Leadership

Mark Helms, Interim Director of Choirs

Mark Helms is the newly-appointed Director of Choirs at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he conducts the William & Mary Choir and teaches academic courses in music. Dr. Helms is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting. At Maryland, he served as primary conductor of the University Chorale, assistant conductor of the UMD Chamber Singers, chorus master for the Maryland Opera Studio, instructor of undergraduate conducting courses, and assisted in the preparation of choruses for the Baltimore and National Symphony Orchestras. His dissertation research at Maryland focused on shifting choral repertoire programming trends following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Helms previously conducted church, community, and collegiate ensembles in Pennsylvania for six years, where he served as director of choral activities and liturgical music at DeSales University and as director of music and the arts at Doylestown Presbyterian Church. In 2021, he received the Outstanding Young Conductor Award from the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association in recognition of his work in the state. Dr. Helms is also a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music degree in choral conducting, and of Furman University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in church music. He has studied conducting with Jason Max Ferdinand, Edward Maclary, David Neely, William Weinert, Brad Lubman, and Hugh Ferguson Floyd.

Kyle Sharma (he/him), Vice President

• Majors: English & Linguistics
• Class Year: 2026
• What Kyle’s position does: “As the Vice President of Kwah, I’m in charge of both publicity and merch, and I also assist our wonderful President with whatever she needs. I also plan and manage Kwah’s famous Homecoming Float!”
• What Kyle loves about KWAH: “My favorite thing about Kwah is the community! As much as I love to sing, W&M is full of amazing places to sing. But, I’ve never found a community quite as welcoming and positive as Kwah! Plus, getting to go to all the events (including free tickets to graduation!) is a very nice bonus.”
• Other campus activities: “I sing acapella with the Stairwells, I play trombone with the Pep Band and with Wham Bam Big Band, I work as a Resident Assistant and am a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary, I am a part of the Films Committee of AMP, and over Winter Break I am a part of the Sinfonicron Light Opera Company! In my free time I enjoy reading, playing Tetris, and listening to Call Me Maybe on repeat.”

Hannah Ryan (she/her), Librarian

• Major: Classical Archaeology
• Class Year: 2025
• What Hannah’s position does: “I keep track of all of the music, make sure everyone has all of their pieces for performing, and help maintain the choral library.”
• What Hannah loves about KWAH: “The community and friends I’ve made.”
• Other campus activities: “Eta Sigma Phi, Student Assembly, Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta, I also am a gardener on campus for the greenhouses”

Juliet Jennings (any pronouns), Historian

• Majors: Computer Science & Studio Art
• Class Year: 2027
• What Juliet’s position does: “I’m responsible for documenting important Kwah events and running all our social media!”
• What Juliet loves about KWAH: “I love the community here!! Everyone is so talented and so great at making you feel welcome :)”
• Other campus activities: “TTRPG Club, comic writing & illustration, photography, losing badly at most video games”