Board of directors
RODRIGO ERNESTO BOLAÑOS
PRESIDENT
A resident of NYC since 2006, Rodrigo is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor in Architecture and a minor in Theatre Studies. He started his choral performance career in the children's church choir in his native El Salvador. After moving to Southern California at the age of 10, he continued performing in school musicals well into high school. There he joined the Madrigal Choir, performing as a bass, then moving up to Tenor when joining the PolyPhonics in college. He and his husband Mark-Eugene Garcia have continued the love for the performing arts by collaborating in the production of several plays and musicals, since moving to NYC. This is Rodrigo's eleventh year with ECMC and tenth as a member of the board.
BILL POWELL
VICE PRESIDENT
Bill has been a member of the Empire City Men’s Chorus since 2004. He grew up in Colorado Springs where he studied vocal music at the Colorado Springs Conservatory. He went on to study vocal music performance at the University of Missouri and spent two summers in as a young artist at the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, NY.Bill returned to school in New Jersey, earning a BS in Business Administration from Felician University. He served as the chairperson of the ECMC concert committee and the membership committee before joining the board in 2019. He currently lives in Jersey City and senior planner for Gap Inc.
CRAIG GOODWIN-ORTIZ DE LEON
TREASURER
Craig is proud to serve on the Executive Committee for ECMC as the organization continues to grow and thrive, bringing outstanding men’s choral music to the community. He began singing in choirs in fifth grade and received several awards in high school for outstanding choral singing, including the NJ Governor’s Award in Vocal Music and the National School Choral Award. Prior to joining ECMC, he sang in The Arcadian Chorale. Additionally, Craig is a nonprofit financial leader who serves as the Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Hispanic Federation. He holds a BA in Liberal Studies and a BSBA in Accounting from Thomas Edison State University; as well as an MPA in nonprofit management from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Finally, he is a doctoral student at Grand Canyon University where he pursues a Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Craig is also a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional.
DANIEL WEINBERG
SECRETARY
Daniel grew up in Philadelphia and came to NYC in 2004, studying community organizing at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He only began singing in high school, when a choir teacher with a lot of faith in him taught him how to sing. For better or worse, learning "movable Do" was very helpful during this time. He sang in NYU's Chamber Singers during his time there, but after college felt the lack of music in his life. So he jumped at the opportunity his friend Scott Brown mentioned, joining ECMC in 2011. Since then, he has served as Concert Volunteer Coordinator and Concert Committee Chair. Daniel works in non-profit IT and is excited to apply his skills and experience to making ECMC's information systems more streamlined and resilient. In his free time, he composes on piano, takes tap dance classes, and experiments in his home computer lab.
JEREMY RITZ
DIRECTOR
Jeremy grew up an Air Force Brat but has called New York City home for the last 24 years. He was drawn to New York as an aspiring actor which he still does in his free time but now works in Real Estate for The Corcoran Group. He has been singing since his first breath and has studied music since elementary school first via piano then violin but singing is his favorite. Jeremy first joined the chorus in 2004 and was delighted to find a musical outlet at that time. He took a hiatus from 2009 - 2016 and returned to find an entirely new chorus under the direction of Vince Peterson. Since rejoining the chorus he has helped on the membership side of things and eventually joined the board. Membership entails all of the things Jeremy loves: organization, socializing and most importantly people.
DAVID WARD
DIRECTOR
Coming Soon