Your Regional Management Team, along with Harriette Walters, are thrilled to announce that this year we have a winning duo sharing the honor of receiving the 2021 Harriette Walters Leadership Award.
The 2021 winners are Barbara Festa & Laura Riffaud, co-directors of Island Hills Chorus.
Lori Britt Horvath (Regional Management Team Coordinator), Phyllis Capolongo (Region 15 Finance Coordinator), and Harriette Walters (Master Director 700, and inspiration for this Regional Award!) attended Island Hills’ performance on August 4 – their first show since January 2020 – and surprised our honorees afterwards with the special news.
You can watch the award presentation here:
The whole video is about 7 minutes long. The surprise and presentation start right around 1:30.
The video is posted to the Greater NY / NJ Region 15 Facebook page, but you do not need to be a Facebook user to watch!
As introduced by Lori Britt Horvath, "In 2010, the Regional Management Team created this award in Harriette's honor, and every year it has been given to somebody who exemplifies the characteristics of leadership: Loyalty, empowerment, accountability, diversity, excellence, respect, sharing, honesty, integrity, and proaction. This year's winners are Barbara Festa and Laura Riffaud."
In her remarks, Harriette Walters, had this to say: "These two directors have blended their strengths to being the best of their talents. Laura Riffaud and Barbara Festa have worked tirelessly to revitalize Island Hills Chorus. They have brought new interpretations to some of the repertoire. They have introduced new songs while the chorus was in isolation. It wasn't until they came together and heard their voices in all four parts that they realized how successful these ladies' teaching was. They focused sectionals on helping each person perfect the songs, and they used whole chorus Zooms to teach music theory, techniques, and boost morale. They've noticed improvements in the quality of the sound, and have attracted four potential members in the last month. [The RMT and I] all agreed that this is where this award belongs this year."
Congratulations, Barbara and Laura!
For more on this annual regional award, visit: https://sairegion15.org/Leadershipaward
L to R: Laura Riffaud, Harriette Walters, Barbara Festa
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