Neponset Choral Society Past Professional Staff

Rachel J. Samet, served as Artistic Director from July 2001 thru May 2003, when she left to pursue a doctorate in Choral Conducting at the University of Colorado in Boulder on full scholarship. She holds a M. Mus. in Choral Conducting from Boston University. At BU, Ms. Samet studied conducting with Ann Howard Jones, David Hoose, and Daniel Moe. She also conducted the BU Treble Chorus and the BU Singers, performed as a singer and accompanist for several choral ensembles at the university, and taught classes in sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony and piano to undergraduate music majors. She completed her undergraduate degree at Oberlin College, where she studied piano with Robert McDonald. Ms. Samet has taught voice, choir, and piano at institutions such as the Walnut Hill School, Attleboro High School, and The Music School in Providence, and was the musical director for Triboro Youth Theatre for several seasons. In addition to conducting the Neponset Choral Society, Ms. Samet was a member of the music faculty of the Dana Hall School in Wellesley.

Ms. Connor-Moen is the Choral Director at Norwood High School, where she conducts the Concert, Madrigal and Jazz Choirs. These groups have received many honors at the local, state, and national levels, including Gold Medals at the statewide Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) Festival and the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Festival. Her highly acclaimed Madrigal Choir was awarded a Gold Medal at the National Invitational Honors festival, held in Chicago, Illinois, where they performed at Chicago's famed Orchestra Hall. Locally, they have performed at King Richard's Faire, and for the opening of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science.

Ms. Connor-Moen has her Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education from the Boston University School for the Arts, and her Master of Music Degree from The Boston Conservatory, where she was the assistant Choral Conductor and a student of Allen Lannom.

Ms. Connor-Moen has guest conducted the Central Massachusetts District Festival Chorus, both the Southeastern Massachusetts Senior and Junior High School SEMSBA Festival Choruses, and the Tri-Valley Music Festival Chorus. She is a frequent clinician and adjudicator for ACDA and MICCA throughout Massachusetts.

Victoria Wagner served as Music Director for the Neponset Choral Society from September 1983 through June 1989. In that time, she conducted the group in its fall performances of large-scale works such as Handel's "Messiah", Bach's "Christmas Oratorio", the "Lord Nelson Mass" by Hayden, and the Pulenc "Gloria", as well as spring productions of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas ("Iolanthe") and Broadway musicals "Brigadoon") and "Music Man".

A native of western Pennsylvania, Ms. Wagner was graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Fredonia with a degree in Music Education. In 1978, she was honored by Delta Kappa Gamma for her outstanding achievement in the field of education. That same year, she was granted a Performer's Certificate in organ (the school's highest honor of performance) and won first prize in the Buffalo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists student playing competition. Ms. Wagner holds a Master's Degree in Organ performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied organ with Yuko Hayashi and conducting with Lorna Cooke de Varon and Frank Battisti. Well known in New England for performances of contemporary organ literature, Ms. Wagner has made recordings for WGBH-FM and has given solo recitals at Harvard University's Memorial Church and Busch-Reisinger Museum, the University of Connecticut at Storrs, Old West Church in Boston, and Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal. She was chosen by the Massachusetts Music Educator's Association as choral conductor for the 1987 Central Junior District Festival. In the summer of 1987, she was a recitalist at the national convention of the Organ Historical Society.

Ms. Wagner was Director of Music at Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord, instructor of organ at Regis College in Weston, and a member of the piano faculty at the Brookline Music School. She also served as President of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Old West Organ Society in Boston.

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