By Freke Ette

On Sunday, May 3, the Hampshire Young People’s Chorus (YPC) wrapped its 2025-2026 season with a Spring concert at the Wesley Methodist Church in Hadley. Not only did it conclude a packed schedule that included performances in Amherst, Deerfield, South Hadley, and Worcester, it also marked the end of KC Conlan’s 27-year tenure as YPC’s founding Artistic Director. 

YPC is a children’s choir described by UMass Music Professor Stephen Paparo as the “best kept music secret in the Pioneer Valley.”

Emily Riddle, a parent whose children are part of the choir, praises YPC as, “an amazing organization with children getting an unbelievable musical education each week,” where they are exposed to wonderful music that is student-focused and community-oriented.

YPC’s presence in the community is the fruit of Conlan’s vision and hard work. 

There were already glimmers of a musical inclination from her childhood.

“I always loved choral singing, loved music, I played violin, I played a little piano,” Conlan recounts of her time growing up in New Jersey.

Her earliest transformative musical experience was as a member of the community youth choir Young Ridgewood Sings. 

While practicing the Vivaldi Magnificat, the director unpacked a moment of suspense in the choral composition, with a riveting explanation of dissonance, consonance, suspension, and resolution. 

“My head exploded,” she confessed. 

Conlan studied music education at the Boston Conservatory, landing a teaching job in the Brookline Public Schools. 

“I had a challenging first year teaching, but I’d had enough success that I really wanted to keep teaching music,” she said. “I just thought, I’ll take a job wherever I find it.”

Conlan moved to Amherst, securing a position at Fort River school, then followed up with a Master’s degree, during which time she taught at the UMASS Music Department.

Nevertheless, her heart yearned to teach children. “I felt like that was more my vocation than teaching college students,” she said.

She found the perfect spot at the Common School. Its small size, autonomy and collegial atmosphere were the working conditions she sought. She stayed there for 20 years.

Looking to expand its mission to include youth and a semi-professional chamber group, Hampshire Choral Society reached out. Apparently, Conlan’s work with the Common School and the Mount Holyoke Children’s Choir had caught their attention.

“I kind of had this dream of starting my own choir, but I didn’t know how to do the back end of it. I didn’t quite know how to do all the operational parts and find a rehearsal venue and funding and all of that,” she explained. “They came to me and said, ‘Look, we have a Board, we have a budget, we’ll make a flyer, we’ll help you advertise.” And I said ‘OK!’”

Building YPC: Diversity, Rigor, and Collaboration

Conlan’s vision for YPC was that it would cover a diverse repertoire, uphold the highest standards for musicianship and offer numerous opportunities to collaborate with a broad swath of organizations within Western Mass and beyond.

By all accounts, YPC achieved these goals.

Triin Vallaste, YPC’s collaborative pianist and a key member of the group for almost 10 years, stresses that Conlan’s long career rests on a rigorous work ethic. “She has thought every detail through and has high standards for herself,” Vallaste said.

Conlan’s commitment to world music is motivated in part by the experiences of her own children’s time with Village Harmony, a Vermont-based camp for teens and adults that features  music from various countries around the world. Another influence was her first intern Mollie Stone, an Amherst College student, who eventually wrote a PhD dissertation on the adaptation  of apartheid-era choral music in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

“I think when people think of choruses and classical music, it tends to be in a very narrow, very specific way. And what you’re working on is something much broader,” Conlan explained.

Jennifer Holme recalls how Conlan invited guest experts to help the choir with pronunciation, traditional instruments and even local dances. “For my daughter, this experience sparked a lifelong love of languages and a deep interest in other cultures,” Holme said.

Beyond diversity, Conlan makes sure that children receive the highest standards in music training. After all, the best compositions combine intellectual complexity with emotional impact.

“Obviously we want it to be fun. We want the kids to come back week after week,’ Conlan explains.

Riddle agrees that the music training was challenging for her daughter, but that was what drew her more to it. “It made her feel grown up,” Riddle said.

“She broke down difficult melodies and rhythms into manageable parts, teaching techniques such as solfège to develop sight-reading skills, musical understanding, and vocal technique,” Holme said.

Striking a balance between discipline and fun was one way that Conlan enlivened the chorus atmosphere. According to Vallaste, Conlan allows children to be themselves through sing-along games, silly times, dancing, changing partners and holding hands.

“It is a very good practice being bodily present,” Vallaste explains.

The payoff from all the rehearsals comes during the live performance. Conlan beams with pride when recounting a performance of La Bohème at Amherst College with the orchestra.

“They brought in soloists from New York and our kids did the children’s part in Act Two,” she said. “How thrilling for them up in the balcony looking down over the entire orchestra and the soloists.”

Music in the COVID-era

YPC faced its most difficult challenge in spring 2020.

Conlan and her family were on sabbatical in the Netherlands when Europe began its COVID shutdowns. They scrambled out of the country, escaping on one of the final flights from Amsterdam to Boston. She returned to make some tough decisions.

“I got home and we basically kind of shut down choir for the spring,” Conlan said. “But we realized we were going to disappear if we didn’t offer something, so we went online for that next year.”

Attempts to contain the spread of COVID and its effects on the vulnerable elderly population meant that the number of children in the chorus plummeted. Individuals couldn’t sing together and neither could they perform in closed venues. 

Given those restrictions, Conlan pivoted to teaching music theory and appreciation. With some technical help, YPC began making virtual choir videos. 

The next fall, YPC decided to meet in the church parking lot with all the chairs spread out. And then when Omicron hit, it was time to put masks back on. 

“We had the kids sitting four feet apart inside the church. It was an ordeal,” Conlan said. “Our numbers were way down. It was like starting from scratch.”

Paparo, the incoming president of the Board of Directors, remembers the COVID period as a difficult time. 

“Other musical organizations hard hit by the pandemic didn’t survive,” he said.

YPC adapted, building collaborations and seeking external grants from funding organizations. It joined the Handel & Haydn Society Youth Choir for a virtual project and later received a grant to support its recruitment and marketing efforts. 

COVID might be over, but its effects still linger on the choir. In this new landscape the requirements to run an organization the size of YPC have become harder to fulfill. 

Paparo lists some of the necessary activities as soliciting donations, selecting concert experiences, setting up venues, nurturing partners within the immediate community, the Five Colleges and other musical institutions, planning for yearly retreats, organizing outreach with local schools, among other items. 

“Teaching is the easy part,” Paparo explained.

The Next Chapter

As Conlan concludes her tenure with the YPC, there is an overwhelming sense of appreciation for what has been accomplished. 

Amherst College Professor of Music Jeffers Engelhardt is grateful for her years of service, her dedication to music education, both as a mentor to college students and as the director of the choir.

“A great artistic director has a special relationship sharing love and music-making. One must be able to communicate passion and excitement,” he said. “YPC is a special organization and she created it. It has and continues to touch people’s lives and bring joy as the default place for families interested in choral music in Western Mass.”

Holme explains that Conlan’s passion for music inspired her daughter to continue singing through high school and college.

“Music has become an essential part of her life, providing a creative outlet and a meaningful way to build friendships and connect with others,” she adds.

With retirement on the horizon, Conlan looks forward to a slower pace. That said, she has no intention of quitting music. Expect to see her continue performing with Northampton’s Novi Cantori.

Conlan also intends to volunteer more with Round the World Women, an organization that connects international women to resources in the area. She has already built lasting friendships with women through the group.

After 27 years engaged in what she describes as a “labor of love,” Conlan is ready for her next chapter.