ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
The Suffolk Senior Treble Choir, led by Music Director Rachel Nagle, is a four-part SSAA ensemble for singers in grades 8-10. Newly formed for the 2019-2020 season, the Choir performs advanced classical and contemporary choral music written for women’s voices. Through inspired and joyful singing, it is our goal for both singers and audience members to experience the full transformative power of choral music. Singers in this group should have experience singing in choirs and be able to demonstrate appropriate vocal technique and tone quality.
ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR
Rachel Nagle began her career in 2007, teaching high school choir, and elementary music in the Commack School District. During this time, she also served as children’s choir conductor through the Stony Brook Children’s Program, and completed three levels of Orff certification at Hofstra University. She has since had the pleasure and experience of teaching all grades, K-12, and serving as a festival conductor in Suffolk and Nassau County.
Rachel received her M.S. in Music Education from Queens College and her B.M. in Music Education with concentrations in voice and music in special education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She has spent twelve years as Elwood-John Glenn High School’s Choral Director, where she cultivated a rich musical community within her classroom, and established the select a cappella ensemble “Acappelwood.” In addition to her choirs there, she has been the director and vocal director of several musical theater productions.
She is currently teaching elementary music and beginning choirs, as well as secondary vocal lessons in the Elwood School District. Rachel assisted in developing and directing the a cappella group established through Long Island Children’s Choir (LICC) alongside her husband, James, and continues to create accessible a cappella arrangements for contemporary ensembles. In addition to her teaching, she enjoys performing as a soprano in eVoco Voice Collective’s Treble Ensemble. She currently resides in Stony Brook, NY with her husband and their two sons.
ABOUT THE PIANIST
James Nagle is a vocal music educator who has taught in the Connetquot Central School District for the past sixteen years at both the elementary and secondary levels. He currently teaches the Connetquot High School Treble Choir, the Long Island Voices Show Choir, and Music Theory. He also provides vocal direction and accompaniment for the school’s musical theatre productions and vocal jazz ensemble. In addition to teaching, James is an accomplished pianist having played at numerous festivals and performances throughout the northeast. He has accompanied several all-county choirs and currently serves as a collaborative pianist for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Suffolk Senior Treble Choir.
James received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in 2007. At Crane, he studied with Rebecca Reames, Heather Eyerly, and Adam Adler and was honored with the Susan Smykla Udell Award for Outstanding Piano Accompaniment before graduation. He served as the President and Music Director of the Potsdam Pointercounts, an award-winning a cappella group. During that time, he developed his arranging style and love of performing contemporary a cappella music as the group successfully competed and toured throughout the East Coast. James attained a Master of Science degree in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY Queens in 2010, where he received the Lawrence Eisman Award in Music Education. Outside of music, James enjoys playing basketball, swimming, kayaking, and going on adventures with his wife and two sons.
LISTEN
PAST SEASON REPERTOIRE
Repertoire performed by the Suffolk Senior Treble Choir in the 2022-2023 season included:
- Ad Astra (To the Stars…) – Jacob Narverud
- Ama Ibuo Iye– Traditional Bambutu, arr. Ysaÿe M. Barnwell
- Crowded Table – The Highwomen, arr. Andrea Ramsey
- Day of Fire and Sun – Kate Crellin
- It Takes a Village – Joan Szymko
- Las Amarillas – Traditional Mexican, arr. Stephen Hatfield
- Lumen – Abbie Betinis
- Music of Life – B.E. Boykin
- One Voice – Ruth Moody
- Walk in Jerusalem – African American Spiritual, arr. Rollo A. Dilworth
- Yo Puedo – Jim Papoulis