Artistic Staff
Dr. Jean-Marie Kent
Artistic Director
Director - Arioso, Intermezzo
Jean-Marie Kent completed her doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Washington, specializing in collaboration and community engagement. Her dissertation compared Vivaldi's opera choruses to his works for women at the Pieta. Currently, Jean-Marie serves as the Director of Choirs at Holy Names Academy. Previously, she taught Choir and Vocal Jazz at Roosevelt High School and directed the Magnolia Chorale, a community choir. Before moving to Seattle, Jean-Marie taught music on Vancouver Island and in New York City, where she developed public school music programs for gifted children. She earned her Master of Music in Conducting at McGill University in Montreal and her Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Regina. Jean-Marie has conducted orchestras and choirs, including the University of Regina Chamber Singers, the UW Women's Choir, Nanaimo Symphony Orchestra, and the Victoria Civic Orchestra. Recognized for her ability to get to the heart of singing, she is frequently sought after as a clinician for high school and community choirs.
Franny Finstrom
Associate Director - Poco a Poco
Franny Finstrom graduated from Northern Illinois University with Bachelor's of Music degrees in both music education and piano performance. She continued her music studies in Hungary at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music with emphasis on early childhood music education, piano pedagogy, and research on the influence of music on language development in young children. In 2013, Franny presented her lecture entitled, "Expanding the Kodály Vision: Folk Music and Whole Child Education" at the International Kodály Symposium in Kecskemét, Hungary. In addition to her experience teaching piano lessons, music theory, and early childhood music, Franny also has classroom experience as a Montessori preschool teacher. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
Nathaniel Hendrix
Associate Director - Camerata, Coro Vivo
Nathaniel Hendrix is an alumnus of the Seattle Children’s Chorus, where he grew up singing in all the levels, beginning with Training Chorus (before it was named Brio), all the way through Coro Vivo and Camerata . He is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where he received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. Nathaniel has taught high school choral music in the greater Chicago area and is currently teaching choir at Shorecrest High School and Kellogg Middle School in the Shoreline School District. Nathaniel lives in Renton with his wife, Jackie, and enjoys hiking whenever he gets the opportunity.
Ellie Kok
Associate Director - Brio
Ellie Kok graduated from Whitworth University with a B.A. in Music, and from Seattle Pacific University with a Masters in Teaching. Ellie grew up in a very musical family and has been playing instruments and singing her whole life. Ellie loves teaching and sharing music with youth and seeing how much joy and community it can bring. In addition to directing Brio, Ellie is also the Director of Choirs at Eckstein Middle School and the Choir Director at Maple Leaf Lutheran Church. Ellie lives in Everett with her husband, daughter, dog, and cat.
Debra DeMiero
Accompanist - Brio
Debra DeMiero joined our artistic staff in 2006. Performer, teacher, adjudicator, accompanist and singer, Debra has a Master’s in Music with a Piano Performance emphasis from Washington State University, and Bachelor degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from Seattle Pacific University. She has studied with Marcile Mack, Ruby Bailey-Ronald and Bela Nagy. In addition to serving on the music faculty at Edmonds Community College, Debra accompanies the Sno-King Chorale, serves as Music Director at St Thomas More Church, and enjoys teaching out of her home studio. She and her husband, Vince, live in Brier and have four children and five grandkids.
Randi Teigland-Hendrix
Accompanist - Camerata, Coro Vivo
Randi Teigland-Hendrix has been accompanist for Seattle Children’s Chorus since 1997. She currently plays for Camerata and Coro Vivo. She is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance. Randi has taught at the college level and privately for many years. She is an active accompanist, playing for various conductors and performers in the Pacific Northwest, and also serves as pianist and organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Edmonds, Washington.
Laurie McFarland
Accompanist - Intermezzo, arioso
Laurie McFarland graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance and later studied with Patricia Michaelian and Holly Herrmann. Laurie has had years of experience as an accompanist for soloists, schools and other professional organizations. She currently plays for Bethany Community Church Greenlake, maintains a small piano teaching studio, and homeschools her four boys, all of whom are involved in various levels of SCC.
Tyleen Stults
Accompanist - brio, Intermezzo, arioso
An organist and collaborative pianist, Tyleen Stults is a graduate of Concordia University Chicago who also studied at St. Olaf College. She has served congregations and schools in CO, MN, MO, and IL at various levels, performing continually for 9 years as a staff accompanist at Adams State University. She is a published composer of works for handbells and other instruments, and enjoys playing violin in small groups. Tyleen and her husband Don moved to WA in 2021, reside in Lake Stevens, and are blessed with five children.
Administrative Staff
Kristine Zellman
Registrar
Kristine Zellman is an alumnus of the Seattle Children’s Chorus where she sang for 12 years. She is a graduate of Northwest University where she studied general music. Kristine is still an active part of the Seattle choral music community and is excited to share her first choral love, SCC, with her oldest boys who are in Poco a Poco this fall. A Seattle native, she now resides in Greenwood with her beautiful family where they enjoy exploring new coffee shops and restaurants, road tripping to National Parks and embracing the chaos of life with little ones.