Musical duo finds home at NHCC

The October 17, 2021, service featured by a moving rendition of “How Can I Keep from Singing,” sung by Amanda Ketchpaw Palés and Ted Palés. According to Amanda, not many duets are written for sopranos and tenors so the two singers must “go outside of our voice parts to find pieces to sing together.” For this piece, they practiced at home using their piano for the starting pitch.

Amanda and Ted met when they were both members of the Harvard Summer Chorus. They had noticed each other, and Amanda had actually texted a friend “He’s so cute—he’s looking at me!” But because of Ted’s youthful appearance, Amanda was afraid to make the first move.

At the end of the summer of 2012, just before the final concert, Ted took the lead, introduced himself to Amanda, and asked her out. They had their first date at Charlie’s Kitchen in Harvard Square right after the concert, and their first kiss on Mass. Ave in Harvard Square. “We both felt a major spark,” says Amanda.

Around that time, Ted began working as a soloist at NHCC. Amanda joined him in the fall of 2016. They were married at NHCC in January 2020. Reverend Ken Baily officiated, and Music Director Lynd Matt directed an assembled-for- the-occasion 40-person choir consisting of musical friends of the bride and groom.

Says Lynd, “While Ted and Amanda’s musical gifts are obvious to many in our congregation, they bring a plethora of other gifts and graces that empower our mission many levels. They are a joy to be in ministry with.”

Amanda has worked at Reuning & Son Violins for almost ten years. She is currently office manager. In addition to being NHCC’s paid soloist and soprano section leader for the choir, she has taken on the volunteer position of music librarian: She is cataloging NHCC’s decades-old music library and devising new solutions for organizational problems within the library.

Ted, tenor soloist and section leader, is a senior sales operations analyst at Recorded Future. They moved to Brookside Avenue in Newton in May 2021.