Musical Leadership at a Glance (Bio below)
Directors
Nick Seifert, Director
Don Staffin, Assistant Director
Colleen Grzywacz, Associate Director
Section Leaders
Kim Cook, Alto
Richard Prestholdt, Tenor
Pat Cafaro, Bass
Subject Matter Experts
Doug Brown, Vocal & Performance Coach
Debra Lynn, Music Advisor, Clinician
Sean Devine, Music Advisor
Music Educators
Dr. John Wilson, Faculty in Residence
Colleen Grzywacz, Music Advisor
Manny Lopez, Music Advisor
Patricia Danner, Music Advisor
-----------------------------------------
Nick Seifert - Director
Nick is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he majored in saxophone performance and biological sciences. Nick was fully immersed in musical performance groups while at Notre Dame. He was involved throughout college with the Band of the Fighting Irish, performing with the Marching, Jazz, Concert, and Varsity Bands, and conducting his own arrangements for the Saxophone Choir. For his service to the band, he was awarded the prestigious Notre Dame Outstanding Band Member Award in 2020.
In addition to his instrumental pursuits, Nick sang with Notre Dame’s Christian a cappella group “Unchained Melodies”, and was elected music director his freshman year. Under his direction, the group gained much recognition on and off campus, performing in Notre Dame’s acca-fest, producing a campus-wide Christian Unity Concert, recording a professional music video, and starting a yearly service tour, bringing their music to homeless shelters, churches, and nursing homes throughout the Midwest.
Nick also served as the president and assistant director of the Notre Dame Handbell choir, performing with and conducting the group at masses and concerts in the Basilica, on the choir’s annual spring break concert tour, and on the group’s first recording project in over a decade. The Notre Dame Handbell Choirs were recently named as the featured performing ensemble for the 2021 Area V Festival Conference, and Nick was named Notre Dame’s Club Officer of the Year for his service to the ensemble.
As a product of the band and choral programs at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, and a lifetime member of the Pluckemin Presbyterian Church, Nick is very excited to return home as an educator and director to the central NJ music community.
Don Staffin - Assistant Director, In-House Arranger
Don has been singing, directing, and arranging for a cappella choruses since, well... a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Don and his wife Chris (SHH member and leader) co-directed their a cappella group in graduate school at Cornell University. He joined Jersey Harmony Express, the predecessor of SHH, in 2011 and grew as a contributor with his vocal percussion and arranging skills. As president, Don has led the development of a Music Advisory Board to help set the musical vision as the organization went through a complete transformation to a mixed chorus as “Somerset Hills Harmony”.
Tapping into his contemporary a cappella pedigree, Don stepped up as the interim music director of SHH’s own contemporary a cappella ensemble, The Gold Dynamic.
In 2017, Don and Chris became co-directors of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School A Cappella Alliance, an after-school workshop and performing ensemble for students looking to expand their musical horizons beyond traditional choral music to the world of contemporary a cappella. He has spearheaded SHH’s longtime partnership with the Bridgewater-Raritan scholastic arts community, including the establishment of the annual "Pluckemin A Cappella Festival" held each June.
Don has published more than twenty contemporary a cappella arrangements, is a published book author and part-time stand-up comedian. Don and Chris have four daughters, two of whom are also part of the Somerset Hills Harmony family. Professionally, Don is an executive with a global marine and e-commerce company.
Doug Brown - Vocal & Performance Coach
Doug is the Chairman and CEO of Paradigm Associates LLC, a company he founded in 1985. He has appeared on television and radio and has worked with executives representing every corner of the US, Canada, Central America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
While at the University of Delaware, he was elected to campus-wide, regional, and national offices and was an Intern in the U.S. Senate for Sen. William Roth (R-DEL). As a high school Intern, Doug was picked up and driven around by none other than Joe Biden, a County Commissioner in Delaware.
He has won numerous awards from organizations such as the Meadowlands Regional Chamber, The New York Society of Association Executives (NYSAE), and the Trusted Advisors Network, who inducted Doug into their Hall of Fame.
He and his wife, Jill, who have two grown sons, have both been active in their Cranford, NJ community. Doug is active as both a Lector and a Cantor for St Michael's Parish.
Debra Lynn - Music Advisor, Clinician
Debra has been contributing her vocal production understanding to the world of Barbershop since 2010, when she wrote her first articles connecting Bel Canto with higher-level results in The Harmonizer, presenting each year thereafter at BHS International Conventions and serving on Harmony University faculty at Belmont University in 2017/18. Her extensive coaching work has helped men and women to achieve the highest level success in all three barbershop organizations. She is author of The Bel Canto Buzz: Beautiful singing made simple! and is currently on International Faculty for Sweet Adelines International. Debra now maintains a worldwide online vocal studio and in 2018 established a Certification Training Program to
expand her impact and global vision for singing ease in this unique time of human transformation.
Sean Devine - Music Advisor
Sean Devine brings over 25 years of professional stage experience, education and design to SHH. He is a sought-after clinician, certified Performance Judge (BHS), and champion quartet singer with OC Times. Born and raised in “The Sweetest Place on Earth” – Hershey, PA, he is also the Founder & Artistic Director of the award-winning chorus, Parkside Harmony. From 2001-2008, Sean toured full-time with America’s Premier Doo-Wop Group, The Alley Cats. For the last 13 years he has proudly served our barbershop community as a Staff Member of Harmony Foundation, helping to connect people through charitable giving to enrich lives through singing.
Dr. John Wilson - Faculty in Residence
John Wilson has served as the choral director at Bridgewater-Raritan High School for fifteen years. His choirs perform frequently, and were most recently featured at the 2020 ACDA Eastern Division Conference in Rochester, NY. Dr. Wilson’s ensembles have performed at major venues in the New York/New Jersey area under the direction of Ryan Brandau, James Jordan, Amanda Quist, Alan Raines, Lee Nelson, and Andrew Megill, a notable example being a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in March of 2018 at Princeton University Chapel. John conducted the Virginia All-State Middle School Treble chorus in 2018 and the CJMEA Region Treble Chorus in 2019. Dr. Wilson has taught undergraduate courses in conducting and music education at Rutgers University, where he earned his masters and doctorate degrees in choral conducting. During 2020-2021, Dr. Wilson had the privilege of leading the Rutgers University Choir. John served as an Associate Director at the Princeton Girlchoir organization between 2015-2018, where he conducted the Cantores ensemble. This ensemble was featured in a recording of Steven Sametz’s A Child’s Requiem in 2015 which was led by the composer. From 2014-2019, Dr. Wilson served as a faculty member at the Summer High School Vocal Institute faculty at Westminster Choir College, where he conducted the Men’s Ensemble and taught a primer in conducting.
John is inspired by the community that is created through music making and the transformative power of text and music. John has been on the NJACDA board since 2013, where his role was to coordinate the annual NJACDA High School Choral Festival with Dr. Deborah Simpkin King.
Colleen Grzywacz - Music Advisor
Colleen grew up in Sussex County and studied music at The College of New Jersey, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with a Vocal Concentration. During her time at TCNJ, she was a member of the Trentones, a college a cappella group, singing with many of the group’s founders. Colleen was also a member of the TCNJ Chorale and Concert Choir. She was very active in TCNJ’s Opera Theatre, participating in several musicals and operettas throughout her four years.
After college, Colleen taught Chorus, General Music, directed Select Choir, and served as the Drama Club Music Director at Eisenhower Intermediate School in Bridgewater, NJ and was named the NJ Governor's Teacher of the Year in 2011. After Colleen had children of her own, she moved to Hackettstown Middle School where she currently teaches 5th-8th grade Chorus, 5th grade General Music, and directs two select choirs. Throughout her time at HMS, she has helped prepare several students for honor choir auditions and has had students accepted to ensembles at the county, region, state, and eastern level. She is passionate about providing her students with a positive and enriching experience in Chorus and building the foundation of healthy singing!
Colleen is an active member of many professional music organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, New Jersey Music Education Association, and the Morris Area Choral Director’s Association. For the past three years, Colleen has served as Manager of the Morris Area Middle School Honor Choir.
Colleen has been a member of Somerset Hills Harmony since January, 2020 and has thoroughly enjoyed performing with the group. In her spare time, she loves gardening, exercising, and spending time with her husband and three children.
Manny Lopez - Music Advisor
He combines his collegiate studies in Music Education, career as a music educator and over 19 years of experience as a member and leader with the Barbershop Harmony Society to bring fresh perspectives in his outreach to choral communities and singers. In Manny’s time with the BHS he has been an International Youth in Harmony committee member, director of Youth in Harmony for the Southwestern District, Director of the mixed voice chorus, the “San Antonio Chordsmen” and Director of the Southwestern District’s Youth chorus, “The Young Guns”. He is a founding member of “The Marcsmen”, a men’s chorus that has made several appearances on the BHS international stage. Manny is an active quartet singer, most prominently with collegiate quartet “Varsity”, the male quartet “Exclamation” and currently singing lead in mixed quartet “Southern Stride”. Most recently Manny was certified as a Leadership Facilitator for the Barbershop Harmony Society in which he engages with barbershop groups to achieve successes beyond just the music.
Patricia Danner - Music Advisor
Patricia Danner is the Choral Director at West Morris Mendham High School where she has directed traditional choirs, as well as contemporary a cappella ensembles for the last 19 years. Patricia is a graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, holding a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. While at Westminster, she performed in the Westminster Symphonic Choir with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at such venues as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and The Kennedy Center. She is an active member of NAfME and ACDA, and currently serves as treasurer of the Morris Area Choral Directors Association. In November, 2014, Patricia was presented with a Music Education Award, given by NAfME (National Association for Music Education) and SAI (Sweet Adelines International) for her promotion of barbershop and a cappella music in her school music program. She conducted the 2016 Morris Area Honor Choir, and the 2020 NJSMA Region Treble Choir. Outside of the music world, Patricia enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken and three children, Aidan, Clare, and Jonathan.
.
