Elena Williamson will not be submitting a typical bio, but would like to spend her text on some very important thank yous to the mentors who brought her to today. I would like to call out the strong women, without whom, I could have ended up...well, quieter. Thank you to my first and only cello teacher, Gretchen Belknap of Greenwich CT, a bedroom suburb of NYC where I grew up. She was stern and unforgiving but also motivating and positive. I came to the strings from a family of pianists; perhaps it was the beginning of me determining who I was. Gretchen was willing to challenge and coach, a combination of talents that I learned to appreciate. The second major career advisor was Donna Tozer, conductor of Greenwich High Chamber Singers. I ultimately followed in her footsteps, attending her Alma Mater, University California at Irvine, for my Master’s Degree in Choral and Orchestral conducting. After graduation, my career would have gone nowhere fast without the talent of Jacquie Pierce who took me on as a voice student immediately after my audition for her in the mid 1990's. She hired me right out of the gate for gigs big and small, challenging and easy, all while coaching me at the same time; at one point, actually forcing me to do a recital where I wasn't allowed to sing straight tone (!). At the same time in my corner more locally was Cindy Richards Wallace, who let me be her wingwoman at our church job in Greenwich. She showed me the ropes, hired me for all sorts of things that broadened my horizons and was an enormous influence on me as a musician. On a grand scale, I'd like to thank Zhang Xian, the first woman I ever saw in front of a major orchestra. She was Lorin Maazel's assistant at the New York Philharmonic in the early 2000's when she conducted the chorus performing a Russian movie score. She was tiny but mighty; like being mesmerized by lightning. I'll never forget the feeling of watching a woman doing what I'd never dreamed was possible. Lastly, l would be remiss without thanking my tireless friends who got dragged to Memoriams of weird composers I didn't realize were dead and concerts of crazy atonal music where they commented how insane it was, all while sitting directly behind the composer. Lastly, and most importantly, my mother Anita. Mom, you were in the audience at every performance, drove me all the places I needed to be, tolerated a beginning string player (bless you) and have steadfastly remained supportive and constructive to this day. I would be nowhere without you. Thank you all so much for making me the person I am.

[Artistic Director’s Addendum: Elena Williamson is a staff singer at Trinity Wall Street and regularly sings with the New York Philharmonic and Musica Sacra, among others. She is also a freelance conductor and Music Director of Park Slope Singers in Brooklyn, NY. She is well known among New York musicians for literally never being wrong. —Benedict Sheehan]