Members
Eileen Yarrison, DMA (Conductor) studied at the University of New Hampshire, the Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where in 1996 she became the first flutist to receive the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance. Her principal teachers include Peggy Vagts, Eleanor Duncan Armstrong, and John Bailey. She has performed with the symphony orchestras of Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, with Mannheim Steamroller, and with the Centre Chamber Orchestra, Altoona Symphony, and Music at Penn's Woods Festival Orchestra of Pennsylvania. Eileen Yarrison is Instructor of Flute at Gordon College, Wenham, MA. She performs frequently with guitarist Jamie Dunphy, harpist Felice Pomeranz, and the North Shore Concert Band. She teaches flute classes and lessons to support the school music programs in Beverly, Hamilton-Wenham, and Manchester, MA, and maintains an active flute and piano studio in her home in Beverly. 2011-2012 will be her fifteenth season as Conductor of the Nashua Flute Choir.
Brittany Bauman graduated from Gordon College in 2010 with a degree in music education. She is currently working in Reading, MA as an elementary music teacher. She also teaches private flute and piano lessons in Lynnfield, MA through an after-school program. In addition to Nashua Flute Choir, Brittany is also a member of the Reading Community Singers.
Claudia Bissett, Nashua Flute Choir Librarian, plays bass and contrabass flutes and arranges music for the ensemble. She also directs the chamber ensemble at Saint Anselm College and co-conducts the American Legion Post 48 Band of Hudson, NH. She has studied with John Ranck, Iva Milch, Susan Thomas, and Eileen Yarrison. Her day job is Head of Cataloging and Music Liaison at Saint Anselm College Geisel Library. She holds masters degrees in musicology and in library/information science.
David Deifik is the Vice President of the Nashua Flute Choir. He began his flute studies in 1964 with Florence Nelson, a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra. He continued his studies with Susan Fries while attending Oberlin College. He has played several solos with the Hollis Town Band and the New Hampshire Philharmonic.
Laura Feltus has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she studied Music Business with an emphasis on Performance. There, she was principal in the University Wind Ensemble and Concert Band, playing both flute and piccolo. Laura has studied with Eileen Yarrison, Melissa Mielens, and Jessica Lizak. After a short break, she is back playing with the Nashua Flute Choir and couldn’t be happier. Laura currently works for a flute maker in Westford, MA.
Debra Franks is a freelance flutist in the metro Boston area performing in operettas, broadway shows, oratorios, and as a soloist. She plays piccolo and flute with the Concord Band, the Sudbury Savoyards, and is flutist with the Synergy Trio. Ms. Franks was the principal flute for Opera in the Ozarks, piccolo with Symphony Pro Musica, and a member of the NFA Professional Flute Choir at the Chicago Convention. In addition to her musical activities, she is an accountant in Massachusetts and serves on the Music and Audit committees of her church.
Jeanne Hebert has a Master of Music from Florida State University. Since then she has played in various community bands, orchestras, churches, weddings, and chamber groups. Besides being a member of the Nashua Flute Choir, Jeanne is a member of the Townsend Military Band in Townsend, MA. Jeanne now runs a company that develops applications for the iPhone.
Jen Kramer has a MS in Internet Strategy Management from the Marlboro College Graduate School in Brattleboro, VT. She plays with the Metropolitan Flute Orchestra; the Keene State Flute Ensemble, band, and orchestra; and Flootissimo, a flute quartet. She is the owner of 4Web, Inc., building highly customized Joomla websites. She recently had two books published on web design. Jen is the web manager for the Nashua Flute Choir.
Haley Laken is the Secretary for the Nashua Flute Choir. She actively pursues music as a hobby and has studied privately with Eileen Yarrison. Haley holds a PhD in molecular biology and currently works in pharmaceutical drug development at Pfizer.
Marianne Leonard began her flute studies with Mark Thomas, the founder of the National Flute Association, and she currently studies with Steven Finley. In addition to playing in the Nashua Flute Choir, she enjoys playing piccolo with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, is a member of the Concord Hill Musicians, and plays in the pit orchestra for many Gilbert and Sullivan shows and other musicals. She was principal flutist with the Concord (MA) Band from 1985-2000. Marianne works in Lexington, MA as an administrative assistant.
Gayle Ravlin is a recent graduate from the music performance program at Keene State College. She studied flute with Robin Matathias and is very active in musical functions throughout the Monadnock region. She has been a member of the NH All State Orchestra, the Monadnock Valley Music Festival, and Flootissimo, a flute quartet. In her hometown of Charlestown, NH, Gayle performs regularly at churches and other community gatherings.
Lois Reynolds received her BA degree from the University of Rhode Island, music teacher certification from UMass and her M.Ed.in Instructional Technology from Lesley University. She has studied with Karen Messina, Norman Dee, Rebecca Carson-Rogers, and Eileen Yarrison. Currently, Lois is the Director of Online Learning for New England College. She often performs on both C flute and alto for civic and church events as well as subbing in bands and orchestras. Periodically adventuring into the study of other musical instruments, Lois currently plays the Highland Bagpipes with the New Hampshire Pipes and Drums in Manchester, NH.
Shari Shaw holds a Bachelor of Music in Education from Stetson University. She, her husband, and four daughters recently relocated to New Hampshire from central Florida where she served as an elementary music teacher for several years. She currently enjoys performing with the Nashua Flute Choir, participating in the music program at her church, teaching flute privately, and home-schooling her children.
Elaine Sinclair freelances in the New England area, teaches privately and performs with her church and the Middlesex Concert Band. She is Historian of the Nashua Flute Choir. Her teachers include Harriet Peacock LeJeune, Paula Robison and Peter Middleton. Elaine is employed by the Tewksbury Public Schools as a Special Education Team Chair.
Bruce Taylor has been a member of the Nashua Flute Choir since 1988, and studied flute with Douglas Worthen for many years. A former software developer, Bruce is a recently ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. He recently earned the Master of Divinity degree, graduating from Andover Newton Theological School in May, 2009. He is now the minister at the First Parish Church in Billerica, Massachusetts.
Linda True is a founding member, President and CFO of The Nashua Flute Choir, has played flute/piccolo with the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra since 1992, and is co-owner of Falls House Press, a flute music publishing company. She also has been an adjunct faculty flute instructor at Rivier College, Nashua, NH, as well as a private teacher for the last 20 years. A member of the National Flute Association, she has lectured on and directed flute choirs at the National Flute Convention and toured with the American Flute Orchestra in Austria and Italy. She also freelances with local shows and has been a member and finance chairperson of the Good Cheer Society that helps support Home, Health, and Hospice Care.
Cassie White is an avid flutist, cyclist and animal lover. She earned a BS degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Exercise Science, an AS degree in Physical Therapy from New Hampshire Community Technical College. She has studied privately under Mardee Reed-Ulmer, Carl Adams, and Alison Hale. She is a District, National, Pan American and World Champion in cycling. She was ranked number one Master’s Criterium rider and won the Category 3 and Master’s Women’s North Atlantic and New England Series. Along with the Nashua Flute choir Cassie also plays with the Willow Flute Choir, and the Merrimack Valley Concert Band. She has also performed with the New Hampshire Philharmonic and Windham Orchestras, as well as performed solo at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York and Goethe institute in Boston. She currently works for PeopleFirst Rehabilitation in Newburyport MA and lives in Georgetown MA. When not fluting or riding her bike she can be found wandering the woods of the north shore with her horse Delta.