Artistic Director Emerita Joan Szymko
Bio coming soon…
Spring Term Guest Conductor – Kathleen Hollingsworth – See Bio
A dedicated and passionate musician, Kathleen has been immersed in music since her childhood. Her unique path has allowed her to work with musical giants such as Phil Mattson, Dr. Edith Copley, Dr. Joshua Haberman, Fareed Haque, Michele Weir, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Martin Bejerano, Terence Blanchard, Danilo Perez, Gary Lindsay and Rhiannon. She is the current Vocal Music Director at Clackamas Community College, founder/director of the Music Performance and Technology Program and founded Renegade Gospel which grew from the Playa Choir, a 70-voice ensemble that performs at Burning Man every summer. She has released two acclaimed original albums that span genres of Americana, singer-songwriter, jazz, funk and original soul. Most recently, her album ISH has been on the RMR jazz charts for over 3 weeks, peaking at number 10.
Accompanist
Ian’s Bio
Ian McCarty works full-time in the field of music as a professional jazz and classical accompanist, educator, composer, musical director, and producer. Ian studied classical piano performance with Dr. Alexander Tutunov and holds his B.A. in Music from Southern Oregon University. In addition to accompanying the Aurora Chorus, Ian works at Cedarwood and Portland Waldorf schools as their collaborative pianist, and teaches piano at the Portland Piano Lab. You can find him at various jazz jams around town, as well as performing with his jazz trio.