![Photo of Charlotte Finnerty]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1630961408/perkiomen/tmvwpu3pttntqgl2jjlm/cfinnerty.jpg","width":2200}])
Perkiomen School is proud to welcome Ms. Charlotte Finnerty as the new Director of Music. Before joining the Perkiomen faculty, Finnerty served as a music teacher, mezzo-soprano, and choral director in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.
“We’re confident Ms. Finnerty will strengthen music at Perkiomen,” says Head of School Mark A. Devey, “and we’re excited that through her connections, she is invested in developing relationships with local colleges and universities.”
Teaching and performing music during the COVID-19 pandemic was especially challenging. This year, Perkiomen School will once again be able to offer instruction for singing and musical instruments, as well as more performance opportunities for students.
Finnerty graduated summa cum laude from Moravian College, where she received a bachelor of music in vocal performance. While at Moravian, Finnerty studied voice with Suzanne Kompass and choral and instrumental conducting with Dr. Paula Ring Zerkle and Dr. Carl Hess. She embraced the musical life of Moravian College and even then echoed the Perkiomen motto of “risking becoming her best” by taking part in many musical groups, including Salon Ensemble, Marching Band, Song & Stagecraft, Women’s Chorus, Opera Ensemble, Voice Mastery, and the Moravian College Choir. She also completed an independent study in German Lieder and a semester-long advanced conducting project that was performed in her senior recital.
Finnerty sings regularly as a soloist with Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, and as a member of the choir that is directed by Minister of Music, Rebecca Lepore. In the Summer of 2017, she completed an internship in Marketing and Events Planning with Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. While in California, she had an extraordinary opportunity to study voice with renowned opera singer Susanne Mentzer.
Before accepting the position at Perkiomen School, Finnerty was the choral director for the El Sistema music program of Allentown Symphony for two years, where she learned to play violin, viola, and cello to help instruct beginner orchestra students in the program. Her versatility will serve her well in her new role. When she is not at work, she is taking classes towards her Master’s Degree in Music Education at Kutztown University.