H+H Youth Choruses
Chamber Choir
"The teachers are amazing and they balance fun with learning very well." — HHYC Singer
Chamber Choir (grades 10-12) is for singers who demonstrate highly advanced singing and musicianship skills and an interest in studying repertoire for small ensemble ranging from Renaissance motets to commissions by living composers. This ensemble performs and studies regularly with the H+H Chorus and artistic leadership. Chamber Choir last appeared on the H+H subscription concert in the Feb 2025 performances of Love, Handel at NEC’s Jordan Hall and will sing on this program again this season. The ensemble looks forward to Oct 2025 performances of Handel's Saul on the H+H subscription series with H+H Artistic Director Conducting conducting. Recent performance highlights include Haydn The Creation with the MIT Concert Choir, folk music from Canada and Korea, and Victor Paranjoti’s Dravidian Dithyramb. All singers in the H+H Chamber Choir also participate in either the Chorus of Sopranos and Altos or the Chorus of Tenors and Basses.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals for Chamber Choir are on Saturdays at 1:00-2:30pm, following CSA and CTB rehearsals. All Chamber Choir singers also sing with CSA or CTB and have a weekly musicianship class. Four levels of musicianship classes are offered for Chamber singers. The HHYC season lasts from September to May. Rehearsals and classes take place at United Parish in Brookline.
Auditions
Auditions are required to join Chamber Choir. Learn more about audition requirements here.
Faculty
Alyson Greer Espinosa, conductor
Andrew Milne, associate conductor
Dr. Pei-yeh Tsai, collaborative pianist
Tuition
Tuition is $450 for the full year or $225 per semester. Full and partial scholarships are offered for families demonstrating financial need. Families registering more than one singer pay full tuition for one singer and reduced tuition for all additional singers from their household.
Watch + Listen
Faculty
Conductor
Alyson Greer Espinosa
Alyson Greer Espinosa is thrilled to be in her fifteenth season on the H+H Youth Choruses faculty where she is the conductor of the Chorus of Sopranos + Altos and the Chamber Choir. Most recently, Ms. Greer has prepared the HHYC Chamber Choir for performances at H+H's Love, Handel, Baroque Christmas, with the H+H Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Jonathan Cohen for Handel's Messiah CitySing and for Raphaël Pichon for Beethoven Symphony No. 9, collaborations with the American Spirituals Ensemble and the MIT Chorale, and for the 2023 performance on GBH Christmas Music Spectacular. Ms. Greer has prepared CSA and Chamber Choir for performances with Harry Christophers and the H+H Chorus and Orchestra for Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Saul, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, and Monteverdi’s Vespers.
Other ensemble collaborations include the Back Bay Chorale, Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, Cappella Clausura, Boston Musica Viva, MIT Concert Choir, Metropolitan Chorale, Heritage Chorale, the Eureka Ensemble Women’s Chorus, Mother Caroline Academy, and the NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale. The former Young Women’s Chamber Choir performed on From The Top and CSA was featured in BBC’s Great American Railroad Journeys under her direction in 2017. Such collaborations and performances have afforded Ms. Greer and her singers inspire musical-educational performances with conductors such as Raphaël Pichon, Harry Christophers, Ian Watson, Dr. Scott Allen Jarrett, Dr. Anthony Trecek-King, Dr. Andrew Clark, Dr. Lisa Graham, John Finney, Dr. Lynnel Jenkins, George Steel, and Ismael Sandoval.
associate Conductor
Andrew Milne
An avid conductor, singer, and music educator based in Massachusetts, Andrew Milne is thrilled to be in his 5th year on the faculty of HHYC. In this time he has worked as Associate Conductor with the Youth Chorale and Concert Choir, and currently in the same role with the Chorus of Sopranos and Altos and Chamber Choir. He is also the Conductor of HHYC's Ambassador Ensemble. He has helped to prepare choruses for performances with Jonathan Cohen, Raphael Pichon, and others. Outside of HHYC, Andrew serves as Director of Choirs at Auburn High School in Auburn, MA. His students have been accepted to district, state, and national honor ensembles, and his choirs have received top honors in festival performances. As a singer Andrew has sung with choirs such as the internationally acclaimed choirs of Joyful Noise in Torrington, CT with Dr. Gabriel Lofvall, and the Worcester Chorus under Dr. Chris Shepard. His conducting teachers have included Dr. Vernon Huff, Dr. Edward Bolkovac, and Dr. Julie Hagen.
In 2014 Milne was honored as the recipient of the Evangelyna Etienne Scholarship Award given by H+H to a member of the HHYC community for commitment and passion for vocal music; he is a 2010 alum of HHYC. Mr. Milne is passionate about community music making, sparking a joy and love of singing in his students, and helping singers understand and navigate the voice change. Andrew is an active member of NAfME, ACDA, and Pi Kappa Lambda. He holds a Bachelor's in Music Education from SUNY Fredonia and a Master's in Music Education: Choral Conducting from The Hartt School, and he is currently pursuing a DMA in Music Education at Boston University.
Collaborative Pianist
Dr. Peh-yeh Tsai
Born in Taiwan, pianist Pei-yeh Tsai has appeared with the Milwaukee and Chicago Symphony Orchestras and serves as principal pianist for the New Bedford Symphony and substitute pianist for the Cape Cod Symphony. She has also been principal pianist for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and Peoria Symphony, and for five years served as substitute pianist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Praised by Yo-Yo Ma as “a powerhouse of a pianist” with “an incredible depth of soul,” she is known for her vivid palette of color and expressive range. Her recording with the Chicago Symphony for Pixar’s Philharmonia Fantastique won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Classical Album. She has performed at the Ravinia Festival with the CSO under Marin Alsop, aired on PBS’s Great Performances, and worked with distinguished conductors including Riccardo Muti, Ken-David Masur, Edwin Outwater, and Edward Gardner.