Our Staff
Holly Phares
FOUNDER and CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR HOLLY PHARES, been teaching, conducting, singing and composing for over 25 years. From earlier years as a both a public and private school choral director, her work with The Philadelphia Singers Chorale as Ensemble and Voice Builder, Music Director of the acclaimed Temple Music Prep Children's Choir, Theory instructor and Director of Opera Outreach for 12 years at The Academy of Vocal Arts, to her present position as the Music Director (of 18 years) at Tabernacle United Church in Philadelphia, Ms. Phares has prepared her choirs for The Philadelphia Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Orchestra 2001, as well as world premiere works and theatre productions. As a professional singer, Holly has performed as both soloist and core member of The Philadelphia Singers, as well as the Opera Company of Philadelphia and in the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. Holly was recently appointed to the voice faculty of St. Joseph's University and maintains an active private voice studio. Along with co-directing Umbrian Serenades, in the summer Holly is a member of the the voice faculty at the Hotchkiss Summer Portals Chamber Vocal Music program in Lakeville, CT. When Holly is not singing or teaching, she continues to compose vocal and choral music and 5 of her recent songs can be found in the newly released hymnal, “Music By Heart: Paperless Songs for Evening Worship” published by Church Publishing, Inc..
Paulo Faustini
FOUNDER and CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PAULO FAUSTINI, was born into an Italian-Brazilian family of professional church musicians, singers, and music teachers in São Paulo, Brazil, and has been a professional musician and teacher for over 25 years. He maintains a private voice studio in Fairmount, Philadelphia, where he inspires singers from all walks of life to develop their craft, be it as soloists or ensemble performers. He is an avid Art Song recitalist and recent performances have included recitals at St. Martin's Episcopal Church and for The Philadelphia Orchestra at The Musical Cocktails Club Concert Series in Chestnut Hill. In addition to his voice studio in Philadelphia he is presently voice faculty for The Hotchkiss Summer Portals Chamber Music Program in Lakeville, CT. He has coached at the New York Festival of Song, Curtis Institute, Sacred Music Society of Brazil, and was voice faculty at Westminster Choir College and Westminster Conservatory, in Princeton, NJ, for many years. He has performed and recorded with professional groups such as The New York Choral Artists at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Singers, and The Spoleto Festival Choir, in Charleston, and Spoleto, Italy, as well as Fuma Sacra, in Princeton. As choral director he has held several conducting positions, including at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Newark, NJ, The Unitarian Church of Summit, NJ, and First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. He holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance with distinction as well as a Bachelor of Music in Church Music from Westminster Choir College, where his conducting mentors have been Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Haasemann, Allen Crowell and Constantina Tsolainou; his singing mentors have been Laura Brooks Rice, Marving Keenze, Glenn Parker, and Dalton Baldwin. For many years he performed, recorded and toured as a member of the world renowned Westminster Choir. In addition to devoting his life to the singing art, Paulo is very passionate about wines; in 2004 he received a certificate from The Wine School of Philadelphia.
Pamela Simpson
Born into a family of teachers, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR PAMELA SIMPSON has been singing, teaching, and conducting for over 25 years. As a member of the Spoleto Festival Choir for many summers, Spoleto holds a special place in Pam’s heart. Pam joined the staff of Umbrian Serenades in 2008.
In her capacity as choral director and performing arts department leader at the Bronxville School (Westchester County, NY), Pam leads choruses that consistently receive gold ratings at state adjudications. In addition, she is a frequent choral clinician in the tri-state area.
Her prior teaching and conducting experience includes serving as the choral director at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights and the associate conductor of the Manhattan School of Music Festival Chorus in New York City.
Pam received her Bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University and her Master’s degree from Westminster Choir College. With the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Pam sang with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New Jersey Symphony under conductors Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur, and the late Robert Shaw. Pam is certified in the Kodály method and received an advanced diploma from the Orff Institute, Salzburg, Austria, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar.
Daniela Cittadoni
CULTURAL COORDINATOR DANIELA CITTADONI, along with her husband, Gianluca, head Tasting Travel, an Umbrian Tour company, located in Spoleto. Originally from Spoleto, these native Umbrians share a common joy for "the Green Heart of Italy". They fell in love with Umbria early in life and have been sharing their passion for all things "Umbrian" with people from around the globe for over a decade.
Daniela graduated as a Tour Operator and Guide from the prestigious tourism school of "Alberghiero di Spoleto". Gianluca worked for many years as an Umbrian olive oil broker and has traveled extensively around the Mediterranean region in search of the perfect olive oil. For many years they co-owned a handmade pasta business, sharing their passion for the art of traditional and fresh Umbrian pasta with the entire Spoletino-Umbrian region. Their unique and extensive experience in Umbria has been combined to create a wonderful team of travel professionals.
Daniela joins our staff again this year to insure our participants an exquisite and unique experience, as we explore the many "off the beaten path" cultural "tastings" throughout our time together as "serenaders" in this lush, rich, and exquisite region in central Italy.
Our Story
Our love affair with Spoleto started in June of 1983, as fledgling members of the world-renowned Westminster Choir, as we sat next to each other on the bus ride from the Rome airport to the magical medieval hilltown of Spoleto. We were exhausted and fallen victims to jetlag, yet our excitement of arriving in Italy to participate in the Festival dei Due Mondi as members of The Spoleto Festival Choir was exhilarating. "Don't fall asleep, we have to see the glorious view of the aqueduct as we approach Spoleto!" we would say to each other. On the right is a photo of Holly and Paulo performing with The Westminster Choir under the direction of Joseph Flummerfelt, a Palestrina mass, in Spoleto’s glorious “duomo” cathedral, July 1985.
Little did we know that we would experience life changing events that would transform us as singers, as artists, and as people, while working with world leading artists, directors, and conductors, in memorable concerts and operatic productions. On the left we have a photo of Holly performing as soloist alongside Italian soprano Katia Ricciarelli in Haydn’s Creation for the closing festival “Piazza Concert”, televised live all over Italy; an experience she will always treasure!
Now, over twenty years after our first summer in Spoleto, we are manifesting our common dream to bring together choral singers with whom we can share our "home away from home" and the rich cultural and artistic experiences we have enjoyed all these years. On the right, Paulo listens closely to the direction of Spoleto Festival founder and composer Gian Carlo Menotti, during a staging rehearsal of the maestro’s opera, The Saint of Bleecker Street, in July of 1986.