Administrative Staff 

Sue Wheldon, Executive Director

Affiliated with Carolina Voices since 1986, Ms. Wheldon became the Executive Director in 2004.  She oversees the day-to-day business operations and functions of the organization and works closely with the organization’s Board of Directors and Artistic Staff to establish strategic goals and objectives.  A graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, Ms. Wheldon's background includes education, sales and marketing, and music.   

 

 

 

Beverly Seitz, Associate Executive Director
Ms. Seitz joined Carolina Voices in 2006 and oversees the marketing and promotional aspects of the organization.  With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and public relations, Ms. Seitz has worked in a variety of industries including  financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality and over 15 years in the arts.   She graduated with a degree from the College of Communications at Florida State University.

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Music Staff

 

Donna Hill, Director of Festival Singers

Now in her seventh season as director of the Festival Singers, Ms. Hill has successfully led the group in inspiring concert seasons including the premiere of two new works — Beatitude Mass  by Henry Mollicone and Psalm 138 (text from the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and commissioned by Carolina Voices) by David Crowe.  

As the director, Ms. Hill looks for opportunities to program music that is new, sometimes untraditional and most especially music that touches and inspires the heart.  She also serves as the Choir Director for Central United Methodist Church in Concord, North Carolina. In the Charlotte music community, she served as the Associate Conductor and singer for the Oratorio Singers and serves as the conductor for the annual Hospice Light Up a Life service.  Ms. Hill received her Bachelors of Music Education in Choral Conducting from Winthrop University where she studied choral conducting with Dr. Robert Edgerton.   She also studied with the former Oratorio Director, the late, Dr. Mary Nell Saunders. Ms. Hill feels deeply that music  has the power to heal and transport the Spirit.

 

Peter Leo, Director of MainStage Choir

Native to the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, IL, Peter Leo is in his 4th year midst the cozy climate of Charlotte asfull-time Director of Music & Worship Arts at Matthews United Methodist Church.  Earning a Bachelors in Music Education from Illinois Wesleyan University and Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Southern California, Peter finds leading others in singing his life vocation.  Beginning at the age of 10, Peter performed in and directed musical theater productions at the high school, collegiate and semi-professional levels.  His study of the choral art has come under the tutelage of Diane Lewis, Doreen Rao, David Nott, Paul Wiens, William Dehning and Jeffery Hunt.  Peter resides in Matthews, North Carolina with his wife Laura and two daughters, Erin and Madeline.

 

 

Kristin Hinds, Director of MainStage Choir

Kristin Hinds is thrilled to be directing the Mainstage Choir this spring. Since 2003, she has held various positions within Carolina Voices including singer, dancer, and choreographer. She has also been the director of NoteAbility, and assistant director of Impromptu, Mainstage, and Carolina Kids Voices. She graduated with a music education degree from Ball State University in 2002, and is currently the music specialist at Stallings Elementary in Union County. She is passionate about educating and directing musicians of all ages, and believes in the positive impact that singing, playing, and performing can have in one's life. When Kristin is not directing, working, or teaching, she can be seen in and around the Charlotte arts community as a performer and choreographer.

 

 

John Quillin, Director of Impromptu

Mr. Quillin was appointed Interim Director of Impromptu in the summer of 2011.  He also currently serves as the Managing Artistic Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte, its small ensemble, 7th Son, and its LGBTQA youth arts outreach project, Sing Out.  Mr. Quillin has been conducting church, youth, and community choirs for over 30 years, including service as the former Artistic Director of One Voice Charlotte and its small ensemble, Sotto Voce.  He attended UNC Greensboro, where he studied composition, cello, and Renaissance woodwinds and strings.  He received his undergraduate degree in music theory, pursued graduate-level study at UNC Charlotte, and studies choral conducting with a wide variety of world-renowned conductors.  As a published composer and arranger, Mr. Quillin believes strongly in the value of new music; over the past 20 years, he has commissioned a large number of original works and arrangements from some of the US brightest and best composers and arrangers.

 

 

Matthew Hinson, Assistant Director of MainStage Choir

Matthew Hinson holds a degree in Music Education from East Carolina University, with concentrations in choral music and piano accompaniment.  Mr. Hinson currently serves as Music Director for the middle and high school Musical Theatre programs and Piano Instructor at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte.  Mr. Hinson has served as vocal and orchestra director of Cabarrus County Playmakers, performed with Old Courthouse Theatre, and has served as music director for shows with other Charlotte-area high schools and Catawba Care Coalition.  He has directed numerous master classes, and has sung with the North Carolina Symphony, Opera Carolina, and Oratorio Singers of Charlotte’s Main Chorus and Chamber Chorus with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.  Mr. Hinson has won awards in both district and regional National Association of Teachers of Singing vocal competitions.  He has also served as Associate Conductor of The Arts Experience choirs, festival coordinator for the Cabarrus County All-County Choral Festival, music director of The Arts Experience summer camp, and currently serves as the Residence Life Director of Summer Ventures in Science and Math at Appalachian State University.  He owes most of his success to his parents – none of these accomplishments would be possible without their unconditional love and constant support.

 

 

Diann Clark, Staff Accompanist, Festival Singers and MainStage Choir

Diann Clark moved to Charlotte in September, 2007 from the Washington DC metro area where she frequently performed with Chamber groups, large vocal ensembles and soloists. She has held church organist positions in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Virginia. Currently a member of the American Guild of Organists, and the Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum, she is a nationally certified teacher of the Music Teachers National Association. In 1992, 1996, and 2001, she was recognized as an Outstanding Teacher by the Governor’s School of Virginia. She serves as music associate/organist at Providence Baptist Church.