Vocal Music

Melissa J. Mackley is the Director of Choral Activities and Lead Teacher for the Vocal Department at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts. Now in her 30th year of teaching, Mrs. Mackley holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Frostburg State University and a Master of Music, from the School of Music at Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY with concentrations in both voice and piano.  A student of Mr. James Pierce, Dr. Ronald Regal, Larry Doebler, and Janet Galvan, she sang as well as accompanied various collegiate and community choirs during her tenure. 

Before coming to BISFA, Mrs. Mackley held choral directing positions in Frederick County, MD and Bethlehem, PA where her choirs received superior ratings at the county and state levels. Her choirs have performed for several governors and were selected to perform  at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. 

Now in her tenth year at BISFA, Mrs. Mackley coordinates the Vocal Music Department of fifty vocal students, two full time teachers and three adjunct professors.  She oversees four choral groups at three curricular levels with more than 80 students participating.  Currently, Mrs. Mackley conducts BISFA’s select choirs, Chamber Singers and Cantala Women’s Choir, leading them to superior ratings at the most recent WCPS Choral Festival.  Her choirs recently collaborated with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in their Home for the Holidays Concert, performing John Rutter’s Gloria with them in December of 2017. In 2014, Cantala was selected as a performance ensemble for the ACDA Eastern Division Conference and the MENC Eastern Division Convention in Baltimore.

In addition, Mrs. Mackley serves as Chair of the Piano Division at BISFA and is Music Director for the school’s Spring Musicals. She has a studio of private piano students, prepares students as collaborative pianists, and coordinates staff accompanists for all BISFA Vocal and Instrumental recitals. Her piano students regularly receive superior ratings at festivals and are sought after accompanists in the area.     

Active as a choral conductor and collaborative pianist in the area, Mrs. Mackley has vast experience in solo performance and collaborative works, including classical, opera, musical theater, jazz and pop styles. She regularly collaborates with  members of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and is held in high regard as an accompanist and collaborative musician by both vocalists and instrumentalists in the community. 

Katharine Groh Fitzsimmons attended Bucknell University majoring in Music Education with a focus in voice and flute. She later pursued a Masters in Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  While studying at UNC she served as student director of Opera Workshop, performed a lecture recital concentrating on American women composers, performed lead roles in 2 opera performances, and taught voice lessons to UNC students. She later moved back to Williamsport with her husband to be closer to family.

Ms. Groh has had the opportunity to perform with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra on several occasions and has been heavily involved with that organization’s annual children’s concerts. In the community, Ms. Groh has served on the board of Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Girl’s Inc., Hagerstown Day Nursery, and the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts Foundation. She has taught voice and flute locally at Mercersburg Academy, St. James School, and at BISFA - where she has had the pleasure of teaching as one of the original adjunct faculty members since the opening of the school in 2009.