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.

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 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 Bothell with his wife, Jackie, and enjoys hiking whenever he gets the opportunity.

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.

As an alumna of SCC, and mother of two current choristers, Becca Kreutz is honored to be a part of its continuing legacy. Daughter to founder Kris Mason, Becca grew up in Seattle Children’s Chorus. She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Wheaton College’s Conservatory of Music and first connected with Poco a Poco as a long-term substitute in 2015, eventually staying on for a time as director of the northern branch. More recently her connection with Seattle Children’s Chorus has come in the form of arranging and composing pieces for various levels of the organization, but she is thrilled to be back with SCC’s youngest learners, and looks forward to bringing her fascination with the human voice, her enthusiasm for singers of all ages, and her love of song-writing to this remarkable program.

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 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 graduated from Seattle Pacific University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Piano Performance and Biology 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 the choirs at Bethany Community Church Greenlake, maintains a piano teaching studio, and homeschools her two younger boys. Her four boys have enjoyed all the levels of SCC, starting as soon as they were old enough.

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. A published composer of works for handbells and other instruments and blessed with five children, Tyleen and her husband Don reside in Lake Stevens. In addition to her work with SCC, she currently serves as the music director at Zion Lutheran Church in Snohomish.

Leanna Kraakmo was introduced to SCC in 1997 when her son was invited to a concert, and they immediately connected with the music and the people. Leanna grew up in Japan, and part of what drew her to SCC was the organization's commitment to broadening children's horizons with the power of music, and the opportunities for travel. It didn't take long for each of her 4 kids to join SCC, with Leanna present as an active volunteer. In 2002, she joined our staff as an Office Assistant, and later as Operations Manager where she served for nearly twenty years. She retired in 2019 but re-joined as our Interim Office Manager in 2023. In addition to her administrative skill, Leanna has a background in music having studied piano pedagogy at Seattle Pacific University and has taught private piano lessons for over 30 years. She also currently sings and plays piano and organ at her church, Grace Lutheran, in Edmonds. In her free time, she spends as much time as she can in Chelan and enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren.

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. A Seattle native, she now resides in Greenwood. An advocate for all children to thrive in SCC, Kristine sees it as her mission to not only bring in new choristers to the SCC family but help make the cost of choir accessible to all. Also the SCC Alumni liaison, she keeps track of choristers as they grow and move on from SCC. Reuniting friends across the years and joining together in reunion concerts brings Kristine great delight. In her free time, she can be found chasing joy - cooking, singing, playing outside and lots of dancing.