HopewellValley
CentralHighSchool
ChoralDepartment
Matthew
Erpelding
Director of
Choral Activities
Matthew Erpelding is the currenty Director of Choral Activities at Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, New Jersey. Prior to coming to Hopewell Valley, Dr. Erpelding was director of Choral Activities at Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois for eight years. Dr. Erpelding likewise has considerable experience as a church musician. He conducted the Sanctuary Choir at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois, and was the director of the Chapel Choir, Youth Choir, and Bell Choirs at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Additionally, Dr. Erpelding is a member of the conducting faculty at the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Dr. Erpelding was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, as well as a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Northern Illinois University. His conducting teachers include Timothy Stalter, Eric Johnson, Tim Peter, and Weston Noble. Dr. Erpelding’s choral works have been performed all over the country by community, school, and university ensembles, and are available for through Earthsongs Choral Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishing. An award-winning educator, musician and scholar, Dr. Erpelding is an member of both the American Choral Directors Association and NAfME: The National Association for Music Educators.
Todd
Simmons
Collaborative
Pianist
Todd Simmons comes to Hopewell Valley from Westport, CT where he was the Assistant Director and piano instructor at the Westport School of Music since 2000. He has been the accompanist for the Fairfield County Children’s Choir Chamber Singers, performing at location in various places around the world including England, Ireland, Canada, and Hawaii.
Mr. Simmons has been choir director at Ridge High School and Princeton High School in New Jersey, as well as Fairfield High School in Connecticut. He also served for four years as the Director of the Women’s Choir at Fordham University, in Bronx, NY. He has also been the Director of Music for the United Methodist Church in Westport, CT, and most recently at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Wallingford, CT.
Mr. Simmons holds his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and a Master's degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has studied piano with Ingrid Clarfield and Vincent Lenti, and harpsichord with Dana Ragsdale.