About Spectrum
The Spectrum Singers
Acclaimed Cambridge-based chorus, The Spectrum Singers, is a welcoming community of experienced choral singers committed to performing a wide spectrum of music, presenting relevant, wide-ranging, less-heard, and captivating musical offerings. We take pride in collaborating with Boston’s finest singers, instrumentalists, composers, and poets, as well as programming empowering projects with exceptional international artists.
The Spectrum Singers was founded in 1980 by John W. Ehrlich, who led the ensemble for 44 years until his retirement in 2024. The 2025-2026 season welcomes Music Director, Max Holman, to embark on a new era of Spectrum music-making. Read more about Spectrum’s history over the past four decades.
Discover how you can be a part of the future of The Spectrum Singers by auditioning to sing with us, experiencing our live performances, and supporting Spectrum’s dedication to serve our community through our unique programming and transformative music-making.
Music Director Max Holman is a Boston-based musician recognized for his memorized, clear, and expressive conducting, sensitive collaborative instincts, and “clever” improvisations (Artsong Update). Equally comfortable in front of professional, community, and youth ensembles, his expertise as a vocal coach and choral clinician has transformed seasoned, aging, and changing voices alike.
In addition to serving as the Music Director of The Spectrum Singers, Max is the Executive & Artistic Director of the Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus, Assistant Conductor of the Cambridge Chamber Singers, and Middle & Upper School Choral Music and Spanish Teacher at Brimmer and May School. This summer, he will conduct and perform with Grupo Talía’s Encuentro Orquestal Sinfónico in Alba de Tormes, Spain.
Previous international engagements have taken him to Muscat, Rome, Bologna, Milan, Venice, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, and Montreal. Stateside he has performed on harpsichord with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Norfolk Chamber Consort; sung with the Yale Schola Cantorum, Virginia Chorale, and Music Sacra; and played piano with the Boston Children’s Chorus and Virginia Children’s Chorus. An accomplished ballet accompanist, Max has played at American Repertory Ballet and New Haven Ballet, the latter of which commissioned him to compose and record The Children’s Ballet.
Max received his Bachelor of Music from Rutgers University and his Master of Music from the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. When he’s not making music, Max enjoys cooking, cycling, immersing himself in new cultures, forever improving his Spanish, attempting to learn how to dance, making people laugh, and playing fetch with his cat, Estrella. Learn more about Max here.
Music Director
Assistant Conductor & Accompanist
James Barkovic has been active in the Boston area as a conductor, pianist, organist, violist and accompanist for more than thirty years. In addition to serving as the Assistant Conductor and Accompanist for The Spectrum Singers, he is the Music Director of the Westford Chorus. He serves as Music Director at Holy Family Parish and West Concord Union Church, both of Concord, Mass. Jim is the Chapel Organist and Instructor of Organ at Middlesex School, also of Concord. He is also the Choir Director at Congregation B’nai Shalom of Westborough, Mass.
Jim received his Master of Music in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Stephen Drury, performed in master classes for Leonard Shure and Veronica Jochum, and studied organ improvisation with William Porter. A native of Minnesota, he received his undergraduate diploma from St. Olaf College, with concentrations in music theory and history.
This is Jim’s 34th season as Assistant Conductor and Accompanist of The Spectrum Singers.
Founder and Music Director Emeritus
John W. Ehrlich, Founder and Music Director Emeritus, has been active as a singer and conductor in the Boston and Cambridge areas for more than forty-five years. He is widely admired for his intriguing and adventuresome programming. “From the beginning, it’s been my goal to seek out and perform worthy, important music that is rarely heard,” he says. “As our name suggests, we draw on the whole ‘spectrum’ of master works from the Renaissance to the present day.”
Mr. Ehrlich studied music and conducting while attending the Hartt School of Music, Trinity College, and both Harvard and Boston Universities. His teachers were Robert Shaw, Gregg Smith, G. Wallace Woodworth, Vytautas Marijošius, and Iva Dee Hiatt. Also a singer, Mr. Ehrlich has sung with the Hartford Chamber Choir, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Cambridge Society for Early Music, John Oliver Chorale, Boston Baroque, and the Emmanuel Church Choir. For eight seasons he was music director of The Master Singers of Worcester.
Mr. Ehrlich retired at the end of the 2023-24 season after leading the group for 44 years.
Singers
Soprano: Luellen Best - Jenny Calahan - Anja Castro-Diephouse - Jill Fekete - Valerie Gibson - Kaitlyn Hess Jimenez - Leslie Horst - Tricia Wells Kennedy - Maki Koto - Marissa Maney - Sandra Shepard - Anna Andrews Smith - Kathi Tighe* - Eve Waldron - Reeven Wang Dai
Alto: Mia Bernstein - Christine Bishop - Diane Droste - Liz Epstein - Dorrie Freedman - Sara Glidden* - Mara Goldberg - Linda Ingram - Elisabeth Jas - Isabelle Longfellow - Jeannette McLellan - Nicole Meyerson - Macey Owen - Roslyn Pedlar - Kim Soleski Ward - Abigail White
Tenor: Lukas Bane - Thomas A. Best - Paul Dredge - Ian Fox - Keith Ohmart - John Schumacher - Frank Villa* - Maurice Wong
Bass: Ron Armstrong - John Bradshaw - Dan Epstein - Stanley Gibson - Ian Hutchinson - Douglas Latham - Henry Magno - David Meharry* - Richard Scott - Steven Solomon
*Section leader
Board of Directors
Daniel Epstein (Chair) - Kathryn Tighe (Chorus President) - James Cannon Johnston (Treasurer) - Anna Andrews Smith (Clerk) - Valerie Gibson (Artistic Coordinator) - Max Holman (Music Director) - C. Paul Dredge - Kaitlyn Hess - Christopher M. Keppelman - Douglas N. Latham - Richard Scott
Mission Statement
The mission of The Spectrum Singers is to present relevant, inspiring, and captivating concerts of beautiful, obscure, and underrepresented music ranging the full spectrum of composer identities, time periods, and stylistic approaches. The Spectrum Singers are committed to connecting with the Greater Boston community through our engaging and evocative programming alongside exceptional local and international collaborators.
Nondiscrimination Statement
The Spectrum Singers as an organization does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, disability status, national origin, or ethnicity in any aspect of its programming and administration. Sexual harassment in any form is not tolerated. The Spectrum Singers are committed to improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, both in membership and in programming.