Meet Our Members

Martin Rutishauser (Director) has distinguished himself as a choral, operatic, and orchestral conductor in the United States and in Europe. He is currently music director of the Brookhaven Choral Festival, the Ibex Chamber Orchestra of New York, The Collegiate Singers of New York City, and until his recent retirement, the Collegiate Upper School Chorus and Chamber Chorus. He has led these ensembles in concerts in New York, on Long Island, in Westchester and on tours to Spain, Italy and Switzerland. He has also conducted the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association in performances of Israel in Egypt, Elijah, the Monteverdi Vespers, and The Creation. As an opera conductor, Mr. Rutishauser has led performances for the Berner Stadttheater in Switzerland, the Lake George Opera Festival, the Liederkranz Foundation, and the Reimann Opera Theater at New York University. For many years, he also conducted annual concerts of operatic excerpts at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. As assistant conductor to Peter Maag, he worked in opera houses throughout northern Italy. His latest musical endeavor has been to learn the banjo, a pursuit viewed somewhat skeptically by his wife and children.

Susan Eby (Alto) has lent her voice to The Collegiate Singers for more than ten seasons.  As a child, she studied piano and flute and performed with a church youth choir, but in college, she turned her sights to athletic pursuits. She became a physical therapist, specializing in the treatment of the foot and ankle, and opened her own practice in 2016. When her children started middle school, Susan resumed piano lessons and joined not only The Collegiate Singers, but also The Brearley (School) Singers. Now an empty nester, Susan has found more time to enjoy hiking, biking, and kayaking.

Brandon Shaw (Alto) is a welcome addition to the Collegiate Singers through our intern program. He is studying for his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Morgan State University where he has appeared in a number of productions and concerts ranging from Porgy and Bess to Bach Magnificat. Brandon also trained with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre and La Musica Lirica. A native of Baltimore, he has performed in his hometown with the Urban Choral Arts Society, Camerata Baltimore and Greater Harvest Baptist Church, and elsewhere with the Annapolis Opera, the New York Lyric Opera Theatre, and The Princeton Festival. Brandon loves traveling and is particularly drawn to the architecture of older buildings. He hopes to become a director who uses the stage to tell great stories.
Emily Benedek (Soprano) is a journalist whose articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and on NPR, among others. She is also the author of five books. She sang in choir in high school as an alto and is happy to report that some things rise with age. She is now a soprano. Once-upon-a-time, she played piano and alto sax. She loves gardening and lives in NYC with her two daughters.

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