We Have A New Executive Director! Welcome Rehana Parsons

The Board of Directors of the Vienna Choral Society (VCS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rehana Parsons as the organization’s next Executive Director. 

“I am excited to work with Rehana as a collaborative partner to bring VCS out of the pandemic and into the future,” says Mike Horanski, artistic director of the choir. “Her energy and experience will be so valuable to us as an organization.”

Parsons succeeds Sohini Baliga, who is stepping down after a decade of service. “VCS is in very good hands with Rehana,” Baliga says. “She brings to the table a multitude of business experience, nonprofit and organizational development, and a joy for the arts.”  

An avid arts education supporter, Parsons is a former choir and board member of VCS. In a note to former colleagues and fellow singers, Parsons wrote, “One sure lesson this pandemic has taught me is to embrace the unexpected. So when I learned of the opportunity to serve as the next Executive Director of VCS, I enthusiastically answered the call to embrace it. Over the course of my career, I have worked with leaders of small and large organizations to help navigate change and succeed in their mission. I’m tremendously excited to put that experience to work at VCS, at an important time of transition.” She refers to this return to the choir as “a very special homecoming.” 

Indeed, the choir has given Rehana a very warm “welcome back!” Especially Alto Nation – of which Rehana used to be a proud member.  

Parsons, a former management consultant and lawyer, has an extensive background in team building and fostering community stakeholder partnerships. In the last decade she has increasingly focused on providing strategy, problem solving, planning, and facilitation to nonprofit and public sector advocates, leaders and managers.

“We don’t just sing for us. We sing for an audience that has consistently supported the arts right through the pandemic, and is eager for more as it becomes safer to gather in-person. And we are thrilled to have Rehana lead us into this next chapter of live choral concerts this spring and summer,” said VCS board president, Catherine Michela.

Ms. Parsons begins her new role May 1, 2022. 

ABOUT REHANA PARSONS:
Rehana Parsons is an organizational development and change management expert. She comes to VCS with over a decade’s experience advising managers and executives through major transformations and helping organizations set strategic and operational plans in motion to meet their mission. Over the course of her career, Parsons has worked in the nonprofit, private and public sectors. She is skilled in organizational assessment, capacity building, stakeholder relations, grant writing, fundraising and communication strategy development. 

Parsons joined VCS in 2013 as a singer and over time has served as a volunteer and board member. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Emerson College and a Juris Doctor from New England School of Law. Parsons is a resident of Vienna and enjoys volunteering at her daughter’s elementary school; during the pandemic, she partnered with parents and school administrators to lead teacher and school staff appreciation campaigns. She also served as PTA President, and made a statement when she introduced herself to the parent community in school mascot gear. For her effort, she was rewarded with a 51% increase in parent membership and engagement during her term.