About Us

The Peterborough Children’s Choir is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1997 and has established a unique place in the arts community of Southern New Hampshire, filling a critical need for performing arts education and joyful musical experience for young people who love to sing.

In the Fall of 2011 we decided to make a name change in order to reflect the regional nature of the various choirs. We are now known as the

Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs

We still offer the same excellent music education. The GMYC:

• Provides a place for young singers to share the rewarding experience of making music together

• Encourages active listening while teaching proper singing techniques, musicianship, and fundamentals of concert performance

• Explores and performs the highest quality music available for young voices

• Actively participates in the musical life of the community

• Nurtures a lifelong commitment to artistic expression

• Develops creative, thoughtful, and cooperative individuals

About the Director, Maria Belva

• BA in Psychology and Education at State University of NY at Potsdam
• Master of Music in Choral Conducting, University of Maine

Maria is a professional choral conductor and private voice teacher based in Peterborough, NH. Her voice studio serves students of varying abilities and needs, from timid beginners to experienced soloists, and of all ages, from children to adults. She is a Certified McClosky Voice Technician. Her current choral conducting activities include her position as director of the Grand Monadnock Youth Choirs, which in its sixteenth year consists of more than 65 children in four auditioned ensembles; and the music directorship of the Peterborough Unitarian Church. Maria also is active as a soprano soloist throughout the Monadnock region, and in this capacity she has performed leading roles in operatic and musical theatre productions and appears often in churches, community events, benefits, and occasional solo recitals.