Hope Armstrong Erb, Founding Artistic Director
Hope Armstrong Erb is the Founding Artistic Director, Conductor and President of the Greater Richmond Children's Choir, Richmond, Virginia, USA. Critics have proclaimed her "a wonder" in her ability to maintain a high standard in both performance and teaching. She is an active conductor, pianist, composer, teacher and lecturer. Ms. Erb is equally enthusiastic performing music from ancient to modern and continually expands the diversity of her concert repertoire through research, composition, and collaboration with composers and performing artists locally and globally. With the aid of native speakers she has coached her singers to perform in over 35 different languages. Recently Ms. Erb and her choirs have performed in the Algonquin language with local members of the Native American Mattaponi Tribe and are currently performing and recording Ugandan folk songs in the Luganda language with Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa. During GRCC’s 2008 summer tour to China Ms. Erb was enthusiastically received when she held a masterclass with the Shanghai Children’s Palace Choir, teaching and demonstrating jazz style for the Shanghai Choral Association. She has lectured on a wide range of topics from the boy’s changing voice to classic sonata form to the 12-bar blues.
For the past two years, Ms. Erb served as the Virginia ACDA Repertoire and Standards Chair for Children’s Choirs. In August 2008 John Rutter declared he was “impressed and truly delighted” with the ACDA Voices United Children’s Honor Choir which was auditioned and prepared by Ms. Erb and Maryland ACDA R&S Chair Judy Dubose for a performance of his Mass of the Children conducted by Mr. Rutter. Ms. Erb takes great joy in nurturing top singers to achieve a level of musicianship comparable with the best singers anywhere, and to that end has conducted her choirs at National and Regional ACDA conventions. Equally rewarding has been her enormous success in teaching “non-singers” to match pitch, read music and sing in harmony, many of whom have eventually progressed to the top choirs. Ms. Erb presented an interest session at the 2008 Southern Division ACDA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky entitled: “NOBODY’S HOPELESS! Everyone can learn to sing!” and she works continually proving it is so!
Ms. Erb has served on the music faculties of Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond and has taught in public and private schools K-12 including 22 years working primarily with choirs of boys and men. She and her choristers have performed in concerts, master classes, honor choirs and invitational festivals led by Anton Armstrong, Simon Carrington, Bob Chilcott, Kevin Fenton, Lynne Gackle, Janet Galván, Mary Goetze, Maria Guinand, Henry Leck, James Litton, Doreen Rao, John Rutter and Sir David Willcocks. As a pianist, she has been hailed for her “innate musicianship and graceful style” as well as her “robust, rhythmic, and excellent playing.” She has appeared as a chamber musician, solo pianist and conductor in the United States, Europe and China and has recorded with Japanese violinist Yoko Kato a critically acclaimed compact disc of chamber music for violin and piano by Mozart, De Falla, and Brahms.
Anne Williford, Executive Director
Anne Williford joined GRCC in 2001 and handles the day to day operations of the choirs, as well as fundraising for the organization. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Both of her daughters have sung with GRCC since 2000, and although her older daughter has now graduated, her younger daughter is in the Pro Arte choir.
Leilani Mork, Assistant Director
Assistant Director and Accompanist Leilani Mork is an active performer throughout Richmond and holds a Masters in Piano Performance from VCU. She currently is an Adjunct Faculty member at VCU in the Music and Theatre Departments; Pianist at Christopher Newport University and a former Coordinator of Piano Studies at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. With VCU’s Theatre Department, she has served as the Pianist and Vocal Coach for the Musical Theatre class and is currently the Vocal Coach/Music Director for the Senior Showcase which recently performed in DC, NYC and Chicago. Other engagements in the Richmond area include serving as the Pianist/Asst. Director for the Greater Richmond Children's Choir and the Choir Director for St. Mark's United Methodist Church. Ms. Mork’s professional performing credits include an appearance at the Helen Keller Festival in Tuscumbia, Alabama (2007) with baritone James Taylor; VCU Theatre's productions of The Civil War (2005) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (2006); a Vocal Coach and Pianist for OperaFestival di Roma (2001/2002) and the Music Director/Pianist for University of Virginia's Opera Workshop (2000-2002). She has also served as stage manager/rehearsal pianist for VCU’s Opera Theatre (2004-2006); the Music Director for Emory Water's opera, The Edge of Glory (2007) with the Petersburg Symphony; Richmond Triangle Players for Zana Don’t (2007) and Reefer Madness! (2008) with the Firehouse Theatre which was recently nominated by the Richmond Theatre’s Critic Circle for five awards, including Best Musical Director. Ms. Mork's teachers have included most recently Dr. Sonia K. Vlahcevic for her solo work and Prof. Melanie Kohn-Day for her coaching and collaborative work.