Greenwich Choral Society
Christine Howlett, Music Director
Music...Magic...Joy - since 1926
Meet a Chorister -
Rachel Coan (alto)
Member Since:
2019
Profession: Corporate lawyer. I like the variety: from mergers and acquisitions to securities offerings to bank loans to structured finance to derivatives to investment funds to pro bono work for non-profits.
Music history: I have music in my genes. My father’s parents met at the Hartt School of Music. My grandmother was a graduate assistant teaching piano to an older gentleman who wanted her to meet his son; the rest is history. Both of my parents have sung in choruses, and my three siblings and I all played instruments. But musicality goes back much further. An amateur genealogist traced family members back to the early 1700s, and there are several professional musicians among them.
What other groups have you sung/played with? I’ve lived in Greenwich since I was eight. I loved the music program here: played flute in marching band, sang in the Chamber Singers. In college I sang in the Glee Club, did the European tour; after college, the Canterbury Choral Society in NYC. I love Bach, the Mozart Requiem, Whittaker.
Why do you sing? Singing makes me happy. I feel as if I’m always carrying music around with me, that it’s always going through my head in one form or another. And there’s something special about being in a chorus. The sum is greater than the parts: everybody listens, pays attention, gives something to each other as we try to re-create the composer’s ideas. It creates a special bond among singers. I get so much from participating in GCS, and then we get to share our joy in singing with others!
Fondest GCS memory: At the Friday dress rehearsal before our holiday concert, I found my eyes tearing up when we sang “Silent Night.”
Hobbies: We have a little house on Cape Cod where I love being outdoors, getting my hands dirty in the garden, walking, tennis. When I’m indoors, I’m a pretty good cook. I enjoy baking, learning new vegetarian meals, sheet-pan dinners. I like making soups . . . the butternut squash soup – I’ve got that down pat!