Libby McConnell, Accompanist, Bel Canto Chorus,  is an independent piano teacher with a private studio in Reston, Virginia. She has a B.A. in Music and English from Furman University, where she was a Furman Singer and accompanied the Chamber Singers. She also has a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy from Georgia State University. Libby has taught piano for over 20 years, is a certified teacher in Music Teachers National Association and is the president of Fairfax-Loudoun Music Fellowship. She also teaches preschool music classes in Reston and accompanies children's choirs at Lewinsville Presbyterian.
Ms. Gregoryk has also prepared members of CCW for a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame directed by former NSO Music Director Mstislav Rostropovich, and performances with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 conducted by Music Director Leonard Slatkin. She has prepared choristers for three NSO Family Concert Series Concerts, the premiere performance of Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express by Robert Kapilow, and two performances of Hallelujah Handel. Ms. Gregoryk was invited to be guest conductor for the 22nd Annual Interfaith Concert at the Washington National Cathedral. Ms. Gregoryk prepared the Concert Chorus for the Washington premiere of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 5, conducted by Dante Anzolini.

Ms. Gregoryk taught for many years at Chevy Chase Elementary School where her work with the school’s chorus won her considerable acclaim within professional music organizations, as well as invitations to perform within the United States and Europe. She prepared members of the Chevy Chase Chorus for the Grammy Award-nominated compact disc and film soundtrack recording of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov with Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony Orchestra. She also prepared the Chevy Chase Elementary School Chorus for conductors Rafael Fruebeck de Burgos, Erich Leinsdorf, Erich Kunzel, and James Paul.

Ms. Gregoryk is in constant demand as a workshop leader and guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada. At universities, such as Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., she has taught music educator's courses on children's vocal development and the children's chorus for many years. She has also been a seminar leader for numerous Orff-Schulwerk, Kodály, American Choral Directors and Music Educators chapters and is frequently invited to be a guest conductor for children's choral festivals. She has conducted performances in Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, Virginia , North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Texas .

Besides her exceptional work as a teacher, conductor and clinician, Ms. Gregoryk is also an accomplished writer. She was selected as the contributing author on children's vocal development and the children's chorus for the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Music Series, Music and You, as well as their 1994 Share the Music texts. She is one of the authors of the MENC 1990 publication Choral Music for Children, and has written articles for several professional music organization publications.

Because of her achievements, Ms. Gregoryk has been awarded numerous honors including Outstanding Arts Educator in the United States by the Rockefeller Brothers Funds Awards in Arts Education and the Maryland Outstanding Elementary Music Educator. She holds both a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Music Education, and is an Artist-Teacher Associate at the Choral Music Experience Institute. As a Teaching Associate, Ms. Gregoryk has taught conducting in London, and in Canterbury, England.
Joan Gregoryk
Joan Gregoryk, the Founder and Artistic Director of the Children’s Chorus of Washington, is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of children’s vocal music. Ms. Gregoryk prepared the singers for their debut at the Kennedy Center in November 1996 with The Washington Chorus (formerly The Oratorio Society of Washington) in a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony. She was invited by Music Director Leonard Slatkin to prepare the Chorus for four performances of Gabriel Pierné’s The Children’s Crusade with the National Symphony Orchestra and The Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center and at Carnegie Hall in November of 1997.
Michael Wu
Don Cotton
Libby McConnell
Michael Wu, Conductor, Bel Canto Chorus, has conducted the Bel Canto ensemble since its inception in 2006. In its inaugural season, Bel Canto was the featured children’s choir in John Rutter’s Mass of the Children conducted by the composer, and in Spring 2009 performed in Carmina Burana with the Master Chorale of Washington at the Kennedy Center. Mr. Wu is an organist, choral conductor, and composer, and he serves on the faculty at Landon School. His Landon choirs have been invited by audition to participate in the National Youth Choir Festival at Carnegie Hall, and they have worked with notable musicians, including Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the American BoyChoir. Mr. Wu serves as Director of Music at Faith United Methodist Church, Rockville, MD. He holds degrees in Organ Performance and Church Music from the Peabody Conservatory, and from Northwestern University.
This native Washingtonian has toured with American choirs and given organ recitals throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Mr. Wu has created and teaches the weekly music literacy instruction given to choristers in the Bel Canto and Treble Choruses.
Donald Cotton, Conductor, Treble Chorus, Young Men's Ensemble and Principal Accompanist, currently teaches music at Queen of Apostles Catholic School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he has established an exemplary music education program. The school’s choir under Mr. Cotton’s direction has become known throughout the Arlington Diocese for its extraordinary performances and has performed at the National Shrine, the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. Mr. Cotton has performed as a vocal soloist in Prague and has served as accompanist for children’s choral festivals throughout Europe and South America.
Mr. Cotton received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Accompanying from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, Virginia. He also serves as Director of Music for Queen of Apostles Parish. Mr. Cotton has been the Chorus’s principal accompanist since its founding in 1996.
Sonya Alexandra Knussen
Sonya Alexandra Knussen, Prep Class instructor, is a professional mezzo/alto singer and music educator. She teaches individual singing lessons, ear training and sight-singing classes at the college level as well as classroom music to children ages four to sixteen inluding classes in composition. She has coached beginners' chamber music groups (including British Associated Board string students at Grades 1 to 5) and a variety of children's choruses both in the UK and the U.S. Additionally, she has acted as assistant vocal animateur for projects with English National Opera and BBC Proms.
As a professional singer, she is equally at home performing new music and established repertoire. She has sung at numerous festivals and her engagements include performances with Peabody Camerata and Baltimore Baroque Band.
She was praised by the New York Times for her gracefully shaped vocal lines. Ms. Knussen is also Artistic Director of hexaCollective, an ensemble of versatile soloists, and Mount Vernon Music Space, a shared rehearsal and performance space for classical musicians.

Allan Decipulo
Allan Decipulo, Accompanist, Treble Chorus, received his Bachelor’s of Music with a concentration in piano performance from Radford University.  Upon graduation, Allan moved to New York City, and started accompanying for private voice studios, auditions, rehearsals, and vocal classes at Broadway Dance Center and Ballet Arts.  He also was the choral accompanist at City College of New York and the High School of Telecommunications, Arts & Technology in Brooklyn.  He recently just finished accompanying several classes at Camp Arena Stage.