H+H Youth Choruses
Chorus of Sopranos + Altos
"The teachers are amazing and they balance fun with learning very well." — HHYC Singer
Chorus of Sopranos and Altos (grades 9-12) is for singers who are eager to perform challenging and innovative repertoire for treble voices as part of an empowering and joyful community. CSA performs music from the Baroque and Classical periods, along with spirituals, jazz, folk songs, a cappella, and contemporary choral repertoire. The ensemble has sung at Symphony Hall and NEC’s Jordan Hall, most recently in performances of Martini Domine Ad Adjuvandum Me with the Chorus of Tenors and Basses and the H+H Orchestra. CSA has performed with the Back Bay Chorale, New England Philharmonic Orchestra, the Heritage Chorale, the Metropolitan Chorale, Winsor Music, and the NEC Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale and has participated in festivals with the Radcliffe Choral Society and the Wellesley College Choir. In addition to performances throughout New England, CSA has toured in Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, and Ireland with the Chorus of Tenors and Basses. CSA opened the 2021-22 Season with a performance of Beethoven Symphony No. 9 under the direction of Marin Alsop for over 10,000 people at the Hatch Shell. This spring, the ensemble collaborates on a series of performances with Cappella Clausura.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals for the Chorus of Sopranos + Altos are on Saturdays at 9:50am-1:10pm. All CSA singers have a weekly ensemble rehearsal and musicianship class. Four levels of musicianship classes are offered for CSA singers. The HHYC season lasts from September to May. Rehearsals and classes take place at United Parish in Brookline.
Faculty
Alyson Greer Espinosa, conductor
Andrew Milne, associate conductor
Dr. Pei-yeh Tsai, collaborative pianist
Tuition
Tuition is $700 for the full year or $350 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.