GBFOM BOARD
GBFOM is organized around its mission statement,
its by-laws and a three year strategic plan centered on five areas:
1. Music Programming
2. Choral Consortium
3. Budget/Fundraising
4. Board Development
5. Marketing/Public Relations.
The strategic plan can be viewed here.
The GBFOM Board draws on the enthusiastic participation of its members,
each of whom brings special skills as musicians, educators and seasoned professionals.
Joseph Spino
President
Joe Spino has been involved in the choral music scene for many years, currently singing with the Harmonia Chamber Singers, in which he has been a member since 2009. Joe has also been a member of the St. Joseph Cathedral Choir since 2002 and is one of the Cathedral cantors, singing for masses throughout the year. When not singing, Joe is the Project Coordinator at the Erie County District Attorney's Office where he writes grants and oversees programs relating to domestic violence and crime victim advocacy as well as specialized prosecution units addressing gun violence, white collar crime, and other issues.
Kathie Hartmans
Secretary
Kathie Hartmans is the owner of Quality Bindery Services Inc., Buffalo. In addition to serving as secretary of the Greater Buffalo Friends of Music, she serves on the Board of Directors as Vice Chair of the WNY Book Arts Center and is Chair of the NYS Printing Industry Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Vocalis Chamber Choir and was actively involved as a mother of a long-time chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Samuel Savarino
Samuel Savarino is a seasoned developer and owner of numerous commercial properties across Western New York. He is the founder and owner of Savarino Properties LLC, a Buffalo-based firm specializing in construction management and property/asset management. With a background as a general contractor, Mr. Savarino’s firms have been responsible for the construction of significant projects throughout WNY, the Carolinas, and Florida, including academic institutions, sports facilities, office buildings, apartments, and historic restorations.
A graduate of The State University of New York at Buffalo with a BA in History, Mr. Savarino is certified by the Construction Specifications Institute as a Construction Documents Technologist (CDT) and a Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA). As an active community leader, he has served on numerous boards, chaired capital campaigns, and continues to contribute to various civic and charitable organizations in the Buffalo area. He has won many awards including the Arts Service Initiative Arts Integration Award (2019) and the Buffalo Spree Friend of the Arts Award (2016).
Anita Chadwick
Having supported the introduction to, and the perpetuation of choral music and the traditions within which it lies to broader and younger audiences for many years, Anita Chadwick is honored to be a member of the Greater Buffalo Friends of Music Board of Directors and a member of their Hospitality Committee. A graduate of Canisius College and employee of M&T Bank, Anita has over twenty years of retail and business banking experience. Her avocation for many years had been model and talent management through matching the vision of the work with the talent that best exemplifies that vision. Anita has taught modeling and etiquette courses, lectured at corporations on topics of business etiquette and grooming and is a guest speaker at schools and civic organizations.
Elise Edwards
Elise Edwards has been involved in choral music for many years, starting with participating in various school choirs and the St. Gregory the Great’s “Glory Beats” choir. More recently, Elise has been involved in the “Lawyer’s for the Arts” fundraiser concerts. Elise is an attorney at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, where she primarily provides corporate and regulatory guidance to not-for-profit organizations and organizations in the healthcare industry.
Patricia Hills
Patricia Hills enjoys teaching PK–5th grade vocal music and intermediate chorus at Windermere Boulevard School in the Amherst Central School District. She has a Bachelor of Music Ed., Voice degree from Houghton College and a Master of Music
Education Degree from SUNY Fredonia. She is the membership chair for the Western New York Orff Schulwerk Association and a founding member of Greater Buffalo Friends of Music. In her spare time she enjoys singing with three professional choirs: the Vocalis Chamber Choir, the St. Joseph Cathedral Choir, Buffalo and the Women’s Choir of Buffalo. She continues to study voice with Dr. Margaret Kuhl and has had the pleasure of singing recitals on several area recital series. She and her husband, Robert Patterson, reside in Buffalo.
Priscilla Wiedl
Priscilla Wiedl is a retired Vocal Music teacher who taught grades K-12 in several area public school districts, including Lake Shore Central Schools. Throughout her career she has maintained a private studio in piano, voice and organ, and mentored several students who pursued careers in music. She has held positions as organist-choir director is several area churches. A graduate of Houghton College, she did graduate study at Buffalo State College, Canisius College and Fredonia University. A former board member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and chair of the St. Paul’s Cathedral Friends of Music, she is currently secretary of the Buffalo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and was on the steering committee for the 2019 AGO Regional Convention held in Buffalo.
Allyn Foster
Vera Kozak
Vice President
Vera Kozak is a retired English teacher (University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Texas, Austin; Calasanctius School, Buffalo) who has been active on Buffalo's choral music scene for thirty years. She sang for twelve years in the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and later in the Schola Cantorum at St. Paul's Cathedral. She also served as administrative assistant in the music department at the Cathedral, and was on the Music Committee there. Subsequently, she was a founding member of the board of FOM in its original incarnation as Friends of Music at St. Paul's; she has been with Greater Buffalo Friends of Music since its establishment in 2017. She is also a founding member and past president of the board of Vocális Chamber Choir, and, in addition, serves as its administrative assistant. She currently is a member of the St. Joseph Cathedral Choir.
William Ferguson
Treasurer
Even though he is a CPA and a "numbers person" by trade, Bill Ferguson has always enjoyed music in many forms, from early music through contemporary, baroque to classical to choral, jazz to Celtic to rock. Unfortunately, Bill has never had the ability to actually make music, he can't carry a tune to save his life. However a favorite saying of his is "every artist or group needs an appreciative audience or listener;" this is the role he happily fulfills.
Tim Socha
Artistic Director
Tim Socha is Organist-Choir Director at St. Joseph Cathedral and Dean of the Buffalo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. A former chair of the Music Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York he has also served as music director at Trinity Church, Buffalo and Grace Church, Lockport. He is a graduate of Colgate University, where he studied organ with Mary Ann Dodd and choral conducting with Marietta Cheng. He has performed throughout Western New York as an organist, accompanist, choral director and as a member of the Royalton Ringers, a handbell quartet. Having taught choral music for ten years at Nichols School and having maintained a private piano study for more than twenty years, he currently teaches part-time at the Catholic Academy of West Buffalo.
David Werth
David Werth serves as the Director of Traditional Worship at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Buffalo where he leads a music ministry that includes multigenerational participation in choirs and instrumental ensembles. In 2021, he founded a music conservatory there including, currently, six teachers (organ, piano, voice, woodwinds, and cello) and 70 students. David also directs the Valparaiso University Guild Candlelight Christmas Vesper (now in its 68th year) at First Trinity. Additionally, David serves as director of the national Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, participant and vice president of the Lutheran Chorale of the Niagara Frontier and treasurer of Buffalo’s premier chamber choir, Harmonia. David has degrees in accounting and law and is a tax partner at Tronconi Segarra & Associates, one of Western New York’s largest public accounting and professional services firms.
Peter Angelakos
A former High School Director of Instrumental music turned investment advisor, Peter Angelakos relocated from New Jersey to Western New York in 1998 to take over as Branch Manager of the Morgan Stanley office in downtown Buffalo. He has a love of opera and studied voice through college, performing a number of operatic roles in college and with the Amato Opera Company in New York City. Peter also holds a masters in orchestral conducting. He proudly served as a principal with the Ramsi Tick Concert Series which sponsored and brought many famous and gifted artists to Buffalo. Presently, Peter is a Vice President and Investment Adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors. He is married to Stephanie and has three grown children and four grandchildren.
Tim Stachowiak
Timothy Stachowiak has been involved in the WNY choral music scene from a young age. He started singing at Saint Paul's Cathedral when he was eight years old, and he has continued his passion for singing and spreading the arts throughout WNY. Currently, he is a member of the Vocalis Chamber Choir, where he has been a member since 2017. When Timothy is not singing, he serves the WNY area with his technical expertise as an IT specialist--helping the computer challenged. A GBFOM board member since 2019, he serves as the organization's technical go-to person. Whether there are issues with the website or help with social media, we can count on Timothy.
Allan J Andrews
Allan J. Andrews is a native of Oklahoma and has conducted high school, college, church, and community choirs in Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and New York. His choirs have competed and won choral festivals and competitions throughout the U.S. Mr. Andrews has conducted festival choirs and served as a festival adjudicator in OK, TX, WA, OR, and AK. As an American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Board Member in Washington, he served as the Music and Worship Chair for Washington State. In addition to his board service to ACDA, he also served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium in Seattle, Washington. As one of the largest Choral Consortiums in the United States, the GSCC held yearly events such as Seattle Sings and The Big Sing. In Western New York, Mr. Andrews serves as the Minister of Music at University Presbyterian Church and as the Artistic Director of the Orchard Park Chorale.
Allyn Foster is a member of the pastoral staff at Orchard Park Presbyterian Church. A graduate of Houghton College, he holds a bachelor’s degree in music. Allyn is a longtime former Member St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and Friends of Music at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buffalo.