JESSICA PIERPONT
Conductor, Artistic Director &
Founder of Vermont Chamber Artists
Conductor, Artistic Director &
Founder of Vermont Chamber Artists
Jessica Pierpont joins McGill University as a doctoral candidate in choral conducting. Her research will focus on Ralph Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem as well as girls’ choir performance practice methods.
Jessica Pierpont is currently the conductor, artistic director and founder of the Vermont Chamber Artists and of the Vermont Girls Choir in Vermont founded in 2016. She received her Master of Music degree in choral conducting at the University of Arizona and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in piano from Castleton University. Jessica holds a position at McGill University, as a course instructor teaching choral conducting to undergraduate students. In addition, she currently hold a position as conductor and course lecturer teaching Chorale at Northern Vermont University. Jessica has attended and participated in many music workshops, including Oxford University Workshops, Westminster Choir College summer workshops, Yale University 21C, ACDA regional collegiate workshops, Beyond the Baton with Diane Wittry and was selected as a conducting fellow in the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival hosted by the Yale School of Music. Jessica's primary conducting instructor is Dr. Jean- Sébastien Vallée with previous instruction from Dr. Bruce Chamberlain, Dr. Elizabeth Schauer and Dr. Sherrill Blodget, James Jordan, Gary Graden, T.J. Harper and orchestral conducting with Hugh Keelan.
Jessica Pierpont is currently the conductor, artistic director and founder of the Vermont Chamber Artists and of the Vermont Girls Choir in Vermont founded in 2016. She received her Master of Music degree in choral conducting at the University of Arizona and holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in piano from Castleton University. Jessica holds a position at McGill University, as a course instructor teaching choral conducting to undergraduate students. In addition, she currently hold a position as conductor and course lecturer teaching Chorale at Northern Vermont University. Jessica has attended and participated in many music workshops, including Oxford University Workshops, Westminster Choir College summer workshops, Yale University 21C, ACDA regional collegiate workshops, Beyond the Baton with Diane Wittry and was selected as a conducting fellow in the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival hosted by the Yale School of Music. Jessica's primary conducting instructor is Dr. Jean- Sébastien Vallée with previous instruction from Dr. Bruce Chamberlain, Dr. Elizabeth Schauer and Dr. Sherrill Blodget, James Jordan, Gary Graden, T.J. Harper and orchestral conducting with Hugh Keelan.
SUSAN MONTGOMERY- GROUT
Accompanist- Sharon Division
Accompanist- Sharon Division
Susan Montgomery-Grout is joining our team for her first season having recently returned to her native Vermont after living in Boston, Raleigh and Brooklyn for the last 40 years. She began playing at the age of 6, learning from her mother Jean, an accompanist with the Randolph Singers for many years. Ms. Montgomery-Grout received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Boston University. She studied song literature and the art of collaborative piano playing with Allen Rogers, solo performance with Lenore Engdahl and baroque ensemble accompanying with Thomas Dunn. Susan has extensive choral accompanying experience and was the pianist for 3 choral groups at the Longy School of Music for over 10 years during her tenure in Boston as well as numerous pit orchestras and local performing groups. Her other musical interests include flute, organ, singing with the Randolph Singers and recently has taken up the mandolin. When not practicing, Susan enjoys skiing, yoga and cooking.
MELISSA DICKERSON
Accompanist- Burlington Division
Accompanist- Burlington Division
Soprano Melissa Dickerson performs extensively as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout Vermont. Recent vocal appearances include “First I’ll Try Love” recitals with pianist Samuel Whitesell, the rarely performed Grande Messe des Morts by Francois-Joseph Gossec with the Burlington Choral Society, Händel’s Messiah with the Vergennes Community Chorus, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Oriana Singers, and Mahler’s 2nd and 3rd symphonies with the Green Mountain Mahler Festival. As a pianist, Ms. Dickerson collaborates with area vocalists and instrumentalists in recitals, competitions, festivals and special events. Ms. Dickerson is excited to collaborate this season with the Vermont Chamber Artists as their rehearsal pianist. She has performed with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus as their accompanist and also worked closely with the young artists of the Opera Company of Middlebury. She collaborates as a singer-pianist with Finnish-Canadian soprano Emili Losier in Duo Toivo. Ms. Dickerson received her Bachelor of Arts in voice performance from North Greenville University in South Carolina. An avid church musician, Ms. Dickerson leads the music ministry at Faith United Methodist Church in South Burlington. She maintains a teaching studio for voice and piano at the University of Vermont as well as her private studio in Milton, Vermont.
LYDIA BUSLER
Orchestra Manager
Orchestra Manager
Hornist/composer LYDIA LOWERY BUSLER performed as a teen with the Boston Symphony and composed as a youth for dancers. She continued performing with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, the Jose Limon Dance Company, and is a soloist and prominent improvisationalist on her own and as a founding member of the Tradewinds Improv Ensemble. Lydia has been awarded as composer by the Consortium of Vermont Composers, the International Horn Society, and the Massachusetts Arts Council, collaborating on large theatre works with lyricist Lars Nielsen. She manages the Heritage Brass, the Modern Brass Project, the Revels Brass, and well as the Vermont Chamber Artists. Lydia is a Siegfried's Call Artist and a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon, inducted to the ACME Hall of Fame of Esteemed Artists, Composers, Musicologists, and Educators for her outstanding credentials as a composer, performing artist, and clinician in the United States and abroad. Lydia resides in Vermont with her son Tristan, dogs, and chickens.
