Board of Directors
Matt Herbst
President
Matt hadn't sung in an ensemble before coming to the “sing! Sing! SING!” program in 2015 but has been singing lead with Northwest Sound ever since. Previously a member on the new member orientation team and an attendance administrator, Matt is now serving his second year as President. He also sings in the quartet Naughty and Nice and occasionally can be found singing with various small-time rock bands in the Seattle area. Outside of the realm of music, Matt is active with the United Way and has been known to bake cookies for the concert concession stand.
Keith Bankston
Immediate Past President
Keith Bankston has sung with Northwest Sound as a bass since 2018, after 2 years with “sing! Sing! SING!”. His current official role is Immediate Past President, which basically means providing guidance for the new president and sage advice to the board. Away from Northwest Sound, Keith spends most of his time biking, volunteering with the MS Society, gardening, and making jam from the fruits of his garden.
Secretary
Lee is a very active member of Northwest Sound, joining in 2015 and singing lead. He has been a member of the chapter board, having served as Member at Large, and is currently Secretary. As Secretary he helps make sure that everyone’s registrations are up-to-date and processes new memberships. Lee is very recognizable because he also sets up the rehearsal video and recording equipment and sends the rehearsal out to the membership so everyone can review and members who can’t attend can keep up.
Daniel Iglarsh
Treasurer
Daniel first sang with Northwest Sound in 2019, but after life got in the way he finally joined for real in 2022. He sang with a short-lived barbershop quartet in high school, but he never imagined that he would find himself coming back to it full-time a decade later. Originally from downstate Illinois, Daniel moved to Seattle in 2018 to develop software and immediately fell in love with the Pacific Northwest’s mild weather and beautiful scenery. When not singing, he enjoys video and board games, and hiking in the woods.
David Williams
VP Fund Raising
Matt Astle
VP Music and Performance, Northwest Sound
Matt found Northwest Sound and barbershop in general through the "sing! Sing! SING!" program in 2011 soon after moving to the area, and has been hooked ever since. So much so, he has become an award-winning and published arranger and songwriter in the barbershop style (check out his stuff at mattastlemusic.com). When he is not lawyering in his day job and being a dad to four girls who love to sing but refuse to form a barbershop quartet, he can often be found doing something barbershop-related, from working on a new arranging commission to recording learning tracks to singing baritone with the quartet New Groove.
Rebekah Chaney
VP Music and Performance, Northwest Mix
Rebekah was first seduced by the sweet harmonies of barbershop at Harmony College Northwest (HCNW) in 2009, when she accidentally wandered into a basement room and started singing tags with OC Times (2008 International Quartet Champions—unbeknownst to her at the time). A decade later, she officially joined the Barbershop Harmony Society in 2019 when they opened up to mixed groups. She identifies as Bisectional in Northwest Mix, jumping between Lead and Tenor.
When she's not rehearsing or performing (or enjoying the occasional game night!) with her quartet, Reverie, you can most likely find her building enrichment structures for her snakes Felix and Clementine, or hiking and/or photographing one of the many glorious mountain ranges throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Aaron Con
VP Membership - Northwest Sound
Aaron got his start in Barbershop later in life after a karate injury forced him to find other safer hobbies. That’s why in the winter of 2011 he joined the “sing! Sing! SING!” program and fell in love with chords and a cappella singing. Singing baritone, he performs in both Northwest Sound and Northwest Mix and is part of two quartets: Vocal Vintage, 2023 men’s district senior quartet champion; and The Better Half, a new mixed voice quartet singing with his wife Queenie. While Aaron was the immediate past Chapter Treasurer for six years, he now takes pride in his involvement in chapter membership, as he is passionate about bringing together individuals who share a love for creating beautiful harmonious music and introducing them to the art of barbershop a cappella singing.
Eileen Kelly-Meyer
VP Membership, Northwest Mix
Eileen has been singing for as long as she could talk - from high school and church choirs to community theatre - you name it. And she LOVES those high notes! Eileen met her husband Dan Meyer singing a cappella in January 2000 when A Cappella Pops was formed in the Philadelphia area. Attending Barbershop events ever since to cheer on his quartet, Eileen eventually became one of the founding members of Northwest Mix when it formed in 2019. For the last two years, she has also performed with the quartet In The Mix - an extra sweet gig because she gets to sing tenor with hubby, who sings bass in the quartet. While serving on the Board, Eileen oversaw the hospitality component of the annual Bellevue Youth Choral Festival sponsored by our chapter. As the current VP of Membership of NWMix, Eileen coordinated the very successful "sing! Sing! SING!" program which brought in over 50 participants this past year. Somehow, Eileen still manages to find time to offer premier dog care services and pursue her other passions, gardening and quilting.
Ed Dierdorff
VP Marketing, Northwest Sound
By the time Ed was eleven years old, his dad and his quartet the Tiki Tones were well-known Hawaiian fixtures and Ed was invited to join his Dad’s chorus. That was the Aloha Chapter in Honolulu where they attended together for the next nine years, traveling to district on the mainland several times. Ed sang with the Aloha Chapter until leaving the islands for college at the age of 20. During his college days, he joined and sang with both the Tacoma Totemaires and the Seattle Seacordsmen. He joined Northwest Sound in 2001. He also sings in a Seattle-based VLQ called What’s Cookin’.
Ed also serves as Evergreen District Historian. If you want to know anything about Evergreen history, ask Ed…he probably has it in his head, if not otherwise in his district archives.
Jim Civarra
VP Marketing, Northwest Mix
Jim is the rare Seattle native. He started barbershopping in a production of “The Music Man” back in 1971. He joined the Barbershop Society in 1983 while living in New Jersey and then returned to Seattle and joined the new Northwest Sound Men's Chorus in 1985. He has sung in a number of quartets including Pieces of Eight, which sang together for 21 years, and Premium Blend prior to singing with Vocal Vintage and In The Mix. In addition to barbershop and school and community choirs, Jim has sung in the Seattle Opera chorus and performed in over a dozen musical comedies and operettas. He has played Baron Bombast in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, Harold Hill in “The Music Man”, Daddy Warbucks in “Annie” and the Major General Stanley in “The Pirates of Penzance”.
Kerry Davis
Communications
Kerry discovered Northwest Sound in 2023 and was immediately drawn to the tight a cappella harmonies that reminded him of his early years in musical theater. He has been a proud member of the chorus ever since, serving as VP of Communications on the board and also performing with the barbershop quartet New Groove.
Paul Renhard
Board Member at Large, Northwest Sound & Northwest Mix
Paul is in his fourth decade as a barbershopper. Even though he has won a Seniors District Championship singing as a Tenor, he is most proud of his marriage of 45 years. We can thank his wife, Dji, for kickstarting his barbershop career with the Seattle Seachordsmen. Paul was a chapter officer with that chorus for ten years before moving to Northwest Sound where he has been a member ever since. For nine years he sang with the Far Shore Four and with several more quartets as part of the Quartet Initiative. He was the President of Northwest Sound for five years and continues to serve in many areas including the Music Team, the Logistics Team and the Riser Crew. Having summitted three of Washington State’s five major mountains, Paul remains keen on staying on top - and on key. His pitchpipe is always at the ready.
Queenie Con
Board Member at Large, Northwest Mix
Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Queenie began choral singing in the 9th grade. There under the direction of a beloved Polish music teacher, she honed her harmonizing skills in the first soprano section with Mennonite classmates. While working towards her teaching credentials, she led a tiny church choir and even ventured a few wedding singer stints, one notably with now-husband, Aaron. Fast forward past many years of PTA, soccer team managing, singing alto in a 70-plus-voice church choir, and serving in a kids’ minstrel ministry, Queenie is back to singing soprano - as a charter member of Northwest Mix and as one fourth of The Better Half quartet. Now empty nesters, she and Aaron love traveling and singing silly songs with their two adorable granddaughters. When not learning new music, Queenie finds delight in word games, jigsaw puzzles, golf, pressed pennies, and playing her Cordoba ukulele.
Devin Soelberg
VP of Quartet Events