CPC Music Staff

Dr.Sándor Szabó
Director of Music Ministries

Dr. Sándor Szabó (pronounced shahn-dore zah-boe) has a well-established reputation as “one of the leading organists in the state” Classical New Jersey Society Journal. Dr. Szabó hails from Yugoslavia and comes to New Jersey via Canada. He is actively engaged as conductor, organist, pianist, vocal coach, arranger and adjudicator throughout Europe, Canada and the United States.

Born of Hungarian parentage, Szabó was raised in Yugoslavia and trained from the age of nine as a pianist. In 1979 and again in 1981, he won second place in the National Young Pianists Competition in Zagreb. His organ studies soon followed and he pursued degrees in music at University of Novi Sad (Bachelor of Music, 1984) and Belgrade University (Master of Music, 1987). Szabó’s first professional experiences as a musician took place in Yugoslavia, where he was choral director for the Petöfi Sándor Choir (1985-88), organist at the Topoyai Sarlos Boldogasszony-Templom (1980-88), assistant conductor and accompanist for the Serbian National Theatre (Opera and Ballet, 1983-88), and assistant piano instructor and accompanist at Novi Sad University (1983-88).

Dr. Szabó emigrated to Canada in 1989. There, he continued to accrue professional experience as music director/organist of the Avondale United Church in Tillonsburg, ON (1988-1990), as well as at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Guelph, ON (1990-94); conductor of the Guelph Sinfonietta (1993-94); choral director of the Summer Chorale, University of Guelph (1991), Knights of Columbus Choir (men and boys), Cambridge ON (1992-93), Coro Culturale Italiano di Guelph (1990-94), and Sons of Italy Choir, Hamilton, ON (1994); piano instructor and accompanist at the Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON (1993-94); and accompanist for the Guelph Children Singers (1994). It was also during this period that he met and married his wife, Shelly, a violinist.

The couple moved to the United States and settled in MA for a short while where Dr. Szabó was employed as organist for the Winchester Memorial United Methodist Church (1994-95) and associate organist at the Marsh Chapel of Boston University (1995-96). In his desire to broaden his skills and knowledge, Szabó moved to NJ to enter Westminster Choir College in Princeton, where he was awarded the full-tuition Currin Scholarship and received two Master of Music Degrees with Distinction, one in organ performance (1998) and the other in church music (1999). The following year, Szabó earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Boston University with a major in piano and a minor in organ and conducting. Dr. Szabó also holds the prestigious Fellowship Diploma of the American Guild of Organists, the equivalent of a doctoral degree in organ performance. During this period, Szabó was employed as music director/organist at the Presbyterian Church of New Providence, NJ (1996-2000); assistant conductor/accompanist for the Summit Chorale (2001-03); and music director of the New Jersey Choral Society, Ridgewood, NJ (2003).

Dr. Szabó has worked for over twenty years as a church musician and is keenly aware of the multi-faceted nature of music ministry. He possesses a broad range of knowledge, experience and skills as well as a mature spirituality and faith which he will uniquely bring to Central Presbyterian Church. He is well-versed in the Reformed tradition.

In his own words: “To serve in a church community is not simply a job for me, but rather an expression of my faith and fulfillment of my gifts. My education combined with my experience has given me greater insight, providing the means with which to glorify God and inspire others in their musical expression of Christian faith.”

Dr. Szabó has wide-ranging teaching experience in both private studio teaching and at the university level. In a reference letter, the following describes him in a setting with high school students, “Sándor is a very gifted musician who also possesses the ability to connect with young people and bring out the best in them….they flock around him whenever he appears.” A former choir member writes, “I thoroughly enjoyed singing under Sándor’s direction. Sándor was patient and kind, and yet continually inspired us to a higher level of music. When we sang with Sándor, it was special and I am assuming that the congregation was often moved spiritually, which, after all, in my opinion, is the purpose of a church choir.”

Sándor's most recent position before coming to CPC was that of Minister/Organist at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church, where he managed an extensive music program for graded vocal and hand bell choirs, an adult choir and a concert series. Currently and he is the Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New Jersey and maintains a private piano studio. He resides in Glen Ridge with his wife and three children, Zoltan, Tibor and Szilvia.

Axel Anderson, Tenor Soloist and Section Leader
Axel grew up in Summit and studied voice with Eduardo Valdes of the Metropolitan Opera when he was in high school. He attended the Manhattan School of Music as a vocal performance major, studying with Mark Oswald and Joan Caplan. He also was in the elite Camerata men’s voice ensemble. Mr. Anderson’s professional experience includes frequent solo work with the Motet Choir of Central Presbyterian Church, where he is now a section leader; featured soloist with the Choral Arts Society of New Jersey; and section leadership for the Presbyterian Church of Basking Ridge for its chorale concerts. His interests outside of music include computer design and gaming, golf, and high-performance automobiles.

Glen Boothby, Baritone Soloist and Section Leader
Glenn, a native of Philadelphia, is an internationally acclaimed baritone whose career has graced opera stages, concert halls, churches, and recordings around the world for the past 30 years.  Glenn was a member of the world famous Westminster Choir for four seasons which toured nationally and internationally.  Mr. Boothby also performed for four seasons at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Charleston, SC, and in Spoleto, Italy, singing concerts and opera roles.  He has sung under the baton of such greats as Leonard Bernstein, Italo Marchini, Rafael Kubelik, Erich Leinsdorf, Pierre Boulez, Eve Queler, George Marriner Maull, Joseph Flummerfelt, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta and Gian Carlo Menotti.  Joseph Flummerfelt said of Boothby: "an incredible baritone," and Italo Marchini boasts that "Glenn Boothby's voice is like velvet and unmatched." Mr. Boothby has been a regular guest soloist at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, the Marble Collegiate Church and at St. Patrick's Cathedral, both in New York.

Theodore Chletsos, Tenor soloist and Section Leader
Theodore has appeared at New York City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera New Jersey, Utah Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Central City Opera (Colorado), Indianapolis Opera, The Ridgewood Symphony, The Minnesota Symphony, The Oregon Symphony, and many other presenting organizations across the US and Europe. His roles include Rodolfo ( La Boheme ), Pinkerton ( Madama Butterfly ), the title role in Les Contes d'Hoffmann , Alfredo ( La Traviata ), and Rinuccio ( Gianni Schicchi), among others. Theodore has an extensive concert repertory, including the requiems of Verdi and Mozart, Rossini's Petite Messe Solonnelle , Dvorak's Mass in D , Beethoven's Missa Solemnis , and many masses of Mozart and Schubert.

Theodore's awards include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Semi-Finalist Award and The Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant. Theodore holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University School of Music and pursued graduate studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory.

Adele Irving, Soprano Soloist and Section Leader
Adele has been a soprano soloist at Central Presbyterian Church since 1981. She has a BA in music from Bucknell University, where she was a piano major. In New York, she studied voice with Bernard Taylor and Erick Thorendahl and has coached with Thomas Grubb and Martin Katz. Her singing career has taken her to Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Center where she performed the music of Percy Grainger. Her other concerts include performances at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. She sang in New York City at a concert celebrating the centenary of Kirsten Flagstad's birth. She also performed with Opera International at concerts in Princeton and Lancaster (Pa).

Clare Maloney, Mezzo-soprano Soloist and Section Leader
Clare began the 2009-2010 season as an Artist-in-Residence with the New York Lyric Opera, performing in their recital series at Symphony Space and in their performance of Manon at Carnegie Hall. Recently, she has been heard as Sally in Die Fledermaus with One World Symphony in Brooklyn, New York, and as Guido's Mother in Nine with the Intermezzo Foundation in Brugge, Belgium. Ms. Maloney is a frequent soloist in the oratorio and concert repertoire and past performances include Pergolesi's  Stabat Mater, Brahms'  Neue Liebeslieder , Schubert's  Ständchen, Mozart's  Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Haydn's  Lord Nelson Mass , Mozart’s  Requiem  and Handel's  Messiah . She studied at Boston University, the International Institute of Vocal Arts, and the Elardo Young Artist Program, and is the recipient of fellowships from the European American Musical Alliance at the L’Ecole Normale de Music in Paris, and from the Hampden-Sydney Chamber Music Festival. She currently serves as the alto section leader at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey, and lives in New York City where she studies with Patricia McCaffrey. In March, she sang as the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas with the Oratorio Society of New Jersey. 

Elizabeth Perryman, Soprano Solist and Section Leader
Elizabeth received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Eastern Illinois University and Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Ms. Perryman completed a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes School of Music in New York City in May 2004. Ms. Perryman has sung with the Bronx Opera, Chelsea Opera (NYC), Pensacola Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera (apprentice/cover artist) and the Altamura Summer Festival. Ms. Perryman has been a three time regional finalist with the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, a finalist in American Institute of Musical Studies Meistersinger competition, a semi-finalist in the Chicago Bel Canto competition, first place in the Sigma Alpha Iota Graduate Performance Awards and she won the Audience Choice Award with Altamura/Caruso International Opera Competition. Ms. Perryman has been a featured soloist in new compositions (Richard Brooks, Dr. Tim Brown and Sam Belich.) She has recorded “ Trojan Women,” “Lauis and Chyrsippus” and “ The Eglantine ” with Sam Belich and “ Dreams ” by Dr. Timothy Brown. Some operatic roles include Suor Angelica, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni , Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro , Micaela in Carmen, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte , Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus , Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux and Hanna Glawari in Die Fledermaus . She was the soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Riverside Choral Society Summer Sing and New Jersey Oratorio Society. In 2009, Ms. Perryman made her debut with the Bronx Opera as the First Lady in The Magic Flute and sang Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi with conductor Anton Coppola.