Rainbow Chorale Leadership

Artistic Director

Elinor A. Armsby has been active as a choral conductor and clinician in the greater Philadelphia area for close to twenty years. She has served as Director of Music at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, director of choirs at Philadelphia’s Central High School, conductor of the Concert Choir of Montgomery County Community College, Assistant Conductor of the Bucks County Choral Society, and Guest Conductor for Philadelphia Voices of Pride. She has been praised for her success in working with singers at all levels and her ability to create interesting programs showcasing music from diverse repertoires. She received her undergraduate training in voice at Indiana University Bloomington and received her master’s degree in Choral Conducting and Music History from Temple University.

In addition to her conducting activity, Ms. Armsby is an active composer and the owner and President of Hildegard Publishing Company, a publisher of concert music by women composers. She served on the Board of Directors of Anna Crusis Women’s Choir of Philadelphia and was a founding Board Member of Coro Allegro, the acclaimed gay and lesbian chorus in Boston.

André Vermeulen

Collaborative Pianist

André Vermeulen, a native South African, holds a BA in Communications and completed her Final in Piano and Theory with honors at the University of South Africa. Her music career in the Pretoria region included several positions as piano accompanist and choral director for professional groups and artists including the State Theatre’s Opera Choir.

Since emigrating to the USA in 1995, she has served in leadership roles for The Jersey Sound Chorus of Sweet Adelines International, arranging several songs in a cappella four-part harmony. In 1999, she composed the New Age album Soul Mate — and in 2007, a commemorative work for choir, organ, piano, trumpet and timpani for Cherry Hill’s Trinity Presbyterian Church. In 2008, she composed the score for the new musical Jailbirds which was successfully staged to sold-out audiences in Studio 5 at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Most recently, Ms. Vermeulen provided the music and vocal direction for the musicals Barnum at Haddon Township’s Ritz Theatre and Next to Normal at Haddonfield Plays and Players.