Music Team
Collaborative Pianist
![Mark Feldhusen.jpg](https://commonwealthchorale.com/application/files/3016/6132/4957/Mark_Feldhusen.jpg)
Commonwealth Chorale thanks the Izolde Lamont Fund for making this position possible.
Section Leaders
Maria Whitcomb, Soprano
![Maria Whitcomb.jpeg](/application/files/thumbnails/small/4117/2191/3354/Maria_Whitcomb.jpg)
Hailing from New York State’s Catskill Mountain Region, Maria Whitcomb is new to Boston’s rich musical community. Locally, she performs with Lilith Vocal Ensemble and MetroWest Chamber Players and enjoys a close collaboration with local composer Bruno Faria. The title role in his 2019 chamber operaVoices Followed: The Illumination of Joan of Arc was written especially for her, and he later composed the Christina Rossetti song cycle, “Sing-Song” in memory of her late father, Benjamin Whitcomb III. This work received its world premiere in a sold-out recital at the Boston Athenaeum in December 2023. The latter part of Maria’s 2023-2024 season was spent in preparation to cover Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Hudson Valley Voice Festival. In the 2022-2023 season, she performed two works by Gian Carlo Menotti; the title role in Amahl and the Night Visitors, (Music On Site, Inc.) and Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief (Queens Summer Vocal Institute).
Maria studied with Janet Brown at Syracuse University, where her operatic credits included Adele (Die Fledermaus), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). She completed her postgraduate work in opera with Jayne West at Longy School of Music of Bard College and currently studies with Mark Lee in Arlington, MA.
Laura Beth Couch, Mezzo-Soprano
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In addition to performing, Laura is a caring and dedicated music teacher. For over eight years, she has taught voice, musical theater, early childhood music, music theory, and piano. She teaches after-school music at Wellan Montessori School and voice lessons to Boston University undergraduates. Additionally, she maintains her own private voice studio. As a teacher, Laura strives to create life-long music lovers. She wants her students to feel that they are special, worthy, and capable of creating beauty through art. For more information visit www.laurabethcouchmezzo.com
Section Leaders
Leo Balkovetz, Tenor
![Leo_Balkovetz_2022headshot_cropped_2.jpeg](https://commonwealthchorale.com/application/files/5216/9388/1558/Leo_Balkovetz_2022headshot_cropped_2.jpeg)
William Farrell, Baritone
![Will Ferrell.jpg](https://commonwealthchorale.com/application/files/1816/6132/5084/Will_Ferrell.jpg)
William graduated with a Master of Music in Early Music from the Longy School of Music in 2017. He loves to explore all types of historical performance, especially Renaissance polyphony and Baroque opera. Over the past year he has been on an endeavor with a few other professional singers to present rarely performed or unperformed Franco-Flemish polyphonic choral settings—one on a part—for St. Clements Eucharistic Shrine. They approach settings with liturgically appropriate texts in an attempt to survey a large portion of the repertoire that gets ignored. Outside of singing, William is an avid cyclist and loves to take any opportunity to return to New Hampshire where he can cycle on the beautiful mountain roads.
Killian Grider, Bass
![Killian_Grider.jpeg](/application/files/thumbnails/small/5116/9515/2617/Killian_Grider.jpg)
Prior to moving to Boston, Killian taught English phonetics for two years at the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador, and he actively maintains a passion for learning languages. During his undergraduate degree, he studied Chemistry and Music (separately!) and professionally sang in the Vineyard Sound from 2016 to 2017. At present, Killian sings classical and popular music throughout the greater Boston area, including recent performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New England Conservatory Philharmonia. Outside of performances, he house-manages at Berklee's Performing Arts Center while teaching private voice and music theory lessons. He hopes to eventually earn his PhD in Music Theory and become a professor in the field.