ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
The Nassau Treble Choir, led by Music Director Craig B. Knapp, is a vocal ensemble comprised of students in grades 4-6. Rehearsals focus on healthy vocal production and technique, solfège, sight-singing, and musicianship skills while exploring quality choral literature, authentic singing games, and creative activities. The choir performs unison to 3-part treble repertoire. MYO Children’s Treble Choirs are for unchanged children’s voices.
ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR
Craig B. Knapp is the current Elementary Music Department Chairperson in the Rocky Point School District where he has been teaching Classroom Music and Chorus, grades 3 through 5, at the Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School since 1998. A graduate of the Crane School of Music, Mr. Knapp has also studied with distinguished educators and musicians including John Feierabend, Jos Wuytack, Henry Leck, Francisco Núñez, Janet Galván, Will Schmid and Bobby McFerrin. Craig is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Hofstra University where he teaches “Conversational Solfege” and “First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk.” He is the co-author of the book, First Steps in Music with Orff Schulwerk: Sing, Say, Dance, Play and a contributing author for the book, Feierabend Fundamentals: History, Philosophy, and Practice.
With his innovative and energetic approach to music education, Craig Knapp directs the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York’s Children’s Treble Choirs, where he has conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has conducted several commissioned pieces by renowned composers including Nick Page, Jim Papoulis, Melissa Keylock and Jill Friedersdorf. Mr. Knapp is also the former director of the Stony Brook University Summer Youth Choir. Craig has presented elementary classroom music and choral workshops at various music education conferences, including national conferences for NAfME (National Association for Music Education), ACDA (American Choral Directors Association), OAKE (Organization of American Kodály Educators), AOSA (American Orff-Schulwerk Association) and FAME (Feierabend Association for Music Education). Craig is a sought-after clinician and choral conductor and has guest conducted for the Connecticut Music Educators’ Association Elementary Honors Choir, New Hampshire Music Educators’ Association Elementary Honors Choir, Ohio Music Educators’ Association Elementary All-State Choir, KONY (Kodály Organization of New York) “Voices United” Festival and Pennsylvania Music Educators’ Association Elementary ChorusFest. He has also guest conducted various All-County chorus groups in New York State for the Dutchess, Monroe, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Schoharie, Suffolk, and Ulster County Music Educators’ Associations.
Mr. Knapp’s choral ensembles have performed annually at NYSSMA Major Organization Evaluation Festivals since 2003, where they have received consistent “Gold” and “Gold With Distinction” ratings. Mr. Knapp frequently has students participating in various American Choral Directors Association’s Children’s Honor Choirs, and, in the Organization of American Kodály Educators’ National Children’s Choirs.
Craig is the former director of the Early Childhood Community Music Program at Stony Brook University, where he instructed children in First Steps in Music classes for students in Pre-K through 2nd grade. Mr. Knapp is a Past-President of SCMEA (Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association). Craig is actively involved with NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association), where he recently served on their Curriculum Committee and NYSSMA Manual Committee. He served as the Administrative Program Coordinator for the Orff-Schulwerk and Summer Music Studies Program at Hofstra University from 2005-2019 and served two terms as the Membership Chairperson for LIAOSA (Long Island Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association) from 2013-2017. Craig is a Lifetime Member of OAKE. He is also a Lifetime Member of ACDA and served three terms as chairperson for the ACDA Eastern Division Elementary Honor Choir. For the New York Chapter of ACDA, Craig served two terms as Children’s Choir Repertoire & Standards Chairperson and two terms as Long Island Regional Representative. Mr. Knapp is also a founding member of FAME where he is a Lifetime Member and has served on their Board of Directors as President-Elect and Member-at-Large. Craig is the only educator to simultaneously hold Lifetime Memberships in ACDA, FAME and OAKE.
ABOUT THE PIANIST
Kaitlin Melker is currently the Director of Choral Activities at W.T. Clarke High School in the East Meadow School District. From 2013-2018, Kaitlin was the Choral Director at Copiague Middle School, where she conducted four choral ensembles and directed several of the school’s musicals. During her tenure at Copiague, Mrs. Melker’s Chamber Chorus performed annually at NYSSMA Major Organization Festivals where they received consistent ratings of “Gold” and “Gold with Distinction.” Kaitlin has been with The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York since September 2013, where she has served as the piano accompanist for the MYO Suffolk Treble Choir. She has also performed as a piano accompanist for the Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association (SCMEA) Division III West All-County Chorus ensembles, the Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) PEAK Festival, the NMEA Division I East All-County Chorus and the Stony Brook University Summer Youth Choir. Mrs. Melker has been a guest choral conductor for the Putnam County Music Educators Association (PCMEA) 7th/8th Grade All-County Chorus, the NYSSMA Zone 15 Junior High Area All-State Festival and the Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) PEAK Festival. In 2013, Kaitlin became a founding member of the eVoco Voice Collective under the direction of Dr. David Fryling. Kaitlin Melker earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Syracuse University, graduating summa cum laude. She earned a Master of Arts with Distinction in Music Education from Hofstra University, where she served as a graduate assistant choral conductor to Dr. David Fryling.
LISTEN
PAST SEASON REPERTOIRE
Repertoire performed by the Nassau Treble Choir in the 2021-2022 season included:
- A Small Suite – Alicia Lewis
- Ah, Poor Bird – Traditional English Canon, arr. Shelly Cooper
- Al Shlosha D’Varim – Allan E. Naplan
- Animal Imagination – Tom Shelton
- Dormi Dormi – Italian Carol, arr. Mary Goetze
- Fairest Lady (№ 7 from The Nursery Rhyme Cantata) – Nick Page
- Flooding Rains – Harley Mead
- I Ask for One Day – Jim Papoulis
- John Henry – Traditional Railroad Work Song, arr. Rollo Dilworth
- Kookaburra – Australian Folksong, arr. Melissa Keylock and Jill Friedersdorf
- Lazy John – Appalachian Folksong, arr. Nancy Allsbrook and Glenda Goodin
- Three Quotes by Mark Twain – Andrea Ramsey