Artistic Director
Katrina Turman
Artistic Director, Cantabile and Bel Canto Conductor
Welcome to Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle! It is my honor to serve as Artistic Director of this thriving community of singers. I am a music educator and conductor with an enthusiasm for community choral education. My positive experiences growing up within outstanding youth choirs convinced me to dedicate my career to young people and the pursuit of high-quality music education for all.
BIO
Katrina Turman is a native of California and an alumnus of the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, where she began singing at age five. Prior to coming to Columbia Choirs, Katrina was an assistant conductor for the San Francisco Girls Chorus where she conducted numerous concerts at Davies Symphony Hall. Katrina has also taught at the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir in Oakland, CA and the Bellevue Youth Choir in Bellevue, WA. In addition to conducting, Katrina was a professional singer of the Munich Bach Choir in Europe.
Katrina is a fervent advocate of the relevance of children’s choral music and was published in the American Choral Directors Association’s Choral Journal (2021) with an article titled, “Children’s Choral Repertoire with Highlighted Pedagogical Elements.” Katrina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of Oregon, a Post-Graduate certificate from the Kodály Institute, and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Conductors
Dori Baunsgard
Con Brio Conductor
Dori Baunsgard is a Pacific Northwest native who spent many years conducting choirs and teaching music in India and Japan before returning to Seattle in 2011. She has an avid interest in multiple styles and genres of music, and is especially focused on women composers and global repertoire. Dori is active in the Seattle area as a conductor, accompanist, and choral adjudicator.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Jennifer Faul
Lyrica Conductor
Jennifer Faul has been making music with Columbia Choirs since 1998. She currently directs Lyrica, and formerly accompanied the Cantabile Vocal Ensemble and Con Brio Women’s Choir for many years. Mrs. Faul earned her bachelors degree in music education in 1998 from the University of Washington, and her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction shortly thereafter.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Aly Henniger
Ragazzi, Harmonia Conductor
Aly Henniger has been directing Ragazzi for four years now and Harmonia for the last two. She loves helping young singers develop their vocal skills and confidence. Aly has worked full-time in teaching Middle School Choir for the past five years.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Taylor Iverson
Melodia-Thursday Conductor
Taylor Iverson is excited to be joining Columbia Choirs as one of the directors of Melodia. She has a passion for working with young singers and helping them find the joy in making music together. Taylor grew up singing in the Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choir, which sparked her passion for music. Taylor has been teaching high school and middle school choir in the Northshore School District for 5 years.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Tiana Shuford
Prima Conductor
Tiana Shuford currently teaches at East Ridge Elementary, Hollywood Hill Elementary and Sunrise Elementary in Northshore School District. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with a Choir Specialization from Central Washington University. During her time at Central, she enjoyed participating in their Vocal Jazz Ensembles, Chamber Choir and opera productions.
In her spare time, Tiana sings in Wellspring Ensemble – a local community choir, and teaches community ukulele workshops. When not teaching or making music, Tiana enjoys being outdoors and spending quality time with her family. Tiana is thrilled to share her joy for music with her students and is very excited to be our newest director of Prima Choir!
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Rachel Teigen Brackett
Melodia-Tuesday Conductor
Rachel Teigen Brackett is the K-5 General Music Teacher and Choir Director at Lakeview Elementary in Kirkland. Rachel is in her 17th year of teaching and has been with Lake Washington School District for the past 13 years, previously she taught in Bethel and Seattle School Districts. She also teaches education and arts integration courses at Northwest University and Seattle University.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Giselle Wyers
Concord Conductor
Giselle Wyers is the Donald E. Petersen Endowed Professor of Choral Music at the University of Washington, where she conducts the award-winning University Chorale and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting and music education. Choruses under her direction have received numerous American Prize awards for their CD recordings, including the American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music in 2017-18.
Wyers’ choral works are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing Company as part of the “Giselle Wyers Choral Series,” and have been performed across the United States, South America, Canada, Australia, Cuba, and numerous European cities. Choral works in 2020-21 included social justice pieces focusing on climate change, gun violence, water quality issues and houselessness and can be listened to on her SoundCloud page. In 2022, she will be composer-in-residence for the Seattle Sings Festival, sponsored by GSCC and Consortio.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Accompanists
Julann Faris
Lyrica, Concord Accompanist
Julann started playing piano at the age of 6 and shortly after was introduced to the world of accompanying at the insistence of her mother. It didn’t take too many bribes for her to realize that she actually enjoyed it, and today it is one of her most favorite things in the world to do. The confidence of her elementary music teacher inspired her to start playing for her school choir and she continued to develop a passion for accompanying through junior high and high school. In college she was able to travel around the world playing for choirs, performing in Russia, Ukraine, Spain, and Israel. She holds degrees in Music Education from The Master’s University and the Crane School of Music. Today she enjoys both helping kids discover their own musical gifts at the piano and contributing her part to make great music with soloists and choirs.
Anna Nurre
Harmonia, Ragazzi Accompanist
Anna started playing piano just before the age of four and was taught initially by her mother, Vicki Nurre. At first, Anna’s mother did not want to teach her piano because Anna could not read yet. However, Anna was persistent and eventually learned how to read music before she could read words. Additionally, Anna studied piano at Shoreline Community College with a primary focus on George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, and other jazz/ragtime repertoire. Anna won the Indiana State Piano Scholarship and has competed in multiple solo and ensemble festivals.
In addition to Columbia Choirs, Anna continues to accompany solo and ensemble festivals for local high schools and is a volunteer pianist at local retirement/adult homes. In her spare time, Anna loves to play video games and spending time with her husband and children, Cade and Kyler.
Genevieve Peaslee
Con Brio, Cantabile Accompanist
Genevieve Peaslee earned a B.A. in Piano Performance from Scripps College and has also studied at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and the Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan. Her collaborative piano experience began with the choirs at her junior high school and now includes chamber music and vocal accompaniment studies at Scripps, work with advanced voice students at Chapman University’s Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, and dance accompaniment at the California Institute of the Arts, Pomona College, and Pacific Northwest Ballet (among many others).
Munkhtuya Yadmaa
Bel Canto Accompanist
Munkhtuya Yadmaa graduated from the The Gnessin State Musical College in Moscow Russia, where she studied piano performing arts. After graduating, she went back to her home state of Mongolia for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Mongolian Culture and Art University. In addition, Munkhtuya studied organ in South Korea and released her own piano album in 2013.