Kathy Czerny, President

Music has been a part of Kathy’s life for as long as she can remember.  Her grandmother was her first teacher, and Kathy gave her first solo performance at the age of 2 at her mother’s alumna sorority fundraiser.  Kathy has been mixing music and fundraising ever since. She grew up in Utah, a hotbed for music and the arts, and was lucky to have a rich musical upbringing. Music has opened so many doors for Kathy – including touring Europe in college, meeting her husband, and ultimately providing her with a wonderful career. 

Professionally, Kathy served as the Executive Director and President for two large community music schools on the East Coast for over 30 years. The first one grew from a grassroots school, merged with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and is now the model orchestra/school in the country. In 2020, Kathy retired from South Shore Conservatory, one of the largest community music and arts schools in the country. At the height of the pandemic, Kathy left one daughter and son-in-law in Boston to move near her other daughter, son-in-law, 3 grandchildren, mother, sister and niece here in Colorado!  Kathy’s niece, Penelope, joined the Boulder Children’s Chorale and is loving it! 

Kathy is looking forward to bringing what she has learned in her 50 years in arts management to the Chorale and hopes that her experiences can be of benefit to the organization.

Greg Herring, Treasurer

Greg has been an active member of the Boulder Chorale for the past twenty-four years. He served previously on the Board of Directors for six years, and rejoined the current board three years ago, assuming the Treasurer position in the spring of 2021 and beginning his current term that year. Between these two periods on the board, Greg served for many years as the concert manager. In addition to high school and college choral experiences, Greg sang in church, community, and small ensemble choirs before joining the Boulder Chorale in 1999. Greg is a former network outsourcing project manager having retired from AT&T in 2019.

Laurel Seppala-Etra, Secretary

Laurel has been a member of the Boulder Chorale for over twenty years! Her musical life started as a child singing in church and school choirs and continued into college where she toured with her university choir in Europe. She also had the opportunity to sing Mahler 2 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. After taking a break for several years, Laurel returned to singing when friends encouraged her to join the Chorale; her first concert was singing Beethoven 9!

Laurel graduated from Penn State with a B.A. in English/Education. Her work background is varied and has included administration, education, and a career in travel. After 9/11, Laurel lost her job in the travel industry and went back to school and earned an M.L.S. from Emporia State University. She has worked as a librarian, most recently at the Boulder Public Library. Laurel is recently retired. In the past she has held leadership positions in AAUW. Currently she is the co-chair of her church’s Worship Team.

All through her life in Boulder, the Chorale has been one constant that has brought her joy; Laurel loves singing different music and socializing with other choir members. She has volunteered on the Grants Committee, as the Music Librarian, and as Secretary of the Board.

Laurel revels in reading, travel, hiking, film, and attending various cultural events. Laurel and her husband live in north Boulder. They enjoy visiting their combined three children and four grandchildren where they live in Oregon, DC, and South Carolina.

Susan Arends, Director

Susan Arends joined the Boulder Chorale in 2020 during the online COVID year.  She has been part of choral groups with Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas for over 20 years and missed being part of a choir when she moved to Boulder in 2019.  Susan has three children who all participated in choral activities while living in Kansas.  Susan sings with the Chamber and Concert chorale and currently serves as the Chorale’s membership/volunteer coordinator.  It brings her joy to work with an organization with singers of all age groups.  Susan formerly worked as an assistant children’s choir director at Resurrection and currently substitutes for the Boulder Valley Schools.  If she’s not rehearsing, she’s skiing, doing yoga, walking her dogs or attending a concert.

Jackie Stone, Director

Jackie Stone has been a musician and vocalist her entire life. From a young age she started on piano, violin, guitar and sang with the Civic Youth Chorus of Detroit. She performed in collegiate a cappella at Grand Valley State University during her college years and is currently a member (alto) of the bFlatirons A Cappella group, where she also serves as their Business Manager. Since becoming a mom, she always hoped her children would take an interest in music and much to her delight, her son is now a very enthusiastic member of the Boulder Children’s Chorale in the Piccolini Choir. 

Jackie is thrilled to be a new member of the Boulder Chorale Board! With a background in non-profit work and business management of a musical group, she is excited to leverage her skillset to oversee the Chorale’s corporate sponsorship program. She is looking forward to creating partnerships with local businesses and furthering the mission of the Boulder Chorale through these relationships. 

Vicki Burrichter
Boulder Concert Chorale Artistic Director
Boulder Chamber Chorale Artistic Director

Dr. Vicki Burrichter has been called “one of the most innovative choral programmers in the country.” Highlights include Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts (which the chorus took to the Netherlands in the summer of 2019 with three Grammy-nominated musicians); Carnival Brazil with the Boulder Samba School and Ginga; the Tangos of Argentina with the Austin Piazzolla Quintet; Between Heaven and Earth – Hindustani classical music with JamKeyJam; Cherubini’s Requiem with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra; Brahms’ Shicksalslied with the Boulder Philharmonic; and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Boulder Symphony Orchestra. Previous work includes Voices of Light, set to the 1927 Carl Dreyer’s film, The Passion of Joan of Arc; Sing for the Cure with the Colorado Symphony and 200 singers; Mary Lou Williams’ Mary Lou’s Mass at the DCPA with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble; founding the SOAR! Youth and Adult Choir, which mentored foster/adopted children in choral music and life skills and winning a Gold Medal at the New York Choral Festival with her chamber choir of ten years, Canto Spiritus. Dr. Burrichter is on the Humanities faculty at Western Governors University. Her mentors and teachers include conductors Marin Alsop, Vance George, Pierre Boulez, and Robert Shaw.

Nathan Wubbena
Boulder Children’s Chorale Artistic Director
Boulder Children’s Chorale Bel Canto Director

Nathan Wubbena received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 2011, and his Master of Music in Music Education with a Conducting Specialization at Colorado State University in 2018. He has extensive experience conducting ensembles and students of all levels; he is also the Artistic Director of the Longmont Chorale, as well as Board President and Founder of Ascent Vocals. In 2015, Nathan received the Outstanding Young Music Educator Award from the Colorado Music Educators Association. He is Chair Emeritus of the Colorado Middle All State Choir board, of which he was a founding board member. Mr. Wubbena has served as a guest clinician and conductor throughout the state of Colorado, directing Honor Choirs in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, the Western Slope, and Northeastern Colorado, as well as the Directors Choirs for Western State Colorado University and Middle School All State. He also adjudicates at ACDA festivals and Music in the Parks. It is Nathan’s firm belief that music is for everyone; he works tirelessly to make that a reality for young and old alike, and then to create an environment where music and collaboration can bring beauty and joy to all.

Kim Dunninger, Boulder Children’s Chorale Volante Director

Kimberly Dunninger holds a Bachelor of Music Education with distinction from the University of Maine and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon, where she conducted the Women’s Choir. Kim is an accomplished singer and teacher, having taught choral and orchestral music, K through college, for 30 years in NH, OR, ND, and CO. She retired from the Adams 12 5 Star School district in 2021. During her tenure there, her ensembles were chosen to perform at the CMEA clinic/conference and performed in Carnegie Hall twice. Kim has sung in many choirs: the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Robert Shaw Carnegie Hall choral workshops, the Durango Women’s Choir & Durango Choral Society, the Varna Music Festival in Europe, and locally: Kantorei, St. Martin Chamber Choir, the Boulder Bach Festival chorus & Seicento Baroque Ensemble..  Kim is an active member of ACDA, President of the Boulder Area Delta Zeta Alumnae and the Indian Peaks Chapter of DAR. Her choral arrangement, “America, Still Beautiful,” won 3rd place in the 2016 National NSDAR American Heritage contest.

Anna Robinson, Boulder Children’s Chorale Prima Voce Director

Anna Robinson received her Bachelor’s of Music Education from DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and a Master’s Degree in Music from Colorado State University. Anna has taught elementary school general music for 14 years including 10 years in Telluride, CO. She currently teaches general music and after school choir at Padilla Elementary School in Brighton, CO. While living in Telluride, Anna sang with the Telluride Choral Society in the adult Chorale and Chamber Singers. In addition to the large ensembles, Anna performed with a quartet called “The Jeweltones” and another group called “The Renaissance Singers”. She also served as the Vocal and Music Director for the Telluride Theatre company and performed several roles in their musical productions; her favorite being “Audrey” in Little Shop of Horrors. Anna serves on the CMEA general music council and on the board of the Regional Organization of Colorado Kodaly Educators. In her spare time, Anna is somewhat of a gym rat and enjoys reading, theatre, hiking, and watching sports.

Melody Sebald, Boulder Children’s Chorale Piccolini Director

Melody Sebald holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of North Dakota. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music Degree with a concentration in Kodály from Colorado State University. During her time at UND, Melody received the coveted undergraduate choral conducting scholarship and worked under the tutelage of Melanie Popejoy. Melody currently teaches elementary music to over 400 students in Jefferson County Public Schools. In 2022, she received Jeffco’s Talented Teacher Award in the category Unsung Hero. She is an active member of ACDA, NAfME, and OAKE. She likes to play board games with her husband, go on walks with her dog, and read in her spare time.

Susan Olenwine, Boulder Concert Chorale Pianist & Boulder Chamber Chorale Pianist

Susan Olenwine has been a collaborative pianist before the term was created. In her years at the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned both BMus and MMus degrees, she was able to develop the skill playing with fellow vocal and instrumental students and professionals. She further mastered her proficiency with an MMus in Collaborative Piano at CU Boulder.

She took a detour and entered the field of music administration and held management positions with orchestras, Connecticut Public Radio, and Yale School of Music, where she was the Director of Finance and Administration. In Connecticut Ms. Olenwine was well known in the Greater New Haven area as a recitalist and ensemble musician.  In 2001 she traveled with the Yale Alumni Chorus to Russia, England, and Wales and was the soloist with the Bolshoi Orchestra in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, and with London’s Royal Philharmonic in St. Paul’s Cathedral.  She also concertized in Austria and Denmark, appearing as a soloist with the US Air Forces Band.

Her many affiliations include various choral ensembles, Bridgeport Symphony, Orchestra New England, Reno Philharmonic, Nevada Opera, University of Nevada/Reno, Longmont Symphony, Boulder Bach Festival, and Pro Musica.

Since arriving in Boulder, she has continued to be a partner to singers and instrumentalists and has been a collaborative pianist at CU Boulder and Metro University. She is on the faculty of the Center for Musical Arts and has been the pianist for the Boulder Chorale since 2010.

“. . . pianist Susan Olenwine, whose sensitivity, dynamic control, and idiomatic sympathy make her an ideal partner.”  Fanfare Magazine

Caitlin Strickland, Boulder Children’s Chorale Bel Canto Collaborative Pianist

Caitlin Strickland holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado-Boulder. During her time there she won numerous regional competitions including MTNA and the Nancy Clark Piano Competition. In 2000, she was a featured performer at the International Piano Festival in Houston, TX. The following year she was accepted as a student at L’École de Musique in Paris, and had the opportunity to study and perform at the International Piano Sessions in Prague. Ms. Strickland has extensive experience as an accompanist and has performed with Opera Colorado, Boulder Opera, Boulder Bach Festival, Boulder Suzuki Strings, Arvada Center Chorale, and Resonance Women’s Chorus. She has performed both solo and collaborative recitals throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She lives in the mountains outside of Nederland with her husband and 17 year old son.

Matthew Sebald, Boulder Children’s Chorale Volante Collaborative Pianist

Known for his bold performance presence and praised as a “dedicated musician”, Matthew Sebald is very active as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach. He recently graduated with a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from CU Boulder and is pursuing his DMA in this field starting this fall. As a collaborative pianist, Matthew has experience playing for both instrumentalists and vocalists, from beginners to professional musicians. His most recent engagement was a trip to the XVIII World Saxophone Congress in Croatia where he collaborated with Dr. Scott Sandberg (UND) in the premiere of Catherine McMichael’s Duality for tenor saxophone and piano. Matthew has also proven himself to be an accomplished soloist; some of his accolades include winner of the 2016 Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra Concerto competition and UND’s 2015 Mozart Piano Concerto competition, and runner-up for the 2017 Greater Grand Forks Concerto Competition. His experience as a pianist/harpsichordist in small and large ensembles includes the Red River Trio 2016-2017, the UND Chamber Orchestra 2017-2018, CU Boulder’s Symphony Orchestra 2020-2021, and CU Boulder’s Chamber Singers 2021.

Margaret Scharff, Boulder Children’s Chorale Prima Voce & Piccolini Boulder Collaborative Pianist 

Margaret Scharff began the study of piano at age 5. She performed as a soloist with her local youth orchestra at age 11.  She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1998, and a Master’s degree in Piano Performance in 2002. After her education, Margaret began teaching private students, as well as accompanying choirs and church services, and free-lancing as a pianist. She has worked for three Unitarian Universalist churches, and is currently an accompanist at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church and Congregation Har HaShem.  She has accompanied the Arvada Chorale and the Boulder Messiah Chorale. Besides studying piano, Margaret has also conducted choirs, studied organ, and collaborated in piano trios at the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival in Vermont. She currently lives in Boulder with her husband and daughter, and loves to hike and travel.

Joanna Lynden, Boulder Children’s Chorale Prima Voce & Piccolini Longmont Collaborative Pianist 

Joanna Lynden, a graduate of CU Boulder, BMusEd, is a pianist, organist, composer/arranger, choir director, and retired Boulder Valley School District music educator who grew up in the Chicago area and studied piano as a teenager at the American Conservatory of Music. She has had a long career playing organ (teachers include Carole Terry, Everett Hilty, and Elizabeth Farr) and serving as musical director for various churches wherever she has lived in her rather nomadic life: San Francisco, Seattle, southern Oregon, St. Gallen, Switzerland, and the greater Boulder area. She has been accompanist for the Rocky Mountain Chorale, and in the Ashland, Oregon area played for the Rogue Valley Children’s Chorales, Rogue Valley Opera Outreach, Camelot Musical Theater productions (Gigi, Cats, Cinderella, Secret Garden, Les Miserables) and its summer conservatory camps for youth. Joanna directed and wrote for the Boulder-based women’s a cappella group, IRIS, which produced three albums and two multi-media shows. She is currently pianist for the Lyons Community Church and for the last eight years has accompanied eurythmy and choir classes at Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder. When not involved in professional activities, Joanna loves to garden, hike, spend time with family and friends, travel, create herbal medicines, and volunteer with Hospice as a member of the Boulder Threshold Singers.

Lilli Bailey-Duran, Boulder Concert & Chamber Chorale Manager
Assistant to Boulder Concert & Chamber Chorale Artistic Director

Lilli Bailey-Duran received her Bachelors of Music (2015) and a Graduate Performance Certificate (2016) from The University of Northern Colorado. While attending UNC, she toured Austria and The Czech-Republic with the choir Prima Voce.  She also traveled across Germany and France with a touring production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Verdi’s Rigoletto with the company Opera Europa and her classmates. Lilli graduated in 2021 from the University of Denver with Master’s Degree in Music. She sang with Opera Colorado in their chorus of Puccini’s Tosca, and is currently singing at Calvary Baptist Church as a Choral Assistant. In March of 2022 Lilli welcomed her first child Lorelei into the world. Named after Clara Schumann’s song Die Lorelei, Lorelei has already shown a strong love of music, and playing with Lilli’s piano at home.

Lilli is so excited to work and sing with Boulder Chorale again, her first time being from 2007-2008 when she joined the Chorale for their High School program when they reached out to have local high school students sing in their large ensemble pieces.

Eileen Krenzel Rojas, Boulder Children’s Chorale Manager
Assistant to Boulder Children’s Chorale Artistic Director

Eileen is very excited to be on the staff of the Boulder Chorale and especially to be working with the Boulder Children’s Chorale!  She comes to the Chorale with a background in providing development support for small nonprofits and as a former PTA volunteer. Her youngest child is currently in Volante and has been a part of the Boulder Chorale community since 2018.