Alaska Chamber Singers - Singers

Katie Campbell began singing in her first honor choir at the age of nine in Indianapolis, Indiana. She continued her musical growth throughout her schooling with Jazz Choirs, Madrigals and Musicals. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she majored in K-12 Music Education with a choral emphasis. While at UW-W she sang in the Chamber Singers and Women's Choral and participated in a number of Musicals and Operas. Since college she has directed, coordinated and sung in several different choirs and organizations. She is currently teaching classroom music in the Anchorage School District at Chugiak Elementary. When she's not working, singing, spending time with her husband or chasing after her two active boys, she enjoys creating homemade gifts and cards as a Stampin' Up demonstrator.

Sharon Cooke has been singing since she was very young. She received a degree in Music Education with a Choral emphasis from Northern Arizona University. After graduating, she went on a great adventure to Alaska and discovered she liked it here. She first sang with the Alaska Chamber Singers in 2005 and is happy to sing with the group again. Sharon teaches elementary music at Nunaka Valley and choir at Wendler Middle School.

Liesl Davenport-Wheeler is a music educator with training in voice, piano and French horn. She studied music at the University of Oregon and received a master's degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is a member of Good Dog, a duo performing original songs for kids. Liesl's fondest musical memory is performing in the opera chorus of Carmen at the University of Southern Mississippi with Denyse Graves as Carmen. Liesl currently is the choir director at Bartlett High School.

Kathy Jin Hagen is the ACS accompanist. A private piano instructor, she was a piano major and voice student at George Fox College and received additional training at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music. Kathy is active as an ensemble singer, having performed with the Portland Symphonic Choir, Portland State University Singers, Anchorage Opera, and Anchorage Festival of Music. She has appeared as a soloist with the Alaska Chamber Singers and Anchorage Concert Chorus. Her voice can be heard on the children's CD Wee Sing Around the World, part of the internationally popular Wee Sing series.

Katherine Huffman first joined ACS in 1991 but has taken seasons away to sample other performance opportunities in Anchorage. She is frequently a member of the Anchorage Concert Chorus and you have seen her with Anchorage Opera, AVE, Anchorage Folk Festival, ACT, and creative projects at Out North. She studied voice and piano in college, then majored in English, and moved in to a career in health education. She appreciates the musicianship, professionalism and focus that make being in ACS the best kind of hard work.

Kimberly Martin is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University where she majored in Early Childhood Education and minored in Music. While at EMU, Kimberly sang in the Chamber Singers for four years under the directorship of Kenneth Nafziger. She is now a full-time stay-at-home mom with two young energetic boys after having taught kindergarten in the Anchorage School District for five years. Kimberly has been singing with the Alaska Chamber Singers since 2000.

Merry Nanne started singing with the Lawrence Children's Choir in the sixth grade. Since then she has participated in various musical endeavors on voice, oboe, and piano throughout her high school and college. After graduating from St. Olaf College in Minnesota, she moved to Alaska and has become involved in the music community here. Merry is currently the choir director at Service High School.

Julye Neel grew up in the Kenai choral tradition of singing with family, school and church. She was a voice major at Pacific Lutheran University where she sang with the Choir of the West and also sang with Robert Shaw for two summers at the Westminster Choir College. Julye has worked in the Anchorage School District throughout her career, which progressed from classroom music teacher to high school choral director, followed by several years as a counselor. Presently, she is an Assistant Principal at Dimond High School.

Rebecca Nelson is a music educator who grew up in Anchorage singing with her family, school, and church. She received her Bachelors in Music Education from Baylor University and a Masters in Education from the University of Alaska Anchorage, with an emphasis in secondary choral curriculum. She has been teaching music in the Anchorage School District for ten years and currently is the choir director at South Anchorage High School. Rebecca also adjuncts at UAA and enjoys producing musicals. In her spare time she likes to read, bike, and craft.

Meredith Rude was born and raised in Anchorage and graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor's degree in music education. Meredith teaches music both at Mountain View Elementary School and privately, and is a church accompanist and youth director at her home congregation. She is an accomplished trumpeter and pianist, and has a knack for learning how to play new instruments. When she's not singing, strumming or blowing her horn she enjoys hiking, running, and skiing, and playing with power tools.

Megan Webb has been a member of ACS since 2004. After living and teaching in the valley for 8 years, she recently relocated to Anchorage and is currently the band director at Begich Middle School. In addition to singing with ACS, Megan also plays clarinet the Mat-Su Concert Band. She can also be seen singing and playing piano in a group called "The Back Acres" with fellow ACS member David Ianson. Megan also enjoys opera and musical theater, and teaches a theater camp through Valley Performing Arts in the summer.

Stephanie Williams sings with the Anchorage Concert Chorus, the Alaska Chamber Singers and has recently started her own performance group "Next In Line Productions". Some of her more challenging solo opportunities have been as the soprano soloist in Poulenc's "Gloria" with the Anchorage Youth Symphony, as the Queen of the Night with the UAA Opera Ensemble and as Geraldine in Barber's "A Hand of Bridge" with the Anchorage Opera. Born and raised in Anchorage, she has studied voice at Chapman University in Southern California and locally, at UAA and with Kate Egan. Though she enjoys operatic roles greatly, her favorite music is that from the Renaissance and Baroque Periods by composers such as Josquin, Palestrina and Bach. She and her husband James have two funny little girls, Isabella and Brighton.