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Meet our Music Director

and Accompanists . . .

Betty Buchanan founded Capitol Hill Choral Society in 1983 and was Music Director until 1998.  With the Choral Society and orchestra she recorded a critically acclaimed CD premiering the cantata, The Canticle of the Sun, and anthems and service music by American composer, Amy Beach.  In February 2006, A-R Editions, Inc. published her edition of the choral-orchestral score of The Canticle of the Sun.

Ms. Buchanan was Music Director of Riverside Baptist Church in Washington for twenty-seven years, with a break in the early 1980s to direct the Birmingham Southern College Conservatory of Fine and Performing Arts in Alabama.  Her educational background includes a BA from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Arts in Music from American University.  She is a member of the Society for American Music, the American Musicological Society, and the American Choral Directors Association.  Currently she sings in the Parish Choir of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church.

Michael Crabill is a much-sought-after music director, opera coach, and recital accompanist.  Living in Washington , DC since 1982, his activities have expanded to include concerts and productions in Latin America and Europe .  He has rehearsed productions for such companies as Kennedy Center Opera, National Opera Company, Opera International of Washington, and Opera Americana.  In Academia, Mr. Crabill has prepared productions for the University of South Carolina, American University, George Mason University, and Howard University.  He is presently on the adjunct faculty of George Mason University . 

Mr. Crabill served several years in Italy as coach/accompanist for Opera Academy of Rome and has prepared productions there for Studio Lirico.  In his role as recital accompanist, Mr. Crabill has performed with such artists as Alvy Powell, Anastasios Vrenios, Luis Giron-May and Guadalupe Kreysa.  He joined soprano Armour Ratcliffe for a highly successful recital of Goethe Lieder in Rothenberg, Germany in May 1999 and at the German Embassy in Washington in September 2000.  He also performs regularly with Festa della Voce.

Tom Teasley, described in the Washington Post as a "percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense of the word," performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments, including an assortment of hand drums from around the world.  Mr. Teasley has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles World Music Festival, many music festivals in Europe and the Kennedy Center, where he was Artist-in-Residence.  His music has been aired throughout the country and is often featured on NPR, including "All Things Considered."  He is Artist-in-Residence at Levine School of Music, Washington, D.C.  He also serves on the faculty of the University of the District of Columbia. 

Jeff Doenges is the Director of Music/Organist at Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, Rockville , Md., and teaches private piano.  An Ohio native, he holds a Bachelor of Music in Education from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, where he studied voice and organ.  In 1995, he earned a Master of Music in Church Music from Westminister Choir College , Princeton , N.J. , where he studied organ with Donald McDonald and conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt.  He has served as Music Director for congregations in New Jersey , Wisconsin , and in the Washington , DC area.  Mr. Doenges has sung with choirs in New Jersey with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Symphony, and in such venues as the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  He has also directed the music for theater productions, and has served as sub-dean of the American Guild of Organists, Milwaukee Chapter.

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