after graduating from Columbia, joining Teradyne, a semiconductor equipment company. My career centered on product development — the software, hardware, and mechanical systems behind complex tech products.
What part did music play in your upbringing?
I was forced to play piano as a kid, then found the trombone and stuck with it through high school, college and later with the MIT Theater Guild. I also sang in church choirs for years, eventually joining the Nashoba Valley Chorale.
How did you come to sing with NVC?
I'm widowed and my late wife, Kristin, sang soprano with the Nashoba Valley Chorale, sometimes as a soloist. Kristin and I met singing in a church choir. When she passed, the Chorale's director asked if the group could sing at her funeral. I was overwhelmed, knowing how much that would have meant to Kristin. So, I picked up singing again, joining her chorus to honor her.
What I love about the Chorale is that it's all volunteer — no paid singers, no auditions — yet the performances are amazing. It's incredible what non-professional talent can achieve under a wonderful director. I love Anne Watson Born; she's a great conductor who pushes us to do our best. And singing and performing with NVC connects all of us deeply to the communities from which we draw.
A few years ago you took on the job of leading the fundraising committee, tell us about it.
What makes fundraising complicated is that it's not one thing — it's a whole set of disparate activities. Cultural council grants from local towns, sponsor ads from local businesses, corporate grants, and the annual donor campaign. We even started a newsletter, partly to promote the chorus and partly to sell and display ads for revenue. It's a patchwork of unconnected efforts, and that's exactly what makes it such a challenge.
Fundraising is one of the biggest challenges for any nonprofit. Most of our giving comes from our own membership and audience, particularly through our donor campaign. My challenge to the fundraising committee and to our members is simple: we need your support and we need you willing to reach out to local businesses for sponsorships too. When our members reach out to local businesses and succeed in selling an ad, these businesses get real value. Their businesses are featured in our newsletter published four or five times a season to our 1000-person mailing list. Beyond the visibility, it's a chance to make a meaningful commitment to the arts and be part of the arts community.
By the way, if you’re interested in donating to support Nashoba Valley Chorale or to advertise in our newsletter, here's a link https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2UQVKSV8Z6LNW.
| | Proud Sponsors Supporting NVC | | |
We greatly appreciate all individuals and businesses who make donations and provide sponsorships that enable us to operate and fulfill our mission. While a significant portion of our funding comes from membership dues, more is needed to hire high-quality, professional musicians and soloists, rent rehearsal space and performance venues, and pay for many other necessities. We rely on donations and sponsorships in support of the arts to help defray these costs so that we may continue to bring the joy of choral music to our communities.
Please click on the logos below to learn more about
our generous corporate sponsors
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Kathie Renzhofer – Alto & NVC President, Veronica Wells - Soprano
Kathie joined Nashoba Valley Chorale in 2017 and her granddaughter, Veronica Wells, joined just a few weeks ago. Having the opportunity to be in the same choir and doing what they both love is a delight for both of them.
Kathie - I started singing in my youth and joined school choirs as soon as they were offered. I was in Madrigal and A cappella choirs as well as in community quartet festivals with three of my good friends. I’ve always been an Alto and I’ve always loved to sing. For many years, while living in Utah, I was unable to find opportunities to sing in a choir, so I satisfied the urge by singing lullabies to my daughters and then to my beautiful granddaughter, Veronica.
Veronica - I started choir around third grade and just kept going through elementary, middle school, high school, and college. I performed in almost every choir available at Boston College, singing Alto II in Chamber Choir and Soprano I in Concert Choir. I was also involved in music courses where we performed solos & duets in many different music genres. Additionally, I had the amazing opportunity of singing a solo in the 2025 Pops on the Heights concert with the Boston Pops. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
Joining a new chorus can be a daunting experience.
Kathie - It was really scary coming to Nashoba Valley Chorale at first. I was relatively new to the State so I didn’t know anyone and I hadn't sung in a choir setting for a very long time. My sightreading was rusty, to say the least. Also, I had never sung in Latin or other languages, so I struggled mightily with pronunciation (as I often still do). Luckily, the Nashoba Valley Chorale members are warm and friendly and several Altos made sure I felt welcome, as did Anne.
Veronica - I didn’t feel very intimidated joining the chorale since one of the most important people in my whole world, my grandmother, was already there. I knew she’d make sure everything was fine. Although it can be nerve-wracking to join a new choir, I enjoy it because I get to meet a whole new group of people who share the same love of singing and performing beautiful music together. We might be different in every other way, but we have that in common and I really appreciate it.
Kathie is thrilled to be singing with her granddaughter.
Kathie - The thing I love most in the world, over any other activity, is listening to Veronica sing. Whether it’s choir performances, her high school rock band jams, musical theater, or just her singing along with the radio. That is my happy place.
Veronica - Ever since my grandmother moved to Massachusetts, she's attended every performance of mine that she could possibly make. Whenever I looked at her in the audience, she would be watching me with the biggest smile on her face, which made me feel so happy and loved.
Kathie & Veronica – It’s so much fun to be in the same room on rehearsal night, singing the same music and enjoying the fact that we can look across the room to see one another. We are, and always have been, very close and this is such a special experience for both of us.
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Karen Emerson – Alto – NVC Social Media
I've sung in choruses all my life beginning in elementary school and on through college. I learned to read music early on and enjoy singing all kinds of music, especially classical. When I was young, I sang mezzo soprano but now I sing alto. Simply put, music was, and is, my happy place.
In college I was a voice major. From as early as I can remember I wanted to be a music teacher, but I didn’t have the confidence or musical skill (i.e., playing piano) to take that route. Instead, I pivoted to a career as a teacher of English as a 2nd language and Spanish.
As an adult I started singing with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra Chorus. After they disbanded, several of us started looking for a place to land and we ended up with Nashoba Valley Chorale. I love singing within the Nashoba Valley Chorale and have been singing with them for the past ten years. I especially enjoy the people, the musical skills of the singers, the camaraderie, and répertoire.
Karen recently took on the role of being the NVC social media chair. She believes that social media is an important way to promote concert performances and attract new singers.
It's critical to have community outreach. If half of our members are participating in social media, (50 members) and if every one of those people have 100 contacts, then we’re looking at bringing 5,000 people into the fold. So, we’re using the medium to sell tickets and fundraise for the group. The growth is exponential. We currently use Facebook and Instagram and I'm hoping in the future we can add YouTube.
Our mission is to bring music to our communities and give people the opportunity to hear the masterworks. We are also enriched by the opportunity to sing for them.
Recently with AI I was able to create a promo that was the perfect size. It's a quick 30 seconds of different images of the choir to create excitement and let people know the season's starting. Using social media is a great tool for getting short, quick hits about our upcoming performances. I'm constantly thinking of new ways to get out the word and grow our audiences.
I'm really excited about our upcoming Poulenc Gloria and Brahms Nänie concert on Oct 30th and Nov 8th. The Poulenc Gloria is a really interesting, beautiful piece with wonderful harmonies and complex modern classical energy. I can't wait to sing it and I can't wait for our audience to hear it. Also, the fact that we are collaborating on these pieces with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra and the choirs from UMass Lowell is very exciting.
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