Rossi Named Mohawk Valley Chorus Director

David M. Rossi, a music teacher at Germantown Central School, has been named director of the Mohawk Valley Chorus.

He will be only the sixth director of the chorus in its 75 years of existence, succeeding John H. Nethaway, who retired after 30 years of service this spring.

Besides his teaching experiences, Rossi has been music director of the Choraliers of St. Clare’s in Schenectady since 2004 and of the Clifton Park Community Chorus the past year. He is also choir director and organist at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Christ the King Church, a position he has held since 2003.

His teaching career, before joining the Germantown district two years ago, has included stints at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady and St. Brigid’s Regional Catholic School. He also served as a substitute teacher at Sidney Central for several years.

Among his other conducting experience was directing the First Congregational Church of Greene choir, where he also led a three-octave bell choir, and the Tri-Town Ecumenical Choir.

Rossi is a graduate of Colonie Central High School and Hartwick College, where he sang with the Hartwick College Choir and the Hartwick Chamber Choir. He has also sung with the Catskill Choral Society.

He will be leading MVC when it resumes rehearsals for the 2009-10 season on Monday, Sept. 12, said president Charles Snyder.

In Rossi’s application, he expressed hope “to work with a choir of people from various backgrounds and experiences. I would like to work with and direct a group of people who enjoy music and learning a variety of musical styles. I would enjoy working with people who have interests that are comparable to my own.”