New Board Members: NPM

Three new members were elected to the Board of Directors last week at the annual convention in Grand Rapids, MI by the NPM Council. The large NPM Council is comprised of heads of each Interest Section – organists, ensembles, cantors, chant, youth, etc. The new board members replace outgoing board members Jennifer Pascual, Fr. Anthony Ruff OSB, and Lynn Trapp.

Elected to four-year terms were:

Sister Kathleen Harmon SNDdeN. She holds a music degree from Westminster Choir College and a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from Drew University. She has been a parish music director, a consultant with the Worship Commission of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and music director for the Institute for Liturgical Ministry. She has numerous publications and is a noted cantor clinician and liturgical music presenter.

Jeremy Helmes, who is currently Pastoral Associate for Liturgy and Music at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Cincinnati. After his musical training at the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, he earned an M.A. in sacramental theology and liturgy from the University of Dayton, while serving as a campus minister and liturgist. Jeremy is the co-founder of LAUDATE: Forming Youth for Music Ministry, a week-long experience for teen music ministers, now in its eleventh year. He has been active in NPM and has published in Pastoral Music and Worship.

Meg Matuska, who is currently the Director of Music Ministries at Communion of Saints Parish in the Cleveland. Meg holds a bachelor of music degree in violin performance from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and a master of music in violin performance and Suzuki pedagogy from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and she is a member of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. She has been very active in NPM, as well as the Choristers Build and the American Guild of Organists.