Our Leaders

Nils Fredland
John Harrison
Luke Hoffman
Eva Salina Primack
Brendan Taaffe

Nils Fredland has been passionate about singing since 1981, when he joined the St. Anne’s Church Junior Choir as an eight-year-old boy soprano. Since then, Nils has performed with acclaimed a cappella band Monkey Puzzle and world-traveling choir Northern Harmony and taught singing workshops at numerous camps and festivals. As a teacher of both songs and dances, Nils brings a warm presence and luscious voice to bear on a wide range of styles, from Medieval chants to contemporary jazz, and from complex rounds to South African choruses.

John Harrison was born into a musical family, and grew up influenced by the sounds of his father’s stride piano, his mother’s classical piano, and family sings. Trained in the Anglican men and boys tradition, John was a professional chorister under Richard Connelly and James Litton, and had the good fortune to record with Leonard Bernstein.

Chucking it all for rock and roll (well, his voice changed), he moved to New York City after high school and performed there for many years as a singer and saxophonist, working with, among others, Buster Poindexter, The Uptown Horns, and blues legend Otis Rush. He also co-wrote and performed in a long running downtown revue, The Blue Light Club, with Denis Leary and Eddie Brill.

After moving to Vermont, John became associated with the Montpelier Community Gospel Choir, which he has directed for the last eleven years. He is particularly interested in the continuum of American popular music and how all the different traditions relate to each other, especially in the rich world of gospel.

Luke Hoffman is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and teacher born and raised in Vermont. His passion for American jubilee quartet music began in 2007 and he has been teaching this music at Village Harmony summer camps and at workshops throughout New England ever since. Luke is a charismatic and versatile baritone/tenor and his musicality, infectious enthusiasm and humor are all evident in both his teaching and performing. Back from the latest European Northern Harmony tour Luke now sings with The Washed Up Beulah Band, a male quartet that performs and teaches music in the jubilee style (more info - www.facebook.com/WashedUpBeulahBand). A drummer of 17 years, Luke has studied classical, jazz, Caribbean and Balkan percussion. This background is the foundation for his style both in teaching and in performance.

A native of Santa Cruz, California, Eva Salina Primack has been studying, performing, and teaching Balkan music since she was a young child. In her first quarter century, she has quickly become known as one of the preeminent singers, interpreters and teachers of traditional Balkan vocal music. Eva's voice is rich, versatile, agile, deep and powerful; her teaching is enthusiastic, skillful, inspired and inspiring. Eva has collaborated to varying degrees (performing, touring, recording, and teaching) with many Balkan and American musicians, including Slavic Soul Party!, Which Way East, Kadife, Veveritse, Seido Salifoski's Romski Boji, Édessa, Tzvetanka Varimezova, Italian Balkan/Jazz Project Opa Cupa and KITKA. Eva received a B.A. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, where she studied extensively with Tzvetanka Varimezova. From 2009—2011 Eva toured primarily with Ash (Æ), a duo with Aurelia Shrenker that sings through and around the vocal traditions of the Balkans, Appalachia, Caucasus Georgia, and Corsica. Eva resides in New York City, and she performs and teaches nationally and internationally at camps, workshops and festivals.

Brendan Taaffe is a composer and arranger who has toured with Northern Harmony, taught with Village Harmony, and given vocal workshops around Ireland. He is a member of numerous dance bands, holds a Master's degree in Traditional Music from the University of Limerick, and is the author of Handy with the Stick, a book about Irish fiddling. Brendan is known for his dynamic conducting, and his gift for bringing out everyone's talents.

© Brendan Taaffe, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011.