The Gloucester County Children's Choir

Mrs. Sylvia Richardson Mrs. Richardson is one of the founders of the choir. A graduate of Howard University, Mrs. Richardson received her  Master of Arts Degree from Rowan University. She has completed Post Graduate work at Peabody Institute, John Hopkins University, Kodaly Studies in Budapest, Hungary and the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria. Mrs. Richardson is a widow, mother of  three sons, and a grandmother of six. She retired from teaching music in the public school system after 34 years of service. Mrs. Richardson was choir director and soloist at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Pitman for 29 years. She sang with the Mary Green Singers  (MGS) and traveled in the United States and abroad. The MGS choir was the chorus for the opera, Lucia Di Lammemoor in Israel under the direction of Zubin Mehta. Mrs. Richardson toured with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra in Kingston, Ontario. She performed with the Delaware Valley Festival Chorus and with the St. Augustine Episcopal Church Choir where she directs and is the lead soloist. A world traveler, Mrs. Richardson has also been a Travel Consultant for over 20 years. She has served on the Minority Arts Council Board, the County Arts Council, the South Jersey Performing Arts Council and the Main Stage Center for Arts. She also does consulting and judging for the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Continuing to serve her community as a businesswoman, Mrs. Richardson also gives private voice lessons and is a vocal mentor for the NAACP ACT-SO Program

David Anderson, Accompanist, received his Bachelor of Music degree in applied piano from Houghton College, where he studied piano with Nancy Bachus and David Ott, and his Master of Music degree in applied piano from West Virginia University, where he studied with Herman Godes. In 1977, he was awarded a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship, allowing him to further his studies with Frieda Richter-Valenzi at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. He has been inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society, and was named one of the Outstanding Young Men of America. Mr. Anderson began his performance career as a sacred concert pianist, presenting programs of his own hymn arrangements along with classical selections, in churches throughout the eastern United States. In addition, he has served as staff pianist at Sandy Cove Bible Conference in Maryland and Gull Lake Bible Conference in Michigan. Currently, Mr. Anderson is an adjunct professor of music at Cumberland County College and the accompanist for both the Gloucester County College and Community Chorus and the Singing Ambassadors of Vineland, New Jersey. He serves as church pianist at the First Baptist Church of Elmer, New Jersey, sings tenor in St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church Choir, Woodbury.

Kathryn Pepe, Assistant Director, is a music education, vocal track candidate at Rowan University. Kathryn takes the acquisition of vocal pedagogy seriously, and she currently studies classical voice with Professor Lauren Athey-Janka, professional classical singer and recently published pedagogy expert. In summer 2016, Kathryn studied at Westminster Choir College’s Vocal Pedagogy Institute with their esteemed faculty.  Currently, Kathryn Pepe teaches general music class at Beth El Early childhood center in Voorhies, assistant conducts the GCCC, teaches for Rowan Prep Music School, and has her own private studio.

Kathryn has sung in college, community, and honors choirs, and she has performed in operas, musicals, pageants, and oratorios. Her greatest accomplishments include winning the Marian Anderson Scholarship Competition twice, singing with the Philadelphia Pops choir, and singing as section leader at the Presbyterian Church at Woodbury. In musical theater, she has portrayed Mrs. Potts in  Beauty and the Beast , Erzulie in Once on this Island, Vie Moore in Footloose, and Dolly in Annie Get Your Gun. In Rowan University’s opera department, she has performed Mable in Pirates of Penzance , First Lady in Magic Flute ,  Cunegonde in Candide, Cupid in Orpheus and the Underworld, Papagena in Magic Flute, and the Angel in The Happy Prince. Kathryn has been a student of and collaborated with the following artistic community leaders:  Jack Hill (choral and musical director), Sylvia Richardson (Gloucester County Children’s Choir ), Dr. Lillian Levinowitz (Music education professor at Rowan University and founder of the nationally recognized Music Together ), Professor Marian Steiber (Rowan Opera Company), and Dr. Christopher Thomas (Choral Professor at Rowan University).

Kathryn is happy to return to the Gloucester County Children’s Choir as the assistant director. She is so thankful to have been welcomed back by the children, and for Mrs.Richardson’s mentorship.