​ABOUT US

Heather Skidds, Director

Heather Skidds has a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY where she studied voice and music education, and a Master of Arts in Liturgical Music from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN where she studied voice, choral conducting and organ. Heather currently serves as the Associate Director of Music at Christ the King Church in Kingston, RI.  Heather is on the board of the Providence Chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and the Providence Diocesan Music Commission.  Heather also teaches piano, voice, and general music at her private studio and at local schools.  Heather has performed for many years as a church musician, soprano soloist, choir director, pianist, organist and teacher throughout RI, MA, NY and MN. She lives in Exeter with her husband and two children. Heather is honored to be a part of the North Kingstown Community Chorus family!  She can be reached at (401) 573-7564 or by email at hskidds@gmail.com

Heather Savage, Accompanist

​Heather Niemi Savage grew up in Rhode Island, graduating from South Kingstown High School and the University of Rhode Island. Her primary piano teachers were Dr. Donald Rankin and Dennis Hughes, from whom she learned classical and jazz piano, respectively. She has extensive experience as a collaborative pianist which includes accompanying vocal and instrumental soloists and choral groups, performing in chamber ensembles, and playing in musical theater pits. 
Heather studied composition under Dr. Larry Bell and Howard Frazien in Boston, MA.  In composition, as in life, she explores the interaction between the old and the new, tradition and innovation, examining every nuance and implication of her experiences and musical ideas. Composer Walter Saul has described her work as "stunningly resourceful with scant material."
Her works have been performed in a variety of contexts including the national conference of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers; the 2016 Rhode Island All-State Festival; the 2017 New Music Festival in Fitchburg, MA; and commemorative events at local churches. Additionally, her work has been featured on the radio program, "Music of Our Mothers." Her piece for string orchestra Daughter of the Stars, is a semi-finalist in the 2020 American Prize composition competition in the orchestral pops division and will also be released on Ablaze Records' Orchestral Masters Volume 7, due out in Spring 2020. 
In addition to her work as an accompanist and composer, Heather is the music director at Carolina Free Baptist Church in Charlestown, RI and maintains a private teaching studio.

Board of Directors

​Barbara Pease, Chairwoman & Ticket Sales
I‘ve always loved to sing. I sang in my church choir and in my high school chorus as a teenager and in the University Chorus during my college years at URI. I joined the St. Francis de Sales Choir in the early 1990’s and was thrilled to become a member of the North Kingstown Community Chorus in 1998. I joined the Board of Directors in 2007 as the director of Ticket Sales and have been enjoying this job ever since. I was honored to be asked to become Chairwoman of the Board in March of 2019. Yes, I’ve been very busy but I’ve enjoyed the increased work load that this new job brings because I love the chorus and all the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know over the years. ​

Pinkie Sweet-Holland, Treasurer
Pinkie is a founding member of the NKCC (1985) and for her it is a family affair as two of her grandchildren sang in the Youth Chorus. She loves to sing but also keeps us financially in the black! She officially retired in 2013 and now drives for a non-profit organization (F.I.S.H.) pretty much full time. She has been sailing since she was 5 years old and continues that passion during the summer and fall months. She is the original owner of a Cape Dory Typhoon day sailor and has been sailing Sweet-Pea since 1976. She is an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where you may find her assisting the Rector, Ushering, Greeting, Studying, taking Eucharist out to parishioners who are no longer able to come to church and has served on the Vestry, former President of St. Paul’s ECW and served on the Altar Guild.

Rick Gebhart, Outreach Coordinator
​I joined the chorus in 2013 and have found my "chorus family". The minute I walked into my first rehearsal with the group, I felt welcomed. I enjoy making choral music with others and the North Kingstown Community Chorus is a terrific group of singers. I was asked to join the board a year ago and I was happy to help given how hard everyone works to put on successful concerts. Enjoy the music because we enjoy singing it!

Barbara Valois,
​Librarian & Youth Chorus
​I joined the chorus in 1987 and became a member of the board of directors in 2013. My primary board responsibilities are the youth chorus advisor position and music librarian. I love to sing and singing with this wonderful group of people is a joy. It is rewarding to rehearse all season and end up sharing beautiful music with the community. Rehearsal night is one of my favorite nights of the week due to the welcoming and friendly atmosphere found with this group of people

​Norm Poulin, Vice Chair
​I have been singing in choruses and choirs since high school, and in the North Kingstown Community Chorus since it’s inception in 1985.  I met my wife Dana when she joined the chorus in 1995. After 44 years of teaching math, I recently retired and now work as a math tutor.  My daughter Nicole, who sang in the Youth Chorus and the Adult Chorus, lives in Florida with her husband and her two boys. This is my second tour of duty as a member of the Board of Directors.

Sarah Rosendale,
​Member Relations & Ad Sales
​After singing with groups in high school and college, I took a break from singing in graduate school, and then when my children were babies. In 2014, after 12 years of singing alone in my car, I joined the NKCC, and can't believe I waited so long to join a group again! I very happily joined the board in 2017 and coordinate social activities such as our Cast Party and Sing-For-Your-Supper. When I'm not at rehearsal, I work as a Teacher of the Deaf, supporting students and teachers across the state of Rhode Island. I am the mother of three, and in my free time (?!), when not singing, I love to read, run, and knit. ​

​Priscilla Welsh,
​Secretary & Scholarship Program
​It’s a joyful and rewarding experience being part of the NKCC; I look forward to learning something every rehearsal that results in an “entertainment gift” for our concert attendees. I enjoy my role as Secretary of the Board; and especially each Spring, I look forward to working with talented young scholarship applicants. Along with being an ardent Anglophile, I spend as much time as possible with my eyes in a book, owning 12,000 of my own, including a 7,000-volume children’s library! We all look forward to seeing your smiling faces in our future audiences!

​Andria Morenzi, Public Relations
I found a home with the NKCC in 2014 to continue my lifetime love of singing.  This love comes naturally in a family that performs in everything from opera to barbershop chorus!  I have been impressed with the talent, dedication, friendship and enthusiasm of the chorus, and am honored to serve on the board in a public relations capacity. I also look forward to assisting with any trips we may take to share our talents or just to have fun.  My other roles include wife and mother to two young adults, Speech-Language Pathologist (recently retired), and member of the St. Mark Parish choir in Jamestown where I make my home.  If you enjoy singing, come join us on Tuesday nights, and if not, sit back and enjoy the music!