Berkshire Concert Choir Appoints New Artistic Director
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A classically-oriented composer, pianist and organist, who also spends much of his time playing and writing jazz, Maaia seeks to offer the best from a wide range of musical sources.
He is very interested in the work of Berkshire-based composers and also in presenting lesser-known or forgotten works by 19th-century composers. Maaia said he is committed to the educational aspect of music and plans to build a student presence into the choir's long tradition. Beginning in September, he will also be the new director of music at First Church of Christ, Congregational, on East Street.
Maaia was the 2010-11 musician-in-residence at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn., where he helped charter "Vespers…and All That Jazz!" a jazz-based evening prayer service held each Sunday night in center's Wightman Chapel. He is currently the music supervisor for that program, hiring and preparing musicians as well as composing and arranging all musical selections. He returns there periodically to teach and present workshops.
From 2005 to 2010, he was the fine arts coordinator at Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, N.Y., and before that music director at St. Mark's Church in Pittsfield. While at St. Mark's, he also was the associate organist at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge. He has been interim organist and choir director at numerous area churches and has directed music and accompanied dozens of student musical and theatrical productions in and out of Berkshire County. Since 2005, Maaia has directed music productions at the Berkshire Theatre Group and is preparing that company's community production of "The Wizard of Oz" for the Colonial Theatre on Sept. 9, 10, and 11.
From 2000-03, he was the resident music director for the Berkshire Youth Theater Ensemble, based in Chatham N.Y., then music supervisor for Cheesecake Charlie's Cabaret in Great Barrington and, in 2004, a répétiteur for The Shaker Mountain Opera Company.
The Berkshire Concert Choir is a community and social choir of singers from Berkshire County and surrounding communities. The mission of choir is to present the finest choral literature from all musical periods, striving always for excellence in performance and providing an opportunity to members of the community to express and develop their musical talents and interests. Membership is open to all persons at varying levels of experience and skill who are committed to hard work and the joy of singing.
Rehearsals begin on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Room of the First Church of Christ in Pittsfield, Congregational, on East Street. For more information, contact Michael Gerhard at 413-442-6120 or Michael.E.Gerhard@lmco.com.
