The Chorale - Past Members

The Sopranos
The Altos

Danielle Coppola, soprano

Danielle Coppola received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2007 from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy of Rutgers University.  Beginning this July, she will be completing a year-long Pharmacy Practice Residency in Pediatrics at the Mayo Eugenio Litta Children’s Hospital of Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota.  Currently, she works for CVS Pharmacy in Hillsborough.

Danielle received her undergraduate degree in mathematics in 2001 from The College of St. Elizabeth, where she also studied music.

Currently a resident of Bridgewater, Danielle is choir member and cantor at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish where she began cultivating her interest in singing as a member of the children's choir.  She hopes to continue in music ministry during her time in Minnesota.  In her free time, Danielle enjoys crafts and needlework and caring for her guinea pig, Puppy.

Deirdre McCarthy, soprano

Deirdre McCarthy is a Pediatric Physical Therapist who works with children in the school setting as well as in a private office after school hours. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Physical Therapy from Sargent College at Boston University.

Deirdre is a choir member and cantor at St. Bernard Church of Clairvaux Parish in Bridgewater. Her interest in music began at home with her family at a young age, where there was often singing at family get-togethers such as holidays and birthdays. In her teen years, she began singing at church as well as in the high school choir and high school musicals. She has been active in her various churches’ choirs over the years, with some years off from it when her children were young.

Deirdre lives in Branchburg with her husband, Bill and her sons, Sean, Brian, and Andrew. When she is not busy working or singing, Deirdre spends most of her time going from one sports game to the next with her 3 boys.

Rhonda Pisano, soprano

Rhonda Pisano has worked for 20+ years as an advocate for people with disabilities.  She was a group home manager for the ARC of Bergen/Passaic, ran a housing program for Catholic Community Services and was Executive Director for Alliance for Disabled in Action.  She has a consulting business called A Different Approach and provides sensitivity training on disability issues and building assessments to ensure accessibility. Rhonda also works part time for Bernards Township.

A choir member at Advent Lutheran Church in Warren, Rhonda doesn't limit her involvement in music to the church. She has also appeared with Trilogy Theater Company in summer productions of South Pacific in 1999 and Seussical the Musical in 2004.  As a youth she sang in the Bergen County Chorus, the NJ All State Chorus and was a member/soloist at Zion Lutheran Church in Saddle River, NJ. Rhonda lives in Bernardsville with her husband, Chuck, and their two children, Allie and Chad.

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Jessica Brandt, alto

Language Testing Coordinator and teacher of Russian and German at Montclair State University, Jessica Brandt holds an M.A. degree in Slavic Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. 

After several years of globetrotting, Jessica is once again a member of Advent Lutheran Church in Warren, where she began singing in the choir as a teenager.  She co-founded On a Different Note, a women's a cappella chorus, at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, and has sung with various ensembles, including the University of California Jazz Choir, the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale, and the Piedmont Opera, also in Winston-Salem. 

A resident of Bloomfield, Jessica would like to thank Wayne Dietterick for introducing her to the Caritas Chamber Chorale.

Beth Meagher, alto

Beth Meagher has been happily singing in church choirs and choral groups since grade school.  Currently she is a cantor at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Princeton, where she is also a member of both the choir (alto) and the bell choir.  Beth sings soprano in the Diocesan Festival Choir (Trenton Diocese) and The Capital Singers choral group.  She received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Marywood University and a Master of Music degree in voice from The College of New Jersey.

            Miss Meagher is a 3rd grade teacher at Incarnation-St. James School in Ewing, where she also helps direct the children’s choir.  She has long admired the sound and good works of the Caritas Chorale and feels extremely blessed to be part of this group for these December concerts.

Diane Pivarnik, alto

Native New Jerseyan Diane Pivarnik lives in Florham Park and teaches music K-5 and middle school chorus at Harding Township School in New Vernon.  She is a graduate of Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music and a Master of Music Education from Montclair State University. 

Diane is the Minister of Music at New Providence United Methodist Church where she directs adult, children’s, and handbell choirs.  Past sub-dean of the Metropolitan New Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, she continues to serve on the Executive Board.  She is also a member of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.  Diane has been working with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra as part of their Master Teachers Collaborative for their 2007-2008 concert season.  Diane also sings in Harmonium Choral Society.  In her spare time, she enjoys family, fitness, and fun: contradancing, tennis, hiking, and yoga. 

Sandi Wagner, alto

For over 30 years Sandi Wagner has been Music Director at Mountainside Chapel in Mountainside, New Jersey.  During that time she has taught many students in her private flute studio as well as in various public and private schools in the Union County area.  Sandi also directed the Youth Choir of the Chinese American Music Ensemble based in Union County.  Additionally, Sandi spent 10 years as flutist with The Grace Trio, a chamber ensemble combining flute, cello and piano, with Barbara Sanderman (piano). 

Sandi’s most inspiring life experience was spending the 2004-2005 school year in Papua New Guinea as an Associate Missionary teaching music at the New Tribes Mission School.  After the Caritas concerts, Sandi is looking forward to taking nine students on a Mississippi Missions trip for continued Katrina rebuilding. 

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