artistic staff
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COLE THOMASON-REDUS, Artistic Director
cole@marinchorus.org A two-time GRAMMY Award Winning choral artist, Mr. Cole is a 5th-generation San Franciscan with twenty-four years of experience teaching music to young minds. He began singing at the age of seven in the San Francisco Boys Chorus and went on to serve as their Assistant Conductor, in addition to numerous other positions with organizations such as Chanticleer, Ragazzi Boys Chorus, San Francisco Arts Education Project and Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. READ MORE
As a choral composer, his works have been enjoyed internationally, including performances by Cantus and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Additionally, Cole held a seven-year tenure as Curator of Classical Music at iTunes and APPLE MUSIC and was one of five classical musicologists employed by Pandora Media Inc. as part of the Music Genome Project. He is currently also on staff at the National Children’s Chorus and develops educational content and programming for the Department of Diversity, Equity and Community at San Francisco Opera. Check out Cole's website, including recordings of his compositions, here. |
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AMANDA HAHN, Lower Division Director
amanda@marinchorus.org Amanda Hahn, Lower Division Director, has been teaching for the Marin Girls Chorus since 2011. She also has been having a blast directing our Summer Sings! music camp for the last 12 summers. A certified Orff-Schulwerk teacher of Music and Movement, Amanda has been teaching music through a variety of Bay Area school settings and youth choruses for 23 years, with her home base now in the Ross Valley School District. In her classes, students joyfully participate in songs and games from around the world, exploring rhythm and movement. She looks for ways to reach every student through her thoughtful and playful style, enjoying their eagerness to explore music creatively and really do their best.
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A native of Wilmington, Delaware, she received a Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University and a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Since completing her Orff teaching certification, Amanda has participated in intensive training courses with internationally renowned teachers to help round out her work, including Integrating the Arts, Orff for All Ages, and a Kodály conducting course at the Kodaly Center at Holy Names University. She freelances as a flutist and choral conductor, working with adult community choruses; one project culminated in conducting the International Space Orchestra Chorus at the Hollywood Bowl. She is also a devoted private teacher of her flute, piano, ukulele, and voice students. |
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NICOLE SMITH, Lower Division Teacher
nicole@marinchorus.org Nicole Smith was born in Palo Alto, California and raised in San Mateo. She attended the Nueva School, where she began studying classical piano at age 5, earning a Menuhin Music Scholarship shortly thereafter. At age 9 she added flute to her music studies, and by the end of high school was participating in multiple choral ensembles, band, and a folk/rock style small group ensemble. By the time she was graduating high school, becoming a professional musician was high on her list of potential careers.
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While earning a double degree at Atlanta’s Emory University, Nicole played with several local musicians, concentrating on her guitar studies and playing local clubs. Upon graduation she returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and became active in the local music scene, playing many genres of music but eventually settling into playing and singing Salsa and Latin Jazz almost exclusively. Nicole remains an active professional musician. Nicole has completed several courses of study in Orff-Schulwerk through the AOSA National Conferences and also the San Francisco Orff Course. She has been teaching in the Ross Valley School District since 2011 and lives in Fairfax with her husband, son, and an assortment of animals. Nicole has taught our Tuesday Fresco and Giocoso classes in San Anselmo since Fall 2018. |
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DENISE WHARMBY, Lower Division Teacher
denise@marinchorus.org Denise is delighted to be invited for a return season of teaching with Marin Girls Chorus. She will be leading the Fresco and Giocoso classes in Corte Madera and Mill Valley. With her crystal clear soprano voice and slightly British accent, Denise has been called the ‘Mary Poppins’ of Marin by families in past years.
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Denise has first hand experience of the value of early music training and where it can lead. She began as a chorister herself at the age of seven. At the age of twelve, she toured to England and Wales for international choral competitions and her choir was offered the rare opportunity to sing a concert in Westminster Abbey, London. This early training provided a solid musical foundation, built upon and taken to top tier levels through her teen years into adulthood, which ultimately resulted in a significant career as a professional performer of musical theatre, classical vocal repertoire (she loves to sing opera) and as a teacher. Denise was a consultant and song writer for ‘Music Makers’, a BBC television program for schools in the UK. She has taught grade levels K - 12 in Marin schools and was music director of high school musicals at San Domenico for twelve consecutive years. She has penned words and music for a growing collection of original songs for children. Denise’s effervescent style and smile create a happy, music loving, welcoming learning environment where girls can flourish musically, have fun and sing beautifully together. |
STAFF
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Jocelyn Corbett, Business Director
jocelyn@marinchorus.org Jocelyn Corbett has spent her entire adult career working with children. Originally an elementary school teacher, Jocelyn has spent the last eight years working with a number of youth-based nonprofits including Edgewood Center for Children and Families, Advokids and Marin Horizon School. Prior to accepting this position, she was also a member of the Marin Girls Chorus Board of Directors. Her daughter, Mckenna, currently sings with the the chorus as an Arioso and loves it! |
Founder
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MARTHA WALL
Martha Wall, Founder of Marin Girls Chorus, has taught and directed music in Marin County since 1980. A native Californian, Ms. Wall received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from University of California at Berkeley, where she studied conducting with Michael Senturia. She received her Masters in Music Education from Holy Names College in Oakland, with emphasis on the Kodály approach to children's music education. Ms. Wall began studying piano at age seven and soon realized she wanted to become a music teacher. She gained her first experience toward that goal at age sixteen, teaching piano in private lessons and discovering how individual children learn.
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She holds a California Teaching Credential and has taught teaching elementary general music for over 25 years. She has worked with children's choirs for almost 30 years and has been a guest clinician and conductor of honor choirs around the State. Her unique teaching style includes techniques from the Kodály method, standard methodology, games and movement, humor and silliness, and materials that are carefully selected for age appropriateness and inherent quality. For over fifteen years Ms. Wall was Associate Director for Consort Chorale, a Marin County adult choral ensemble in which she also sings, and she was Director of Music for First Presbyterian Church, San Anselmo for seven years. She currently sings with the Marin Symphony Chorus. Her other field of expertise is handbells, for which she has been a conductor, workshop clinician, and solo bell ringer. She has two CD recordings with Sonos Handbell Ensemble of Berkeley, CA. Martha retired as MGC's Artistic Director in 2013 although she still loves teaching private piano lessons, and keeps her private studio filled with students. |
BOARD
board@marinchorus.org
board@marinchorus.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sally Aaron, MGC Parent
Jane Chaplain, President, Former MGC Parent
Anne Moffet Ciranni, MGC Parent
Emma Cockerton, MGC Parent
Steve Maxwell, MGC Parent
Kirra Steel, Community Member
Skye Thompson, Community Member
ADVISORY BOARD
Amy Parsley, MGC Parent
Laurel Roberts-Meese, MGC Alumna
Martha Wall, MGC Founder
Amy Parsley, MGC Parent
Laurel Roberts-Meese, MGC Alumna
Martha Wall, MGC Founder