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artistic staff

JOANNA DUDLEY, Upper Division Director
joanna@marinchorus.org

Joanna received a B.A. from the University of London and a postgraduate degree in Education from the University of Canterbury. She spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher, during which she led the school's musical life by conducting choirs, arranging concerts, choreographing productions, and producing a CD. Her junior chamber choir won the largest festival choir competition in Southern England four years running with the highest possible grade. Joanna was promoted to the role of Deputy Head of the Junior School and became responsible for the educational progress and well-being of the school's 400 pupils.

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​Joanna is not only an exceptional teacher, she is also a talented singer. Joanna trained as a professional singer at Morley College, giving recitals and master classes and performing as a soloist for many choirs and orchestras. ​She moved to the Bay Area in 2014 with her husband and children, and currently sings with Marin Baroque, Marin Symphony Chorus, St Mary’s Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael, St Sebastian’s Church in Greenbrae, and Holy Innocents church in Corte Madera.  In the upcoming season, Joanna will be teaching Arioso, Bel Canto, and Chantons singers, as well as teaching Fresco and Giocoso singers at Neil Cummins and The Cove schools.

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AMANDA HAHN, Associate Director
amanda@marinchorus.org

Amanda Hahn, a certified Orff-Schulwerk teacher of Music and Movement, has been teaching music in a variety of Bay Area school settings for 20 years. This is her eighth year with Marin Girls Chorus; she is also currently a music specialist in Marin County public schools and is a devoted private teacher of her flute, piano, and voice students. In her classes, students joyfully participate in songs from around the world, rhythm games and dancing. She looks for ways to reach every student through her 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. When she has time, she freelances as a flutist and choral conductor; in September 2016, she conducted the International Space Orchestra Chorus at the Hollywood Bowl.

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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.

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ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF​

LAUREL ROBERTS-MEESE, Director of Operations
laurel@marinchorus.org

Laurel's involvement with Marin Girls Chorus dates back to the early '90s, when she rocked the teal culottes, sea foam cummerbund, and matching rosette that were the Giocoso uniform at the time. She recorded a studio album with Chantons in 2004 and went on to minor in vocal performance at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. She directed her college's a cappella group for two years, including producing a studio album. She worked as a teacher while earning her Masters in Counseling at Dominican University, and currently practices psychotherapy in San Francisco. She previously served on our Board of Directors for four years, most recently as President. 

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Founder

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.

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BOARD
​board@marinchorus.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dorsi Bonner, Community Member
Jane Chaplain, MGC Parent
Emma Cockerton, MGC Parent
Amy Parsley, MGC Parent
Skye Thompson, President, Community Member

ADVISORY BOARD
Autumn Allee
Kathy Edwards
Martha Wall, MGC Founder