Our Team

alex-headshot

General & Artistic Director

Alex Canovas is a Brooklyn-based vocal artist, conductor, and teacher committed to exploring and celebrating the human voice through the power of choral music.

He is the General & Artistic Director of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus (YNYC), leading both their Mixed and Treble Ensembles. Previous highlights with YNYC have included an appearance by the Treble Ensemble at the Ensemble Showcase for the Connecticut American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Fall Conference, a Mixed Ensemble performance at the ACDA Eastern Region Conference in February/March 2024; an appearance at Carnegie Hall with the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and four German choirs in a premiere of Sean Shepherd’s “On A Clear Day”; and Metropolis, a concert series featuring music by, for, and about New York City which featured seven world premieres. In 2023, YNYC was named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance — Community Division, and in 2024 Alex was named the winner of The American Prize in Choral Conducting — The Dale Warland Award — Community Division.

An ardent supporter of new music, YNYC has given the world, regional, or NYC premiere of over 30 works over six seasons under Alex’s direction. Alex also oversees YNYC’s celebrated Competition for Young Composers, which has led to the commissioning of over 55 new works by young composers, many of whom have gone on to become some of the most influential voices in choral music.

Alex has previously collaborated on projects with artists such as John Luther Adams, Sxip Shirey, Paul Pinto, David Bloom, and Caroline Polachek. In 2019, he began a choral collaboration with Tina Roth Isenberg & Creative Mornings, the world’s largest face-to-face creative community. He has extensive experience in church music, most recently serving on the music staff of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn for nine years, where he was named Director of Music & Choirmaster in 2018. He previously served as Associate Conductor of the critically-acclaimed vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon, directed by Vince Peterson, which has held residencies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, and worked on projects with artists such as Chanticleer’s Adam Ward, Philip Glass, R.B. Schlather, and others. In this role he also served as Singer-Faculty at Choral Chameleon’s annual Summer Institute, where he worked with a number of leaders in the choral world such as Matt Oltman, Dale Trumbore, Mark Shapiro, David Conte, and Vance George. Other previous positions included Operations Manager and Assistant Conductor of the Empire City Men’s Chorus, and Assistant Conductor of the Ridgewood, NJ-based Ars Musica Chorale.

He is an active member of Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), currently serving as the New York ACDA Repertoire & Resources Co-Chair for Lifelong Community Singing and on the ACDA National Composition Initiatives Committee. Alex is a graduate of Ithaca College, where his teachers included Dr. Brad Hougham, Lawrence Doebler, Dr. Janet Galván, and Brian DeMaris.

Alex Canovas

Justin Duckworth

Associate Conductor, Mixed Ensemble

Justin Duckworth is a burgeoning conductor based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the Associate Conductor of the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus Mixed Ensemble, and previously served as Artistic Assistant and Chair for YNYC’s Competition for Young Composers. Justin began singing with YNYC in the Fall of 2021 and made his conducting debut with the Mixed Ensemble’s “Concord & Time” concert this past December. He began his musical journey working as a freelance musician and singer/songwriter in Nashville, TN while attending Belmont University, where he studied with Dr. Jeffery Ames and Dr. Mark Whatley. Justin holds a degree in Music Theory and under the guidance of Dr. Bruce Dudley presented a “mini-thesis” on the subject of modal jazz, transcribing and analyzing Flamenco Sketches by Miles Davis.

Emily Crowe Sobotko

Associate Conductor, Treble Ensemble

Emily Crowe Sobotko is a Brooklyn based choral conductor, teacher, administrator, and mezzo-soprano. She is the choral teacher at the Brooklyn New School in Carroll Gardens, where she works with three different youth ensembles and an adult chorus. Emily is the Senior Manager of Music Programs for Uncommon Schools, a high-performing charter school organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap in urban schools. Overseeing fourteen K-12 music programs, Emily coaches elementary, middle and high school music teachers, develops general and instrumental curriculum, leads professional development, and manages the strategic growth of music programming for the network.

As a vocalist, Emily has sung on many ambitious artistic projects and with incredible musicians. Her musical career as a teacher and singer has brought her to great stages in Chicago, San Francisco, Canada, South Africa, Qatar, Sierra Leone, and Luxembourg. She joined the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus at a young age, which sparked her passion for choral singing. Over the last twenty years, she has sung with accomplished ensembles like Choral Chameleon, The NY Oratorio Society, and the New York Chamber Choir.

Emily has been singing with YNYC in the Treble Ensemble since 2019. Reawakening her love of SSAA and treble music has brought her immense joy, and she is grateful to serve the ensemble as associate conductor. Emily holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the Conservatory of Lawrence University, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. She is a certified Kodaly and Orff-Schulwerk teacher and is an active ACDA and AOSA member.

Mike Gaertner

Principal Pianist, Mixed Ensemble

Mike Gaertner is the Principal Pianist for the Mixed Ensemble of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus. Described as “nothing less than remarkable” by Theaterjones.com, Mike works as a freelance musician, vocal coach, and administrator in the New York City area. Past professional affiliations include the Nashville Opera, Knoxville Opera, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the Juilliard School, the Mannes School of Music, the Occasional Opera Company, Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert Series, the Cabaret at Café Sabarsky series at the Neue Galerie, Titus Art Song Recital Series of the Dallas Opera, Emerging Artist Recital Series of Opera America and Shreveport Opera. Mike was the 2014 Pianist Winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition which launched a recital tour across the United States with soprano Michelle Bradley. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Ithaca College.

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Rachel DeVore Fogarty

Pianist, Treble Ensemble

Rachel DeVore Fogarty is an active composer and collaborative pianist. Her works are regularly performed in the United States and abroad, spanning choral, solo vocal, and chamber literature. Her music has been featured on programs in Russia, Croatia, and the U.K. As a pianist, Rachel has performed with the national Broadway tours of Elf and Anything Goes. She has also performed as a collaborative pianist at Carnegie Hall with conductors Dr. Jeffery Ames, Dr. Lynne Gackle, Greg Gilpin and Dr. Edith Copley. Rachel has played for special guests such as President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is currently the regular pianist for the Men's Ensemble at the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. (www.racheldevorefogarty.com)

Kim Kenny

Administrative Assistant

With a long history of stage management, technical production, and theatre operations, Kim Kenny can often be found working backstage to ensure her performers and crew have a seamless run of show. She is currently a Project Manager for a theatrical drapery and rigging company and when not working or seeing Broadway shows, she loves crafting at home with her two cats.

Board of Directors & Leadership

 

Board of Directors

Cory Reeves, President

Cory Reeves' affiliation with YNYC began in 2009, and has served on the board for over 14 years of that time. Prior to his role as President of the board, he served as Treasurer from 2010-2015, Interim President from 2015-2016, and Vice-President from 2018-2021. Cory also serves on the Board of Directors for Kinnara, the Atlanta-based professional chamber choir. He is an executive with Lexia, an educational technology firm specializing in Grades K-12 literacy and language education.

Lucy Mayer, Secretary

Lucy Mayer works at a boutique marketing and communications agency in Manhattan. She was a member of the Mixed Ensemble for nearly 10 years and also serves on the board of the New York Choral Consortium.

RJ Gary, Treasurer

RJ Gary works as an Investment Banking Associate within Private Capital Advisory at Evercore. He holds degrees in Finance and International Business from the University of Georgia, where he also served as treasurer for the university's chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). RJ previously worked in positions at Societe Generale and CIC Market Solutions, an affiliate of the French institution Crédit Mutuel. He is proficient in French, enjoys learning new languages, and has cross-cultural experience. RJ has been a member of YNYC's mixed ensemble since 2022, and is a lifelong musician who began playing violin at the age of 5.

Richard Berg, Member-at-Large

Richard Berg first joined YNYC in 2008, and has sat on the Board since 2023. Local affiliations have included the acclaimed ensemble Choral Chameleon; the music ministries of St Vincent Ferrer, St Luke in the Fields, and Holy Trinity Episcopal; and new-music champions Cantori New York, where he served as Board President from 2018-2023. Richard is also a jazz instrumentalist, software engineer, and host/trainer for an ever-growing cast of foster dogs.

Abbey Hendrix, Member-at-Large

Abbey Hendrix joined the Board of Directors in 2023. Her YNYC journey began in 2018 when she joined the Treble Ensemble, and in 2019 she filled the role of Soprano I Section Leader. She facilitated multiple projects for the choir such as session singing work for an award winning commercial and a collaboration with Brad Wells of Roomful of Teeth. Though she moved to San Francisco in 2021 for her job as Music Supervisor at Apple, she remains close to YNYC’s members and leadership and holds the organization close to her heart.

Elena Price, Member-at-Large

Elena Price joined the Treble Ensemble in the fall of 2023 and quickly became involved as Fundraising Co-Chair in the summer of 2024. In the fall of 2024, she joined the Board of YNYC, fully bringing together her love for singing and her passion for fundraising to support a cause she cares about. Elena is currently the Manager of Individual Giving at Sanctuary for Families in New York and has been dedicated to supporting nonprofits in various roles since childhood. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations (2019) and a Master’s degree in Public Administration with a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management (2021), both from NC State University.

Constantine Schidlovsky, Member-at-Large

Constantine Schidlovsky is a Senior Director within the Business Development team at KBRA focusing on Funds, Asset Managers and BDCs. He is also a lifelong musician; Constantine is a member of the Synod Cathedral Choir and Tsar Nicholas Men's Choir, and he was the Principal Trumpet in the Boston College University Wind Ensemble and BC bOp! jazz band. Constantine has been active with a variety of charity groups, serving as a Young Patrons Committee Co-Chair for the Russian Children's Welfare Society and has run the NYC marathon three times, raising funds for Fred's Team (MSKCC). He holds degrees in Finance and Marketing from Boston College.

Jessica Shaw, Member-at-Large

Jessica Shaw joined YNYC's mixed ensemble in 2007, has sat on the board since 2010, and was President of the Board from 2018 until 2021. She is the Senior Vice President of Sync Licensing at Sony Music. She met her husband in YNYC and is the proud mom of two young future YNYC members.

Alex Canovas, General & Artistic Director (ex-officio)

 

Leadership

Ryann Bieber, Leadership Manager

Ryann Bieber is a founding member of the Treble Ensemble and is currently the longest tenured singing member of the organization, having joined YNYC in 2012. In her time with YNYC she has sung in both ensembles and held a multitude of leadership positions. She graduated from The New School in 2016 with a B.A. in Sociology & Music and has worked in events and education. When she’s not singing, she loves cooking, crafting, and traveling.

Casey Schidlovsky, Mixed Ensemble Manager

Casey Schidlovsky has been singing with YNYC since 2016 (if you don’t count her high school collab with YNYC in 2010), stepping into the position of Manager of the Mixed Ensemble in 2022. She graduated from Westminster Choir College in 2016 with a B.M. in Music Education, is currently enrolled in the Post Baccalaureate Advanced Certificate program in Music Education at CUNY Queens College, and has been teaching music in NYC independent schools for the past 4 years. When she is not singing with her students or in YNYC, she is likely spending time with her beloved dog Blue, listening to show tunes, or traveling.

Sarah Rosenblatt, Treble Ensemble Co-Manager

Sarah Rosenblatt has been singing with YNYC as a low-note-loving alto since 2016. She spends her days on construction scaffolding as a preservation architect and wanders around cities pointing out the quirky details most people don't notice. She moved to Jackson Heights in 2010, and promises to take you to all the good food spots if you visit Queens.

Ashley Huntington, Treble Ensemble Co-Manager

Ashley Huntington may have only just recently joined YNYC back in 2023, but her love for singing and the YNYC community was instantaneous. A graduate of Hamilton College (B.A.) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil), Ashley passes her time campaigning for the Oscars and the Emmys as an awards publicist. Most importantly, she identifies as a Swiftie.

Stephanie Jones, Social Media Manager

Stephanie Jones has been singing with YNYC since 2018, and started helping out with social media slowly but surely before officially taking up the Social Media Manager mantle in 2021. Social media is also her day job, but she's always more than happy to create content for the best choir in the biz.