About Us
What is the Huntsville Master Chorale?
The Huntsville Master Chorale is a chamber ensemble dedicated to providing choral excellence for the Tennessee Valley. This group, originally the Eugene Brasher Chorale, was founded in 1998 by Dr. Eugene Brasher, who served as the director until his retirement in December of 2005. Handy Avery then served as Interim Director for the remainder of that year and the name was changed to Huntsville Master Chorale. Tom Dooling was appointed to lead the Chorale in the summer of 2006.
About Our Director
Tom Dooling has been the Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama since April 2002, where he conducts the Chancel Choir, Logos Youth Choir, and the Westminster Ringers Handbell Ensemble.
Tom received his Masters of Church Music degree from the Southwestern Seminary School of Church Music in Fort Worth, Texas and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Business from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, he has studied advanced conducting techniques and orchestral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. As a bass soloist, Tom has appeared with church, amateur and professional choruses in both Alabama and Texas. As a conductor, Tom has served as an Assistant Conductor with the Fort Worth Symphony Festival Chorus and the Southwestern Seminary Oratorio Chorus. In 2004, Tom appeared as a guest conductor of the Madison Community Chorus in two performances of the Vivaldi "Gloria" and the Bach "Magnificat." In October, 2007, Tom participated as a Conducting Fellow in a conducting masterclass presented by Chorus America and hosted by St. Olaf College and the professional vocal ensemble, "VocalEssence." Faculty for the masterclass included Anton Armstrong and Phillip Brunelle, among others.
About Our Accompanists
Sharon Keffer is the Minister of Music at Huntsville First Church of the Nazarene, where she has served for over thirteen years. She is actively involved in the community as an accompanist and is in her fourth season of accompanying the Huntsville Master Chorale. Several schools in the area including Mountain Gap Middle School, The Academy for Academics and Arts, Stone Middle School and Hazel Green High School have engaged Sharon as an accompanist for various concerts, district and state festivals and solo and ensemble competitions. In addition, she works in the band room at Mountain Gap Middle School where she provides administrative support for a program of over two hundred students. In her spare time Sharon enjoys being a band mom at Grissom High School where her youngest child plays in the Symphonic I and Marching Tiger Bands. She also likes biking, cooking and volunteering in the soccer and basketball programs at her church.
Dr. Frank Contreras is a member of the music faculty at Oakwood University and is the organist at both Temple B’Nai Sholom and First Presbyterian Church here in Huntsville. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from West Virginia University, his Master of Music degree from East Carolina University, and his Bachelor of Music degree from Millikin University. He has also studied at The Royal School of Church Music and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He holds the Artist’s Diploma from the American College of Musicians. As a soloist, Frank has performed with the Huntsville Symphony on several occasions.