 |
||
  |
 |
 |
 |
Staff
Director of Religious Education, Irene Praeger
Irene Praeger has served as Director of Religious Education at First Parish in Needham since 1999. Previously she has taught church school and helped coordinate the religious education programs at First Parish in Wayland and First Parish in Framingham.
With a background in human resources and liberal arts, she has a Master of Education degree in Religious Education from the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College and is currently working toward Religious Education Credentialing Program at the Masters Level through the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Irene is also an active contributor to the Mass Bay District Religious Education Team and has served on its Executive Committee as Treasurer, as coordinator of its training programs concerning religion and sexuality, and Vice-Chair. Irene and her husband Eberhardt (Ed) are the parents of two young adult children. They live in Wayland with their young grandson, Torin.
Director of Music, Vivian Montgomery
Vivian Montgomery, keyboardist and conductor, is winner of First Distinction in the 1993 Warsaw (Poland) International Harpsichord Competition, and holds prizes from other American competitions. A recipient of a 1995 Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian earned her Bachelor of Music and her Master of Music in Early Keyboard Performance from the University of Michigan. In addition to her work as a founding member of Cecilia's Circle, an ensemble acclaimed for its programs focused on women in early music, Vivian concertizes with her dynamic recorder & harpsichord ensemble, Galhano/Montgomery Duo. Vivian has taught harpsichord at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and Macphail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis, and is now on the faculty of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she teaches harpsichord and performance practice twice a month.
Vivian completed her Doctoral work at CWRU in 2007, with a special focus on Early Music Performance Practice. She has been residing in Newton, with her husband John and son Ezra, since fall of 2003, having moved to the Boston area for her husband’s position as Chair of Composition and Theory at the Longy School of Music.
Church Administrator, Sue King
Sue King earned her B.A. in education from Lesley University and her M.A. in day care administration from Wheelock College . Sue has attended Professional Days for Administrators at General Assembly for the past 5 years. She is currently program chair of the Mass Bay District chapter of the Association of Unitarian Universalist Administrators and has been on the professional development team of the AUUA, creating a program of certification for administrators. She is currently serving as Vice President of the AUUA. Sue strives to bring a warm and welcoming presence to the church office. Sue has been a member of this church since 1976 and its administrator since 1999.