Children's Choir

The 2025–26 Children's Choir season will take place on Monday afternoons from 4–5:30 p.m. in Phillips Music Center at Gordon College.

Fall season begins Monday, September 22, 2025. Enrollment is currently open for the fall 2025 season—register online today! Open to children in grades 1–8 and High School (new!) from all communities on the North Shore.

We nurture student musicianship, build confidence, and encourage artistic expression through developmentally appropriate vocal instruction. The Children's Choir provides an ensemble experience that allows students to develop musically as individuals while contributing to the joy and artistry of singing together with their peers.

We believe that students of varying ages can learn from each other by leading and working together to create something beyond the individual.

This registration form is for all new and returning Choir members who wish to sing beginning in September 2025 (fall semester). No financial commitment is required at the time of registration—submission of the form simply saves a space for your child in the program.

No auditions or enrollment appointments are required for fall 2025 participation.

Rehearsals will take place Monday afternoons from 4–5:30 p.m. beginning September 22, 2025.

Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Schedule

Beginning Monday, September 22, 2025:
4–5:30 p.m.  Rehearsal in Phillips Recital Hall, Phillips Music Center

Download our detailed class and performance calendar here.
Fall Choir Season: September 22, 2025–December 6, 2025

The Choir follows public school vacation and holiday closings, with no rehearsals on those Mondays.

Tuition

$200 for 2025 fall semester ($200 for first child, $100 for additional siblings)
$200 for 2026 spring semester (beginning in January 2026)

The tuition charge will cover the cost of materials, instructional resources, staff time, and choir uniform shirt.

Payment is due by check payable to Gordon College only when the student is fully committed to participating for the semester.

Fall Semester Tuition: due October 1, 2025
Spring Semester Tuition: due March 30, 2026

Reduced rates are available for members of the Gordon community, including faculty and staff, and full-time students at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Please contact us at [email protected] or 978.867.4429.

About the artistic staff

Sandra Doneski, Artistic Director, has been a teacher of music to students in Kindergarten through graduate school. She is Dean of Faculty, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Music Education at Gordon College. She teaches courses in music education methods, learning theory, assessment, and curriculum development; supervises student teachers; and conducts the Gordon College Children’s Choir. She founded the Children’s Choir in 2000 to give children in the community an opportunity to grow as musicians, and music education majors an opportunity to develop as teachers and conductors. Dr. Doneski has also served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, where she was Associate Conductor of the Children’s Choir Program. Under her guidance, NEC implemented choral programs for early elementary and middle school students that focused on vocal pedagogy and building musicianship. She has served as a conductor for MENC (NAfME) and ACDA sponsored events throughout the Northeast, and is co-founder of Embracing the New Music Educator – a mentoring program for new music educators in Massachusetts. She currently serves as co-chair of the Massachusetts Common Music Initiative Project.

In 2009, Dr. Doneski was the recipient of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Lowell Mason Award and the Society for General Music in Massachusetts Excellence in General Music Award. In 2012, she was awarded the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award and in 2013 she received the Administrators in Music Education Visionary Leadership Award.

Dr. Doneski has published articles and conducted workshops on choral literature and techniques, curriculum development, assessment and mentoring. She recently co-authored a chapter in the MENC Handbook: Research on Teaching and Learning in Music Education titled "Research on Elementary and Secondary School Singing."

She is a graduate of Gordon College and received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Music Education from The Hartt School, University of Hartford.

Andrea Welty Peachey, Assistant Conductor, has been in music education for 24 years in four states including PA, CT, TX and IL.  These assignments have included private and public schools, elementary through high school, suburban, rural and urban settings and teaching choral, general, adaptive music, music appreciation and additional classes in computer technology. She has been a member of the National Association of Music Educators and American Choral Directors Association in four state chapters. She has directed and accompanied school musicals, directed high school jazz and a cappella ensembles as well as earned superior ratings for her choirs in Texas and Illinois. She enjoys accompanying choirs as well as conducting. Andrea earned her Bachelors of Arts in Music Education from Goshen College in northern Indiana and her masters degree in Music Education from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford, CT. She has also served in music leadership in her local and national church denomination. Other interests include practicing her Spanish, swimming with a local masters swim team and hiking with her husband.  They have a college-aged daughter, Allysen who attends Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.