Laura Nevitt is a conductor, composer, & educator based in Boston. As a fierce advocate for new music, they love working with composers, and have conducted over 35 premieres of new works. She is passionate about giving voice and space to gender marginalized musicians and poets through choral and vocal music.
She is the Founder & Artistic Director of Lilith Vocal Ensemble, Prep Choir, Children’s Choir & Chamber Chorus Director at New England Conservatory Prep, a Teaching Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, and Music Director at First Parish UU in Needham, MA, where she is also Artistic Director of the “To The Fore” Concert Series, focused on bringing historically marginalized voices to the forefront. She is also thrilled to be the newly appointed Artistic Director at VOICES Boston Children’s Choir.
Their compositions are frequently performed by musicians across the country, some highlights being the Handel & Haydn Society Youth Choruses, Choral Arts Initiative, the Evelyn Duo, Voices Boston Children’s Choir, Boston Conservatory Choir, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Lilith Vocal Ensemble, BRACE New Music Choir, Opera on Tap Boston, the UofSC Concert Choir, sparks & wiry cries’ songSLAM, Source Song Festival, Cantilena, Expansion String Quartet, and the Detroit Women’s Chorus.
She earned degrees in Composition and Music Education from the University of South Carolina, studying with John Fitz Rogers & Wendy Valerio; and a M.M. in Choral Conducting at Boston Conservatory, studying with George Case.
Laura Nevitt
Artistic Director
Georgia Lipari
Executive Director
Georgia Lipari is an artist, administrator, and educator whose work lives at the intersection of creativity, community, and youth development. Raised in an artistic home—trained as a ballerina from early childhood and the daughter of an orchestral and choral conductor—Georgia carries a deep, lifelong connection to music, movement, and the power of artistic community.
Georgia is currently on the ballet faculty at José Mateo Ballet Theatre and is also a certified birth doula!
Chris Lockman is a North Carolina native, professional pianist, composer, and audio producer with deep roots in collaborative music-making. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Audio Production from Full Sail University. Along with his work at VOICES, he currently serves as a staff pianist at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, New England Conservatory (where he also works as a music director), Colleges of the Fenway, and Assistant Music Director/Pianist at First Parish in Needham.
Chris began his career in NC as an accompanist for Mitchell Community College and Catawba Valley Community College. Since then, he has played for a wide array of public schools, taught private piano and voice students, music-directed over 30 musicals, and contributed to countless theatre productions as both a pit orchestra musician and actor. With over 25 years of piano experience and vocal training dating back to his teens, Chris has become a versatile and highly sought-after collaborator for choirs, soloists, and ensembles spanning a wide range of musical genres.
Outside of his professional work, Chris channels his passion for music and video games through his YouTube channel, SupaRetro. This creative outlet reflects his love for both art forms and his commitment to building community and connection through music.
Chris Lockman
Associate Conductor
Emily Vincent
Senior Administrator
Emily Vincent is a Boston-based music educator, voice teacher, and non-profit arts administrator from Thompson, Connecticut. She is a graduate of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music as well as Community, Youth, and Education Studies. In her undergraduate studies, Emily focused on non-profit education, equity, collaboration – and the importants of uplifting the voices of youth. Emily holds a Master of Music in Music Education from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. At the Boston Conservatory, Emily’s research explored the intersections of choral conducting, vocal pedagogy, and creating safe and affirming spaces within the music studio. Emily is the creator of the podcast series “Q-MusEd” which is a series uplifting the voices of queer music educators, highlighting their experiences in teaching and creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth.
In addition to her work with VOICES Boston, Emily works at the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education, teaching small ensemble classes and private voice students with a wide range of cognitive or developmental disabilities and The Hopkinton Center for the Arts as Director of Music, and is a voice, ukulele, and theater teacher. Emily also serves as the director for their SummerStock Kids! program, summer camp program manager, and music director for Unified Theater, an adaptive theater program for adults with disabilities.
In 2023, Emily wrote the script and stage directed VOICES Boston’s K-5th grade production of The Grey Bird, an original production with music by Laura Nevitt and poetry by Hilda Conkling.
Emily is committed to being a fierce advocate for accessible and inclusive music and theater education, as it is her favorite way to spread joy!
Maria Rabbia hails from New Hartford, New York, and is excited to begin her DMA in Collaborative Piano at Boston University, where she will be studying with Shiela Kibbe. Previously, Maria received her MM in Collaborative Piano from Ithaca College, studying with Dr. Diane Birr and received a BA in Piano from the College of Saint Rose under Dr. Young Kim. Coaching and collaborative credits include International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany (2017-2020), The Voice Institute of the Finger Lakes, and participation as a Young Artist with Opera Company of Middlebury.
Equally passionate about both art song and opera, Maria was a part of the Middlebury Song Festival, and worked with Opera Ithaca on productions of La bohème and Carmen. Maria has played for over 70 recitals while at Ithaca College and is the pianist for the newly released The Great Courses “How to sing.” During COVID 2020, she was the music director for The Social Distance Opera Project’s premiere release of Don Giovanni.
As a private piano instructor, Maria has been teaching both children and adults for almost 10 years and is currently teaching through the Cambridge Music Consortium. She has accompanied choral groups from the age of 13 and is thrilled to be working with VOICES of Boston for her 5th season.
Maria Rabbia
Collaborative Pianist
Brooke Meehan
Choreographer
Brooke Meehan is a Connecticut native who moved to Brookline this past year. She graduated from Keene State College in 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor’s of Dance Education. She stayed at Keene State into the next year to complete her Master’s of Special Education through an accelerated program. During her time at Keene State, she was a member of the dance team and held the position of manager for two years. Through her dance education major, she was able to train in modern dance, as well as learn the foundation of teaching dance to young children. She was a dancer in various dance productions and choreographed her own piece for dance performances.
Brooke has taught dance of many styles including jazz, lyrical, hip hop, acro and musical theatre. She has worked with students ranging from 3 to 18 of all various dance abilities. In middle school and highschool, Brooke performed in numerous musicals including Once on this Island, Godspell, and Suessical. She has always loved performing and has transferred that love into teaching.
She is currently working as a preschool teacher in Brookline as well as teaching dance classes in the Boston Metro Area. Brooke is interested in becoming a dance movement therapist and hopes to continue to combine her love for special education and dance through movement. Brooke believes all students are capable of artistic movement if they are given the space and tools to do so!
One of the nation’s preeminent children’s conductors, Johanna (Jody) Hill Simpson has worked with young people of all ages and levels – from kindergartners through graduate students— at Dartmouth College, Lincoln Elementary School, Harvard University and the New England Conservatory. She founded PALS Children’s Chorus (now VOICES Boston) in 1990 and served as Artistic Director for 16 years, during which time PALS earned the reputation as one of the finest youth ensembles in the country.When Seiji Ozawa said “Jody really has a genius way of teaching”, he captured the essence of why she is able to transform groups of willing singers into compelling ensembles.
Simpson’s years in Boston with the PALS Children’s Chorus were rich with notable performances and collaborations in Boston, New York, Washington DC and Tanglewood with Ozawa, James Levine, Yo Yo Ma, Henri Dutilleux,Tan Dun, Raphael Fruhbeck DeBurgos, James Conlon, Marek Janowski, Tod Machover, David Hoose, Keith Lockart, and even Nathan Lane and Celine Dion. She was and continues to be a champion of composers and new music and has commissioned and premiered an impressive list of new works, including Mehmet Sanlikol’s Ergenekon, Howard Frazin’s Voice of Isaac, Bret Silverman’s Tree of Life, William Cutter’s Awake the Dawn, and Megan Henderson’s The Police Log.
In the world of opera, Ms. Simpson’s young singers have appeared in performances of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Tanglewood, Stefan Asbury conducting. Her children joined the Boston Early Music Festival for world premiere performances of Johann Mathesson’s opera Boris Goudenov in Boston and Tanglewood. Ms. Simpson has collaborated with the Boston Lyric Opera, for performances of the historic Carmen on the Common, Tosca, The Little Prince and La Boheme. She has also collaborated with Kayo Iwama and the Cantata Singers in performances of the children’s opera Brundibar.
She has conducted choruses at New England Conservatory (where she also received the Outstanding Alumni Award and studied with renowned choral conductor Lorna Cooke deVaron) and Harvard University. Her ensembles can be heard on recordings by the BSO, the Boston Pops and the PALS private label.
Johanna Hill-Simpson
Founder & Artistic Director Emerita
Board of Directors
Cher Duffield, Chair
Pauline Mak, Treasurer
Carina DiGianfilippo, Secretary
Katie DiMaria, Former Executive Director
Sumangali Krishnan
Christie Teeters
Catherine Sarkis
David Starmer