Paul McGovern has over 30 years of experience teaching music to all ages, from kindergarten to college. Most recently, he directed choral and instrumental ensembles and taught music classes in several schools in the Portland Public School District. Previously, he taught music courses and directed choirs at Saint Joseph’s College, SUNY-Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, and Georgia Southern University. 

Throughout his career, he has conducted performances of several choral masterworks, including Handel’s Messiah and Four Coronation Anthems, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Missa Sancti Nicolai, and Missa in Tempore Belli, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, several cantatas by J. S. Bach, and Requiem settings by Mozart, Fauré, and Duruflé. He has conducted choral ensembles of all types and sizes. For several years, he was the Conductor of the Southern Maine Children’s Choir, part of the University of Southern Maine’s Portland Youth Ensemble program. Previously, he served as music director of the Granite State Choral Society (Rochester, NH) and the University of Maine-Farmington Community Chorus (now WMCC). He has also served as Chorus Master for the White Mountain Musical Arts Summer Bach Festival and several Opera Maine productions. 

As a singer, Paul was a member of the St. Mary Schola (now Aurora Camerata) for several years. In March 2023, he served as Interim Music Director conducting a program of Lenten choral music that included J. S. Bach’s cantata Aus der Tiefen (BWV 131), and his own edition of a Miserere mei setting by Constanzo Festa. He has performed with Blue Hill Bach in performances of Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt. Previously, he has sung with Choral Art’s chamber choir, The Camerata, and in the chorus for several Opera Maine productions.

Dr. McGovern received his Bachelor’s degree from Queens College/CUNY and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Choral Conducting from Indiana University. His conducting teachers include Jan Harrington, Robert Porco, and Thomas Dunn. While in graduate school, he prepared the chorus for several productions of IU’s renowned opera program. His doctoral document, A Conductor’s Analysis of Paul Hindemith’s “When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d” was nominated for the ACDA Julius Herford Choral Dissertation Award. He also conducted performances of several orchestral masterpieces such as Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (Op. 26), Schumann’s Cello Concerto, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”).

Christina Spurling is a pianist, collaborator, and educator whose work is rooted in community, storytelling, and connection. Known for her expressive artistry, thoughtful partnership, and versatility across genres, she brings warmth, sensitivity, and clarity to performances ranging from chamber music and song repertoire to choral, operatic, and educational settings.

A native of Islesford, ME, Christina earned the Master of Music degree in collaborative piano performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA. She has served as rehearsal pianist and accompanist for various opera companies, choirs, orchestras and colleges in New England. For 6 years she was a collaborative pianist and piano instructor at Colby College and has also taught music courses at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor.

An avid chamber musician with a passion for community, Christina founded the Quietside Chamber Music Festival in 2018 on Mount Desert Island, featuring Maine-based musicians. As a teaching artist, she enjoys opportunities to engage in dialogue about equality, the environment and social justice, through collective music making and sharing.

Christina teaches music at St. John's Catholic School in Brunswick, is organist/pianist at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brunswick and freelances as a collaborative pianist across New England.