The Director
Dr. Robert P. Eaton is founder and director of the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a 70 voice regional chorus dedicated to the performance of major choral masterworks, and also the sixteen voice Assabet Valley Chambersingers. Dr. Eaton has a long career in church music and is currently Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Lexington, MA. He is a Past President of Massachusetts American Choral Directors Association and is currently the Vice President and Treasurer of the chapter. He also serves as Honors Choir Coordinator for the Eastern Division ACDA conferences in 2006 and 2008.
Dr. Eaton was Choral Director at Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA for many years. Dr. Eaton’s choruses won numerous awards at festivals and competitions, including gold medals for Jazz Choir, Camerata Choir, Chamber Choir, and Concert Choir. Dr. Eaton"s students have been selected for National and Regional Honors Choirs and were always well represented in District and All State Choruses. In 1994 he was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award at Algonquin for his work in developing Humanities courses and a Senior Interdisciplinary Pilot Project.
In addition Dr. Eaton has been an organist/choir director for most of his career, active in the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, Music Educators National Conference, and Central District Massachusetts Music Educators Association. He has served as adjudicator and manager of All-State and District choruses and clinician/adjudicator for Festivals of Music. He received a Master of Music Education degree from Hartt School of Music with Dr. Gerald Mack and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting with Dr. James Jordan, also from Hartt. His DMA Dissertation was on Duruflé’s Requiem. Dr. Eaton has also studied conducting with Allen Lannom, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Sir David Willcocks.