Staff
Gary Toops has been the Artistic Director of The Festival Singers since it was founded in 1982. He holds degrees in music from UC Berkeley, University of the Pacific in Stockton, and The American Guild of Organists. He is Emeritus Professor of Music at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, and has served as organist/choirmaster for several churches. Gary has traveled extensively as an organ soloist, and made his Carnegie Hall debut along with The Festival Singers in 1996, and subsequently returned to perform under the direction of composer John Rutter. Gary is listed in The International Who’s Who in Music and Who’s Who In American Keyboard Music, and is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the National Association of Church Musicians, Chorus America, and the American Choral Directors Association.
Carol Roman holds music degrees in piano performance and composition from California State University, Fullerton, and received her teaching credential through California State University, Long Beach. She is an accomplished pianist and keyboardist. She has performed and recorded in Europe and the Middle East, and has been singled out for her unique piano arrangements, which combine a strong classical technique with a remarkable gift for improvisation. Carol has released four CD’s: “Broadway & Romance”; a CD of winter holiday music called “Carol’s Christmas”, and two original CD’s, one a live performance called “Show Me the Way”, and the latest, “Going Home, Songs of Comfort”, written in memoriam for people close to her heart.
Board
- Marjie Toops, President
- Beth McConaughy, Secretary
- Barbara Griffith, Treasurer
- Gerald McMillan, Advisory Member
- Joyce Dery, Member
- Cynthia Drennan, Member
- Maureen Ong, Member
- James Tognazzini, Member
Other Helpers
- Beverly Robinson – Social Chairperson
- Cynthia Drennan – Program Design and Printing
- April Rudge – Performance Venue Coordinator
- Barbara Griffith – Mailing
- Beth McConaughy – Facebook Coordinator
- Maureen Ong – Publicity
- Dennis Paulson, Jason Poarch and Mark Poarch – Stage and Equipment Managers
- Marjie Toops – Librarian
- Daniel Wilson – Photographer
- Armsby Services – Webmaster