2018 International Chorus Champions

New England Voices in Harmony – A women’s championship a cappella chorus

Diane Reynolds, lead

Member Spotlight

Native Nashuan Diane Reynolds, NEVIH lead section leader, has lived here all her life, loving the small city and its opportunities. Having been educated at local schools, she then chose Nashua’s only four-year college, Rivier University, to earn her BA in Elementary Education. And she notes that her mother was a native Nashuan also, as is her brother. Her father, born in Canada, met his future wife while working at … where else? … Nashua Manufacturing.

Music has played a huge part in Diane’s life, from childhood on. “Every Sunday,” she says, “we gathered at my dad’s parents’ house with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My uncle would play the piano, and everyone would burst out in song! My dad would pull out his harmonica, and everyone would clap and dance.” She explains that all the cousins were encouraged to perform a song or a skit, play an instrument, or do stand-up comedy. “The Knock- Knock jokes were horrible!” she notes.

Diane says she joined “every chorus and choir” that was available to her from elementary through high school. Her mother made her play piano for several years, but she says her heart wasn’t in it. She explains that she was MUCH more interested in roller skating and even took lessons. “I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED to skate,” she says. (Capital letters are hers.) The infatuation lasted until the local Nashua skating rink closed during her senior year. “My heart was broken,” she says.

But life went on, and in college she auditioned with the local community musical group, The Actorsingers, for a part in the musical Anything Goes by Cole Porter. The main character, Reno Sweeney, has an entourage consisting of four “fallen” angels. Diane was cast as one of the angels. (Curiously and coincidentally, your writer here, Michele, was also cast in the same show, as one of the other angels. And no, up until that point, we did not know each other.) Diane said she was hooked from that point on and sang in several more of the Actorsingers shows.

Armed with her degree in education, she landed a job teaching third grade and dealt with the short-lived educational experiment called “Open Concept Learning” (no walls between classes) and survived with the help of an “amazing” teaching team. She says she directed the third-grade musical each year until she retired. The kids loved it and she explains that some students who return to visit her say they remember those plays more than anything else. Unfortunately, she retired early to care for her sick and physically disabled mother who had moved in with her and her husband, Charles Reynolds. Then she attended a Nashua Teacher Retiree luncheon where the entertainment was a women’s a cappella group called New England Voices in Harmony. “I was so impressed, I collected all the information to save for a time when I would be free to join,” she states.  After her mother passed away, she showed up to a rehearsal one Tuesday evening. “Oh, what a joy it was to be singing again,” she says, “I LOVE the sound of 4-part harmony!”

Diane is the mother of two adult sons, Steven and Patrick, who are happily married and have given Charlie and her three grandchildren. “I am so blessed!” she says.

So right now, with her kids all grown up, she is devoted to NEVIH. In addition to lead section leader, she is chairman of the Costume Committee. “So many choices, so many shapes and sizes to consider … how will I ever make everyone happy?” she asks plaintively. A former member-at-large, she also recently chaired the Basket Raffle when NEVIH hosted the Area 2 AC&C. Most importantly, Diane was responsible for arranging a partnership with the Lucky Moose Casino and Tavern and The River, which provided NEVIH with 35% of the profits for a certain number of days and really helped our budget grow.

She also sings lead in the quartet Out on a Limb with tenor Diane Fagerstrom, baritone Cathy DeCoste and bass Joanne O’Connor. The quartet in 2022 won the Rae Borror Memorial Award, given to the quartet showing the greatest improvement in score in consecutive contests, and the Jane Beale Memorial Award presented to the quartet with the greatest improvement in the Performance Category score. “What a thrill!” she says, explaining that the quartet members have helped her grow in confidence and ability.

Finally, she states unequivocally that the quality of NEVIH’s “singing and performance will continue to improve as we reach for excellence.” Singing with NEVIH has been a happy, rewarding experience, she says. “These wonderful welcoming women motivate me to go far beyond where I thought my capability would take me. I’m so happy I decided to join this Voices family!!!”

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