Meet the Staff:
Neil McDonald - Founder & Artistic Director
Neil McDonald is Director of Music at the Community Presbyterian Church in Ringwood, NJ and is the Founder & Artistic Director of the Skylands Music Academy. Neil studied conducting at Westminster Choir College with Dr. James Jordan and Andrew McGill and now directs four choral ensembles and three ringing ensembles.
Neil Studied voice at Westminster Choir College with Dr. Scott McCoy and is an active and sought after soloist in the greater metropolitan area. He made his orchestral solo debut with the Trenton Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. He made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 1999, and has performed at Carnegie Hall many times, including performances of Brahm’s Requiem, Mozart Requiem, most of Haydn’s Masses, all of John Rutter’s major works including the world premiere of Rutter’s Mass of the Children in 2003, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Bach’s Magnificat and Mass in b minor, among others. While at Westminster Choir College Neil was part of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, under the direction of Joseph Flummerfelt, performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, among other major works under the baton of Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center; Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bach’s St. John Passion and Magnificat, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, among others with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, among others with Zdenek Macal and the New Jersey Symphony.
Neil worked 12 years at Malmark Bellcraftsmen, serving in many capacities including as the head of Sales & Marketing. Through handbells, Neil performed with the Westminster Concert Handbell Choir under the direction of Kathy Ebling-Shaw and has toured through 45 states and appeared on “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood”, NBC’s “Today Show”, QVC, and the World Financial Center’s Festival of Light and Sound. He has directed numerous bell choirs at all levels and is also in demand as a handbell clinician, having taught classes on the regional, national and international level for the Handbell Musicians of America.
Neil grew up and currently resides in Ringwood, NJ where he is very active in the community. He has served on the board of the Ringwood Chamber of Commerce for the past 10 years where he currently serves as President. He is an active board member for Ringwood Rec Soccer for the past 14 years, serving as President for the past five years and serves on the Board for Cupsaw Lake. Neil’s love of music started as a student in the Ringwood Schools where he was taught by Betty Purdy, Donald VanTeyens, Bob Leive with the Lakeland Band, and Edward “Chip” Dalton with the Lakeland Chorale, serving as the assistant Director for many years after college. Neil also served for 10 years as a music instructor for the Saturday Stars program, a program serving children with special needs.
Erin Schwab - Executive Director
Erin Schwab is an experienced performer, arts administrator, and teaching artist based in New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Music from Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studied Vocal Performance with Judith Nicosia and was the recipient of the Michael Fardink award for “Outstanding Vocalist” and the Olga Marsano Burian award for “Outstanding Achievement in Music”. She received further vocal and stage training through early-career scholarships at Maestro Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival, The Chautauqua Institution’s Opera Conservatory, and an artist residency at The Crested Butte Music Festival.
Erin is adept at multiple styles of singing and performance practice, ranging from the Renaissance through the 21st century, and has portrayed many operatic roles. She is very active as a professional choral singer and an in-demand concert soloist. Her passion for music and performing led her to pursue work in arts administration alongside her singing, encompassing aspects of marketing, development, event production, chorus management, and more. For Erin, working to sustain and promote the arts began with internships during her graduate studies, first with Carl Fischer Music Publishing in NYC and then the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, NJ. Around that same time, she became more active as a teaching artist and admin in an academic setting, teaching a vocal class for undergraduates at Rutgers New Brunswick and serving as a T.A. for the Rutgers University Choir. From 2015-2019, she served as Assistant Director of the Lakeland Regional High School Chorale, joining them for tours to Canada, Maryland, and Carnegie Hall.
Today, Erin is proud to be the Executive Director of Skylands Music. She also serves as a board member for the Ringwood Friends of Music, where she has chaired the Youth Performance Festival since 2023. Erin is also Marketing & Design Director for PROTESTRA (protest + orchestra), a nonprofit organization with the mission of educating audiences about social justice issues through the context of classical music, all while raising important funds for the causes from which the concerts’ themes are based. From 2022–2025 she served as the Chorus Manager for Downtown Voices, a semiprofessional choir in NYC conducted by Stephen Sands made up of volunteer singers and professional members of the Trinity Choir. During her time there, the group saw their Carnegie Hall premiere with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of JoAnn Falletta, and became GRAMMY-nominated in the category of Best Choral Performance for their work on the world premiere of Benedict Sheehan’s oratorio, Akathist.
Learn more at erinschwabsoprano.com.
Axel Belohoubek - Children & Youth Choir Accompanist
After 11 years of classical piano training followed by a BS in Psychology, Axel Belohoubek hit the road as a professional musician, eventually working his way into the upper echelons of the NYC recording industry as a first call live/session player, composer, arranger, vocalist and sound designer for jingles, tv and film underscoring, major bicoastal corporate industrial shows, pre-production for Madonna and David Bowie tours and more... but the one melody everyone remembers is "Trust Sleepy's" ;<)
9/11 and the rise of the internet de-throned NYC as the world's music center, though, so live performance became key to survival. This led to midweek gigs in elementary schools, dance classes and piano bars, and weddings, tribute bands and churches on weekends. Repertoire continued to grow during accompanist gigs for the NJ Ballet (10 years) and Shen Yun (2 years) dance schools.
Life as a freelance musician is both exhilarating and terrifying, and work during Covid was particularly challenging. But today Axel is back in the schools, country clubs, churches and concert halls, working with Good Stuff (Steely Dan tribute band), the Hooley Shooters (Irish party band), the Uncle Brothers (educational ensemble), Next Faze (wedding band), plus soloing at churches, retirement communities, restaurants, private events and anywhere else seeking his services.
Lisa Fritzky - Children’s Choir Director
A lifelong resident of Ringwood, NJ, Lisa has been immersed in music from an early age. She began studying violin at the age of five and went on to participate in the Ridgewood Youth Orchestra. Along the way, she discovered a love of singing and performing in musicals, church and school choirs as well as Regional and All-State Choirs.
She continued her musical studies at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where she studied classical voice and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. For more than 20 years, she has shared her passion for music as an elementary school music teacher in the Ringwood Public Schools.
As a longtime educator and musician with deep roots in the Ringwood community, Lisa is excited to serve on the Advisory Board of Skylands Music and looks forward to continuing to inspire young musicians as one of the children’s choir directors for the upcoming season. She is honored to help foster a love of music and create meaningful musical opportunities for children in the community she has called home throughout her life.
Outside of music and teaching, Lisa is married to Tim and is Mom to Carly and Max and bonus Mom to Ryan and Aaron. Together, they share their home with their lovable Saint Bernard, Eugene, who brings plenty of love, laughter, and a little extra fur to the family!