ABOUT THE CHORUS
The choral art society of the south shore
is an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing outstanding choral music to the picturesque communities of Massachusetts’ South Shore. Our members and audience are from every community in the area, including the many cities and towns of Norfolk and Plymouth Counties. Averaging 60 members, CAS has been a stalwart in the New England choral community since 1958. For more than 65 years, CAS has performed an extensive repertoire of choral music from the Renaissance to the 21st century with professional orchestra and soloists. Known for the exceptional quality of its concerts, CAS has set the standard on the South Shore.
CAS singers and audiences experience the great classical works of such composers as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Brahms, Fauré, Haydn, Puccini, and Schubert as well as more contemporary composers such as Britten, Rutter, and Vaughan Williams. No two concerts are alike, and they represent musical offerings that span hundreds of years, a multitude of nationalities, and musical styles from oratorios to American spirituals. The quality of CAS concerts springs from a single common bond shared by all of its members — a love of singing and sharing outstanding music with our community. From the known to the new; from the emotional power of large choral works to the tenderness of smaller a cappella pieces; from dramatic and innovative contemporary works to lighthearted seasonal music — CAS does it all.
We welcome singers of all ages twice a year ahead of our Winter and Spring concert seasons (once in September and once in January). Our members have a wide range of musical experience — though previous training and choral singing is helpful; it is not a requirement to sing. Each season begins with two open rehearsals that allow new people to join us in song. Members are always welcome to sing in one or both seasons.
Rehearsals throughout the year are held on Tuesday nights from 7-9 PM at the First Trinitarian Congregational Church in Scituate (381 Country Way).
Interested in learning more about joining us? Hit that “Contact the Chorus” button above or email us at board@choralartsociety.org.
Staff
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
Danica A. Buckley
Celebrating her twentieth year with CAS in May 2025, Ms. Buckley is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Choral Art Society of the South Shore, leading dynamic performances from Bach’s Magnificat to Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. A highlight was the sold-out 2009 performance of Mendelssohn’s St. Paul in honor of his 200th birthday and the chorus’s 50th anniversary. More recently, spring 2024 brought another full house with I Hear America Singing: Songs for the People & the American Songbook, 1924-1956. Holiday concerts have featured Magnificat! A Celtic Christmas, Carols and Lullabies, and Northern Lights: Music of the Nordics and Northern Europe.
Since 2014, she has also served as Artistic Director and Conductor of Cape Cod Chorale, curating a wide-ranging repertoire from Bach to Sondheim. Notable performances include Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Gloria, Paul McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum, and the joyful Celebration! Music of the 70s and 80s, where audience and chorus danced in the aisles. In 2024, she led What a Wonderful World, a collaboration with Cape Cod environmental nonprofits and the Mashpee Wampanoag.
The pandemic brought new challenges, but she united both choruses for two successful virtual concerts in 2020-21 and an in-person performance of Mozart’s Requiem and Fanny Mendelssohn’s Hiob (Job) in 2023. The choruses’ third collaboration took place in May 2025, with orchestra and soloists, presenting Florence Price’s Song of Hope and Ralph Vaughan Williams’, Dona Nobis Pacem.
Ms. Buckley also serves as Music Director for First Parish Scituate UU church. Past engagements have included seventeen years as Music Director of the Simmons University Chamber Choir, guest-conductor for the Colleges of the Fenway Chorus & Orchestra, and Music Director for First Parish Brookline and Brewster UU. She has led choral ensembles in the U.S. and abroad, conducting in Cong, Ireland; London and Braintree (UK), and Sarteano, Italy. As a singer, she has performed with The Hallé Chorus in Manchester, England, and soloed with Toonkunst Plus in Gouda, Netherlands. In June 2025, she performed with the Northwestern Bach Academy, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Megill.
A passionate advocate for the power of choral music to build community, she founded Sing for Good in 2017, presenting benefit concerts for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. In response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, she organized a moving performance of Brahms’ Requiem at MIT just six days later, bringing together 500 singers and raising $15,000 for The One Fund.
Ms. Buckley holds an MM in Choral Conducting from Boston Conservatory, studying under Dr. William Cutter, and an MA in English from North Carolina State University. She began her choral studies at Westminster Choir College Summers with Dr. Andrew Megill and Dr. Scott McCoy. She is a member of Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association. When not conducting, she teaches English composition and literature at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
COLLABORATIVE PIANIST
MIJIN CHOI, D.M.A
Mijin Choi holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano and Coaching from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Music in Vocal Accompanying from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Kyung Hee University.
An accomplished pianist, vocal coach, and educator, Dr. Choi has served on the faculties of SUNY Binghamton, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, and the South Shore Conservatory. Her extensive festival work includes engagements with the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, La Musica Lirica, and the Franco-American Vocal Academy.
A versatile musician with over a decade of experience in vocal, instrumental, and sacred music, Dr. Choi has collaborated in recitals, operas, and opera scenes across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She currently serves as Music Director at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Barnstable, Massachusetts, a position she has held since October 2025.
In addition to her musical pursuits, Dr. Choi is also a chef and a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. She enjoys exploring the intersection of music, food, and the human experience.
About The CAS Organization
CAS is a community chorus — rooted in Scituate, but drawing singers and supporters from surrounding towns. Each season, CAS attracts approximately 60 singers from 20 communities across the South Shore. Singers range in age from college students to retirees and bring diverse musical backgrounds to their choral experience. The only requirements for membership are a love of singing, commitment to learning the music, and a willingness to participate in the life and well-being of the chorus. CAS members join an artistic and cultural community offering both amateur and accomplished singers a vibrant, creative, and rewarding musical experience. We sing together, learn together, laugh together, and together we strive for excellence in every performance.
CAS employs two part-time professionals, Artistic Director & Conductor, Danica A. Buckley, and Accompanist Mijin Choi. Ms. Buckley has been with CAS for over 20 years, since 2005. She holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Boston Conservatory and brings wide-ranging musical experience as a conductor, educator, and professional singer. CAS piano accompanist Mijin Choi holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota in Collaborative Piano and Coaching, a Master of Music from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, with emphasis on Vocal Accompanying, and a Bachelor of Music in Piano from Kyung Hee University. CAS also contracts with professional soloists and musicians for our performances.
The day-to-day management of the organization is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of active CAS singers. These individuals bring a wealth of experience to the table including business and financial management, administrative expertise, grant development, technology and database management, community relations, fundraising, media, and more.
The broader CAS community also includes the sponsors and advertisers who help support our programs and our concert audiences. More than 1,000 tickets are sold each year for the concerts offered during two concert seasons, and our audiences reflect the diversity of communities in the greater South Shore area. CAS maintains relationships with the business community that has yielded loyal business sponsors and more than 100 advertisers in concert programs.
The CAS mission is to bring creativity, inspiration, joy, and service through the performance of choral music. We invite you to join us in song, attend our performances, and support our organization for 65+ years to come.
Board of Directors
Stacey Szklut
Lead Co-President
Sue MacPhetres
Training Co-President
Amy Broderick
Treasurer
Anita Parillo Shine
Membership Chair
Lexi Concannon
Clerk
Sarah Semchenko
Social Media and Publicity Chair
Carmela Martell
Friend of CAS Coordinator
David Ongman
Member-at-Large
Rosemarie Gentile
Member-at-Large
Susan Goranson
Member-at-Large