Terry Larsen
 Born and raised in Montana, Terry Larsen has taught in public and private schools in Alaska, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Terry has sung with many choirs including The Singers’ Project from the Pioneer Valley and the San Francisco Choral Artists. He was employed as a professional chorister with San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and performed with the renowned professional ensemble Chanticleer for three years. He held the posts of chorus master for the Napa Valley Symphony Chorus, the Manchester Symphony Chorus (Conn.), and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus (Mass.). Mr. Larsen earned the BME degree from the University of Montana, Missoula and the MM degree from the University of Massachusetts. He became director of Schola Nova in 2006. Terry Lives with his wife Carey and son Peter in Southampton, Mass.
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Derek Breid
 Derek Breid (baritone) feels blessed to have grown up in Rochester, Minnesota, an area rich in Scandinavian choral tradition. Although he was active in his high school's choirs, it wasn't until he joined the Honors Concert Choir of Southeastern Minnesota that he truly fell in love with choral music of all varieties. With the Honors Choir, he travelled to the Netherlands for a choral competition (earning them second place), performed at Governor Jesse Ventura's inaugural ball, and participated in the first two Best of High School A Cappella compilations. At the University of Kansas (where he received a degree in Chemical Engineering) Derek was at various times a member of the University Singers, Concert Choir, and Men's Glee Club, but spent all four years serving as a choir member and cantor at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center--two of which were under the direction of Wolfgang Reisinger, the Church Music and Organ Consultant for the Archdiocese of Vienna in Austria. Under Herr Reisinger, he twice more travelled to Europe performing in Austria, Sweden, and Hungary.
Currently, Derek lives in Whately, Mass. and is studying for his Ph.D. in Polymer Science at the University of Massachusetts. He spent one semester in the UMass Chamber Choir conducted by Dr. Wayne Abercrombie and has performed in two benefit concerts in Northampton, Mass. also led by Dr. A.
He joined Schola Nova in 2007, and is happy to have found a warm community of singers who share his love for sacred music.
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Maria Curtin-McKenna
 Maria Curtin-McKenna (soprano) was welcomed into Schola Nova in 2005. She was first-violinist in her school's orchestra. In 1992 she took voice lessons with the late William Hungerford and is grateful to him for helping her find the courage to sing. She has performed with Commonwealth Opera, Hampshire Choral Society and the Springfield Symphony Chorus. She sings in the choir and as a cantor at Immaculate Conception Church in Easthampton.
Maria is the Coordinator of Parent Education at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. She graduated from Clark University with her husband Dennis in 1978. They served as Peace Corps volunteers in Burkina Faso where they enjoyed listening to balafone and drum music every night. They have two sons.
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Kathy Florence
Kathy Florence (alto) has been singing since she was able to talk. She began taking voice lessons in high school and enjoyed singing in District and All State Chorus. She received a BA in music from Anna Maria College where she also extensively studied Music Therapy. She joined the Diocesan Choir and served as cantor for St. Michael’s Cathedral under the direction of Michael Dulac. Subsequently, she was invited to join Schola Cantorum (Schola Nova’s predecessor) and has been with the group off and on since. She has enjoyed making music and memories with such a warm and talented group. Besides singing in choirs, Kathy has also served as choir director for St. Thomas Church and as a music teacher for Music For Little People. Kathy is currently the cantor/soloist for St Mary’s Church in Longmeadow.
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Chuck Gant
 Chuck Gant (bass-baritone) was first introduced to liturgical music as a grade school student. He participateded in a children's choir that sang Gregorian chant and some two and three part Latin and English hymns that followed the church year, holy days and special events. As a high school student he had the good fortune of singing with an adult choir that included several high school students. This choir sang four part masses from the classical and romantic periods as well as hymns and special music from the Saint Gregory hymn book.
After completing a B.F.A. with a double major in vocal and instrumental music he taught instrumental music for several years. He sang in various groups both secular and sacred in the US and Canada. He sang with GWCA and the Festival Chorus in the Pioneer Valley prior to joining Schola Nova.
With the advent of the Mass in English, the folk Mass and the introduction of guitars, trap sets, tambourines etc. the rich tradition of liturgical music that he knew and loved fell out of favor. Schola Nova fills a need to continue singing the music he loves and to be an active participant in the preservation of quality sacred music that is such an important element of the Christian tradition.
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Laurel Gardner
 When Laurel Gardner (alto) was in utero, her mother’s schoolteacher friends had a baby shower for Laurel’s mother, Dot. The music teacher gave Dot a string of the bells of Sarna, and said, “May your child love beautiful sounds always.” The rest is history.
Laurel sang with her three younger sisters in a quartet until she left for Rider College, New Jersey, where she sang in school musicals and an array of singing groups. She sang for her supper at Hertford College during her junior year abroad in Oxford, England. (Every Sunday, the Vespers Choir joined students and dons at the dinner table after the service.) When she left for the west coast with one of her sisters, a Mexican restaurant in San Diego hired the pair for dual purposes: to wait on tables and to entertain customers with guitars and folk songs.
Several more singing groups and musicals later, Laurel is pleased to be back in the land of four seasons. She has enjoyed singing with Hampshire Choral Society, the church choir of UCC Holyoke, and in the PACE production of “Into the Woods”. Her time with Schola Nova began in the fall of 2008. Laurel has found that the group’s beautiful sounds are matched by a gracious camaraderie.
Laurel is the director of Newspaper in Education at the Daily Hampshire Gazette. She lives in Easthampton with her delightful family: husband, daughter, son and house bunny.
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Karen Gladwin
 Karen Gladwin (soprano) has been a member of Schola Nova since 2000. Her singing career began in the first grade when she joined the Children’s Choir at church and has been singing in choirs ever since. She graduated from UMass-Amherst where she sang in several ensembles including the Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Collegium. She has been a member of the Springfield Symphony Chorus, the Westfield Festival Chorus and several others in the Pioneer Valley. She is very active at St. Andrew’s Church in Longmeadow where she is a member of the choir. Karen is married to Wally (the tenor) and loves to spend time with her family, especially her grandchildren who are the delight of her life!
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Walter Gladwin
 A retired music teacher, Wally has directed many instrumental and vocal groups during his 35 year career including the Wilbraham United Players (Gilbert and Sullivan) and the Springfield Chordsmen (Barbershop). As a trombonist he plays in several groups, and many of his works as a composer/arranger can be found at the website Sibelius Music.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music (1969) and UMass-Amherst (1972), Wally has sung with the Framingham Choral Society, Hampshire Choral Society, UMass Chorale, UMass Madrigal Singers, Westfield Festival Chorus, and each week in his church choir, presently St. Andrew’s, Longmeadow, Mass.
About Schola Nova, Wally says: “It is a unique and wonderful opportunity for me, as a person of strong faith, to perform high quality sacred music, and to serve God in sacred places.”
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Katherine T. Hall
Katherine T. Hall (soprano) is a native of Massachusetts. She studied voice with Afrika Hayes at the New England Conservatory of Music and made her concert debut at Jordan Hall. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Katherine’s musical endeavors have included a diverse range of styles including opera, oratorio, jazz, light opera, and Broadway. Her professional career has spanned more than two decades and has taken her to Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. She has appeared with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra, Commonwealth Opera, Valley Light Opera, Singers’ Project and the Young at Heart Chorus. Kathy served as soprano soloist and section leader for 12 years at the Edwards Church in Northampton, Mass. and for five years at First Church in Longmeadow, Mass. Kathy resides in Southampton, Mass. and divides her time between her musical pursuits and her work at Smith College in the field of executive education.
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Ray Hand
Ray Hand (tenor) has been a member of Schola Nova since 1997. At that time, Michael Dulac (founder) was looking for men to build the membership of Schola. Ray has always loved music, but from the other side of the stage. He remembers attending his first Schola rehearsal and being asked: “Are you a tenor or a bass?” to which he nervously replied, “I’m not sure.”
There have been many rehearsals and performances since that first Friday night. For Ray, being a part of Schola Nova has been a rewarding experience and has continued his musical growth. In his opinion, that’s the beauty of Schola Nova--diverse abilities and backgrounds, but everyone working together to make beautiful, sacred music.
The big bonus for Ray–every Friday night rehearsal is a “date night” for him and his wife of 31 years; Barb (alto).
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Daniel Henry
Dan Henry (baritone) began singing at age 8 with his hometown church choir in Greenfield, Mass. and continued singing throughout high school where he also joined the band playing the euphonium.
In 1999, Dan earned an AA (music & dance) from Greenfield Community College, and in 2007 he graduated cum laude from UMass-Amherst, studying voice and music education. At UMass. he sang with many groups including the Chamber Choir, Opera Workshop, and the Vocal Jazz choir in which he won the Downbeat Magazine award.
Throughout high school, Dan participated in the MMEA All-District and All-State festivals, ranking first in his district during his junior year with a perfect score, and in 1995 he won acceptance into the MENC All-Eastern chorus.
Dan has performed with many local churches, and was active with the Green Room Players theater group. From 1995 to 2005, he sang with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus where he first met Terry Larsen. He has also sung with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus under André Previn and Seiji Ozawa.
In 2007, Dan became the director of vocal music at Ludlow High School. He enjoys singing with Schola Nova, and playing handbells with the First Baptist Church in Suffield, Conn. He began singing with Schola Nova in 2007 and lives in Ludlow, Mass. with his wife Treacy.
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Matthew Jaquith
 Mr. Jaquith (tenor) made his start in musical theater with the roles of Corneilius in Hello Dolly, Tony in West Side Story, and others. More recently, he has soloed with the Springfield Symphony Chorus, Schola Nova, and sang in the premiere of Michael Theodore’s The Divine Gift. For the past two years he has been part of the prestigious Wisteriahurst Museum's concert series (Holyoke, Mass.), and has enjoyed performing in other respected programs in southern New England. This fall he's looking forward to his first cabaret performance in a production of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
He graduated with honors from both the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (BMus, musicology) and Simmons College (MS, information science). Since 2008 he has worked for the City of Springfield, currently as their Program & Training Librarian.
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Carey Lape
 Carey Lape (bass) received a degree in Music Performance from the University of Albany. Carey did advanced study in voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York and at the Hart School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. He has an extensive background in sacred music as a bass-baritone soloist with numerous churches in New York and locally at the Holyoke UCC and St. Andrew’s Church in Longmeadow.
He has appeared as a soloist with the Genesee Chorale, the Brockport Symphony and the Eastern Orleans Community Chorus performing sacred works from Bach to Fauré. On the lighter side, Carey has performed in musical theatre with lead roles in productions including My Fair Lady, Camelot, Gigi, and South Pacific.
He was a member of the U.S. Universities Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw that performed at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center and Lincoln Center in New York. He has been a member of the wonderful and glorious bass section of Schola Nova for a number of years.
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Rev. Douglas McGonagle
 Rev. Douglas McGonagle (baritone) has been singing with Schola Nova since 2000.
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Daniel Myers
 Daniel Myers (baritone) has sung with many choirs including the Maxwell Air Force Base Chapel Choir (Montgomery, Alabama), the Swarthmore Chorale, the Philadelphia Oratorio Society, the Springfield Symphony Chorus (Mass.) and several others.
In addition to choral singing, Dan has also sung opera and dinner theater performing with the Suburban Opera Company (Wynnewood, Penn.), and 12 Caesars (Cynwyd, Penn.) respectively.
A personal high point for Dan was performing on the Great Wall of China in a joint venture between the Hartford Chorale (Conn.) and the New York Choral Society.
In addition to performing with Schola Nova, Dan enjoys playing handbells at South Congregational Church, and singing with the Jewish Community Center’s Sunshiners both of Springfield, Mass.
He offers a debt of gratitude to his three vocal coaches--Margaret Keiser, Marshall Heinbach, and Harold Evans all of Pennsylvania--for their guidance and inspiration.
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Joan O'Brien
 Originally from the Rochester, NY area, Joan (alto) moved to Massachusetts in 2008. She has sung in choirs since age nine when she began singing with her church. In high school she studied piano, and sang in several select choirs. In college Joan sang with the Queen’s University Choral Ensemble (Ontario), traveling with them to Europe in 1978. After college, she resumed singing with her church, and over the years has sung with the Canaltown Chorale, the Rochester Bach Festival Chorus, the Finger Lakes Choral Festival and the Rochester Oratorio Society and has soloed with many of them. She went to China with the Rochester Oratorio Society in 2008 to participate in a pre-Olympics international choral festival. After moving to Massachusetts, Joan joined the Hampshire Choral Society and Schola Nova, and is enjoying making music with new friends.
Joan is an Elementary Teacher (M.Ed., Nazareth College, 2002), currently working as an Instructional Assistant in Deerfield. She is married to Jeff, and has two wonderful sons, Peter and William, both in college.
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Elizabeth Sterner
 Elizabeth Sterner is a doctoral student in Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She enjoys almost all types of music, and was encouraged to explore music by her parents, who both play instruments and sing themselves. She grew up in Minnesota, where she participated in school choirs throughout her childhood. In high school she was in the Stillwater Area High School Concert Choir and small chamber group the Vagabonds under the direction of Dr. Erik Christiansen. She attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where she majored in Chemistry but still pursued her singing through solo voice lessons. She joined Schola Nova in the fall of 2008 and has greatly enjoyed performing with this excellent choir.
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Carol Toth
Carol Toth (soprano) has been a member of Schola Nova since 2008. Mrs. Toth holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she studied with Professor Dorothy Ornest. She received her Kodaly Certificate of musical education from the New England Conservatory of Music, and holds a Master of Science Degree in Education from the University of New England. Mrs. Toth is the Choral Director at East Longmeadow High School and maintains an active private vocal studio. Mrs. Toth is currently Member-at Large on the state board of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, and Past Chairperson of the Western District of MMEA.
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Susan Wells
 Susan joined the Schola Cantorum in 1983 and is the only member remaining since those early days. In addition, she has been an alto section leader at the South Congregational Church in Springfield since 2001.
She earned a bachelors degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms, Chicopee and a masters (information science) from the State University of New York at Albany.
She is a Law Librarian for the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries and is married to John Wells, tuba player, for over thirty years.
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Aaron Westcott
 Aaron (tenor) has sung with Schola Nova since 2007. A graduate of Western New England College (Springfield, Mass.), Aaron enjoys work as an engineer and when not singing with Schola Nova, he might be heard playing trombone in any number of local community bands and ensembles.
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Larry Wood
 Larry Wood (tenor) played trombone in the Bishop Neumann H.S. (South Philadelphia) concert band and stage band. He continued playing trombone at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and began singing in their Schola Cantorum, which specialized in chant and early music. After a full-time German teaching position brought him to New England, in 1976 he began to sing tenor in St.Paul’s Church Choir, Springfield, Mass. under the direction of Robert V. Fahey. When Catherine Waldron became the director of St. Paul’s Choir, she invited Larry to come to sing with Schola Nova under the direction of her husband, Michael Dulac in 2004. After teaching German and Latin for thirty-six years in the Enfield, Conn. school system, Larry is very happy to be retired and devoting his time and talent to Schola Nova, as its publicity chairperson. He also continues to sing in the German singing sections of the Springfield Turnverein, in Agawam, and is still dedicated to the liturgical music at St. Paul’s Church. He lives with his wife, Gail, in East Longmeadow, Mass.
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Elizabeth Zellmer
 Elizabeth (soprano) loves singing with all the great people in Schola Nova, and has been singing since childhood. Her parents studied singing and sang professionally before they were married so music was very prevalent in her early life. As a child, she and her sister entertained family and friends with folk songs when they came to visit her home. Since those early days, she has sung in many different choirs throughout her life.
She holds a B.S. in piano performance from the State University of New York--New Paltz. Presently she is Music Director for Blessed Sacrament Church in Holyoke, Mass. as well as the Music Director for the Dominican Third Order Laity in West Springfield, Mass.
About Schola Nova Elizabeth says: "Schola Nova helps me to grow and refine my abilities as a musician."
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