Board Members
Singers of Summerville is a volunteer community chorus and is managed by chorus members and supporters who apply their business and artistic skills as Board members. For twenty years, the Board has strived to present the very best sacred and secular music from the past to the present, to bring joy, transform lives and nourish the soul of the greater Summerville community.
The organization is governed by By-Laws that are modified as necessary to keep us relevant and efficiently functional. The entire chorus membership lends its support for fundraising, ticket sales, and event promotion.
Lisa Davol Spires, President
Lisa is a long-time member of the Singers of Summerville and President of the Board of Directors. Choral music has been an important part of her life since 5th grade when she began singing in the South Middle School Chorus back in her hometown of Somerset, Massachusetts, nicknamed “Musictown.” It was the first time she got to experience that collaborative spirit of blending her voice with others in a performance and she loved it! Lisa went on to sing in various high school ensembles, her church folk group, and a high school musical. She joined her first community choir, the Somerset Chorale, directed by Bruce Maggs, and then when that group disbanded, Lisa sought out the North Tiverton Community Choir. When she moved to South Carolina, she found the Singers of Summerville under then director, Dr. Valerie Bullock.
Currently Lisa also sings in the Women’s Choir, Chamber Ensemble and Chancel Choir at Bethany United Methodist Church with director Rob Taylor and the Jewel Tones at Summerville Presbyterian Church with director William Bennett. Lisa thanks all of her choir directors that have molded and shaped her into the singer she is today, and her dad, Robert Leonardo, for sharing his love of music with her.
“There is nothing like lifting your voice in song with others and creating something even more beautiful and powerful than you, yourself could create. It’s inspirational…healing…empowering and transformative. It’s choral music.”
Susan Storm Pomeroy, Past President
Susan served as our President for many years until stepping down this past year. She is originally from Daleville, Pennsylvania, nestled in the Poconos. She has a bachelor’s degree in music therapy from Marywood University in Scranton, PA, as a voice major, piano minor; and she has a master’s degree in Social Work from the same university.
Susan has sung since she was old enough to be in her church’s junior choir. She is an outpatient social worker for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, and in her free time you will find her either in the Sacred Pine CrossFit gym or at home in Summerville with her wife and their two dogs. Susan sings alto with the Singers of Summerville and has been a member since 2007 when she moved to the South!
Sharon Napoleone, First Vice President, Marketing and Publicity
Sharon is a first alto in her third year singing with the Singers of Summerville. A retired marketing communications professional, she and her husband Vinny moved to Summerville in 2020 from Shelton, Connecticut to be close to their grandson.
Singing since the age of ten in her church choirs, Sharon’s love for singing deepened after beginning to study voice with a private voice teacher, who she studied with for over 15 years. Sharon was 1st alto and 2nd soprano in the Newtown Choral Society and the Waterbury Chorale and has performed in several fundraising concerts for her CT church (Newtown Congregational Church). She was even a lead singer in a rock and roll cover band!
She is currently a soloist for weddings, funerals, and other special occasions. Now retired from the corporate world and enjoying low country life in SC, she also sings in the choir at Summerville Presbyterian Church and spends summers in New Hampshire camping on a lake.
Second Vice President, Fundraising
This position on our board is currently open and waiting for you! You do not need to be a singer with Singers of Summerville to hold a position on the Board. All you need is a love for the arts and a willingness to help!
Contact us today if you are interested!
Gary Fabian, Treasurer
Gary Fabian is in his sixth year singing Tenor with the Singers of Summerville. A Goose Creek native, Gary grew up singing in church and competing in high school vocal competitions, which eventually led him to Florida State University, where he majored in vocal performance and completed additional studies in church music. He has served ministry positions as music minister in North Charleston and Charlotte and is currently the worship and administration pastor at Crowfield Baptist Church in Goose Creek, where he has served the past eighteen years. Gary is also a National Certified Church Business Administrator affiliated with the Church Network.
He and his wife, Janice, of thirty-three years, have two beautiful adult daughters, Ashley, a professional opera singer managed by Insignia Artists in New York; and Casey, a certified Zumba instructor and academic coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. When Gary is not singing, leading worship, or organizing committees and writing policies, you can find him enjoying his favorite Krispy Kreme doughnut with a glass of milk while playing Words with Friends.
Barbara Dobbs, Librarian
Barbara and her husband relocated to Summerville seven years ago and one of the first things she wanted to do was find a chorale group to join. She has been affiliated with singing groups everywhere she has lived and find it’s one of her strongest passions. This is her 4th year with Singers of Summerville and she’s thrilled to be singing with this talented group of musicians as a 1st Alto. She is also blessed to sing with the Bethany United Methodist Church choirs. “Music will always live in my soul.”
Betsy McAmis, Secretary
Music has always been an integral part of Betsy’s life. She has been singing in church and school choirs since elementary school. Twenty years ago she took the opportunity to audition for a newly forming community chorus, the Singers of Summerville. Betsy was delighted to discover that she had been accepted into the group. Over her years of membership, she felt privileged to serve the Summerville community while learning wonderful music under the leadership of numerous talented directors and singing along side many, many dedicated and accomplished people. As the group celebrates its 20th anniversary season, it is Betsy’s hope that the achievements of the past twenty years mark only the beginning of what the Singers of Summerville can accomplish.
Pamela Gardiner, Member At Large
Pamela is a soprano with the Singers of Summerville. She started singing in her church choir the minute she was old enough to join and hasn’t stopped yet. She earned a Bachelor of Music with a triple major in voice, flute, and music education (how is that even possible in just four years?). She started, then stopped, post-grad studies in voice, then spent most of her pre-retirement years working with her husband, another ex-music teacher, in their Massachusetts printing company. After they sold the business, Pam worked for her multiple pets’ veterinarian before retiring to Manning (thanks, Dr. Jen, best job ever—and a bit of unsolicited information, don’t spend twenty-five plus years working with your spouse).
The first thing she did after moving to SC was audition for Singers of Summerville and enjoys the group so much that she can almost ignore the hour-plus commute to rehearsals. “And the subsequent commute home, with every deer in SC grazing by the interstate, waiting to commit suicide-by-car.”
Andi Stem, Member At Large
Andi Stem started singing in the backseat when she was two years old, and continues to harmonize with every song she hears. Andi sang with children’s and youth choirs throughout her childhood in Charlotte, NC, and sang for an a cappella women’s ensemble through college. After getting married to an Air Force guy, Andi sang in community choruses in six states.
In 2003, Andi and Eric moved with their three kids to Summerville where Andi joined the Singers of Summerville and served on the board. Due to the demands of life and motherhood, Andi stepped back from Singers, but started a women’s ensemble called The Jewel Tones in 2010. Now that her kids are grown, Andi serves as an at-large member of the board, yet still sings loud in the car!