Youth Choir Artistic Staff
Aubrey Patterson, Artistic Director
Aubrey Patterson (she/her) taught for twelve years as a director of choirs in Oregon public high schools, currently conducts the auditioned treble ensemble at Lewis and Clark, is a University Supervisor for choral teacher candidates for Portland State University, and is the Artistic Director for the Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choir. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in music education and vocal performance, as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching with an emphasis in secondary choral music education from Oregon State University. Patterson is currently the Northwest American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Regional Resource and Repertoire Coordinator for kindergarten through twelfth grade, and the Oregon ACDA Resource and Repertoire Area Chair.
Patterson taught for six years as director of choirs at West Linn High School, growing the program to create a full-time, comprehensive choral curriculum at a 6A high school. Her program earned its first state title in 2019 (pre-Covid) and its second “consecutive” state title in 2022. Internationally, Ms. Patterson has served as director of choirs at the Sichuan, China Conservatory of Music summer camp, and as the assistant choir director of the Oregon Ambassadors of Music Europe tour.
Patterson spent seven years at Corvallis High School, restructuring and cultivating a choral program that won the choir state championship in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and was invited to perform at the American Choral Directors Association Northwest Conference.
Patterson is the youngest ever Oregon-certified choral adjudicator and enjoys adjudicating, clinician work, and premiering new and commissioned works with her ensembles. She was the associate director of Corvallis Repertory Singers with Dr. Steven Zielke during her time in Corvallis and is the inaugural recipient of the Young Conductor Award from Oregon ACDA. Her passions include developing strong music literacy skills, working with singers of all ages, selecting innovative repertoire that builds empathy and understanding, establishing a choir culture that fosters leadership and collaboration, and using music to build strong communities. She enjoys the outdoors, being in water in any capacity, and adventures with her partner Nathan, new family addition Silas William, and goldendoodle Zoey Jane.
Koren Russ, Elementary Director — East & West
Koren Russ graduated from Oregon State University in 1998. She is a music educator in the Beaverton School District and has 25 years of experience working with students from kindergarten through eighth grade. With her vibrant personality and humor, Koren connects to students using her knowledge of choral techniques and musicianship to educate each student based on their current skills. Her passion is creating joyful musical experiences with all singers.
Amberlynn Lane, Elementary Director – North,
Summer Sing Faculty (Musicianship Lead)
Amberlynn Lane (she/her/they) has been teaching elementary general and choral music for twelve years. She taught for two years in Oregon after receiving a Masters of Arts in Teaching at Oregon State University and has since been teaching in the Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington. A National Board-Certified Teacher in Early Childhood Music, Lane has presented sessions at Washington Music Educators Association and the national Modern Band Summit hosted by MusicWill. She currently serves as the Northwest Modern Band Association vice-president and previously served as an elementary representative and equity committee member for the Washington Music Educators Association. Amberlynn holds certifications in World Music Pedagogy and Modern Band levels 101 and 102. Additionally, she studied composition with Robert Dickow, Dan Buckvich, and Charles Argersinger, at Washington State and the University of Idaho.
Amberlynn vividly remembers begging her parents to sign her up for choir when she was in elementary school and is thrilled to be bringing that opportunity to young singers in Southwest Washington. She is quite sure that “musicking” with children is the most fun, and loves to teach literacy and musicianship in creative, student-centered ways.
Melinda Murdock, Middle School Conductor (Central)
Melinda Murdock is in her 23rd year teaching choral studies at Jackson Middle School in Portland, Oregon. She has earned degrees from Nova Southeastern University (M.A.) and Idaho State University (B.A). While attending ISU, she studied choral conducting with Dr. Scott Anderson and participated in numerous international choral tours, including England, Central Europe, Italy, Greece, and Brazil. She also worked with the late Weston Noble, in Idaho and Brazil, as a model for correct choral technique. Except for the two pandemic years, her auditioned Ensemble Choir has participated the past 22 years in Worldstrides Heritage Festivals, including nine times in their Festival of Gold in New York City, Washington D.C., and Nashville. Her Concert Choir performed at the Oregon All-State convention in 2020, and they consistently rank in the top five at the Best in the Northwest Choral Festival.
In demand as a clinician and adjudicator, Melinda was also nominated for the prestigious Oregon Music Educator of the Year award (2006) and was named Teacher of the Year by the Portland Parent Teacher Association (2007). Melinda is a trained classical singer and maintains a vocal studio, with her students often ranking in the top ten at the state level. She strives to instill in her students a life-long love of music.
Andrew Hancock, Middle School Conductor (North)
Andrew Hancock is thrilled to be joining the ORSYC team this year! He attended Oregon State University for both undergraduate and graduate school in music education, and began his career teaching at Orland High School, CA. Thankfully, he’s so grateful to be back in the Northwest, teaching music! Andrew has been at Gardiner Middle School in Oregon City for ten years now, where he teaches choir full-time and also directs annual musical theatre productions. Andrew also performs with a number of choirs in the Portland area including Portland Phoenix Choir and Tumwata community choir, and has directed and sung in a number of churches in the area.
Katey Simmons, Like Voice Treble Conductor (Central)
Katey Simmons (they/them) is the current choral director at Franklin High School in the Portland Public School District and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Oregon State University. They are passionate about healthy and versatile vocal development, literacy skills, and student empowerment through music making. Teacher Simmons is a treble music enthusiast, the 6-12 Like-Voice Treble Conductor for ORS Youth Choirs, and a proud alto one in the adult Oregon Repertory Singers choir. Katey enjoys exploring many genres of music, reading, being outside, and spending time with their cat Midnight.
Jimmy Brown, Like Voice Changed Voices Conductor (Central)
Jimmy Brown (he/him) is a 5th-year music educator. He currently teaches elementary music in the Gresham-Barlow school district. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2019 with a Bachelors of Music in Music Education. While studying in Eugene, Jimmy sang in the UO Chamber choir for four years under the direction of Dr. Sharon Paul, participated in the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, held a section leader role in the chorale of the Central Lutheran Church of Eugene, and sang for the academic early music ensemble, Vox Resonat. He currently sings with the local Portland choir, In Medio.
Before attending university, Jimmy attended Reynolds High School and was part of youth ensembles in Portland. His formative experiences with youth ensembles propelled him to pursue music education. He believes that making music within an ensemble is one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences a person can have. With music being his foremost passion, Jimmy also enjoys spending time exploring the Portland food scene and book stores with his wife, Christina, and their two dogs, Luna and Nova.
Hannah Delgado, Elementary Conductor (K-2, Central) & Rehearsal Assistant
Hannah Delgado is a current third-year elementary music teacher in the Tigard Tualatin School District. She graduated from Portland State University in 2020 with her Bachelors in Music Education, and a Bachelors in Ethnomusicology. She completed her Masters work in the Portland State GTEP program in 2021. During her time at PSU, she was a member of the Chamber Choir for 2 years and took active roles in the community acting as President for both the Collegiate National Association for Music Educators Portland State chapter, and the PSU Student Music Council. This past year, Hannah was an intern for the ORS Youth Choir under the mentorship of Aubrey Patterson. Hannah loves her job more than anything, and is consistently looking for ways to grow as a young teacher. When she is not teaching or making music, she can be found with a book, longing for Fall, and playing with her cats Maestro and Milly.
Gary Skye, Elementary Accompanist – West
Gary Skye M.Mus. studied piano at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and earned a B.A. in psychology at Stanford University and a master's degree in piano performance at Portland State University, studying with Lisa Marsh. An active collaborative pianist, Gary regularly accompanies vocalists and instrumentalists in the area. Equally comfortable with contemporary and classical genres, Gary has collaborated with national and international touring artists and has recorded albums of original music. He has also been a frequent guest singer-songwriter/pianist for numerous church congregations across the country. Gary serves as Music Director for Lake Oswego United Church of Christ.
Linda Tatarsky, Elementary Accompanist - North
Linda Tatarsky is an elementary music teacher in the Evergreen school district. Outside of school, she loves playing on her church worship team, adventuring with her husband, and visiting her granddaughters. She’s excited for the opportunity to play for Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choir.
Stacey Philipps, Composer-in-Residence
Stacey Philipps writes music to share the thrill of creation, collaboration, and performance influenced by modal harmonies, folk songs, hymns, shape note music, and the melodic and rhythmic elements of the world around her. This “rising star,” (Oregon Arts Watch) is one of “Portland’s most forward-thinking composers,” (Willamette Week) who is “establishing a new normal of what will someday be called early 21st-century classical music” (Oregon Arts Watch). An early- and new-music devotee, Philipps is a multi-instrumentalist and lifelong singer currently in the alto section of the Oregon Repertory Singers, as well as the Composer-in-Residence for the Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choir.
Her music for choirs, chamber ensembles, soloists, and orchestras has been performed across North America, and she holds degrees in composition from Portland State University and in philosophy from St. John’s College, Santa Fe. Philipps is a member of the American Composers Forum, the American Choral Directors Association, and ASCAP, as well as the proprietor of Sirensong Publishing, the primary distributor of her work. Find more information about Stacey Philipps, and see and hear her music at www.staceyphilipps.com.
Cindy Mair, Collaborative Pianist
Cindy Mair retired in 2016 from a rewarding 36-year career teaching K-12 music in public education. Her specialties included elementary classroom music in addition to middle and high school choral instruction. An Oregon native, Cindy received her BA in Music Education from Oregon State University and later her Masters in Administrative Leadership from Concordia University. Her favorite assignment has always been that of a collaborative pianist. She has accompanied many ensembles and soloists both at the local and state level. Before joining the ORS Youth Choir, Cindy accompanied the Portland Symphonic Girlchoir for the past 6 seasons. She also enjoys playing for the Milwaukie Lutheran Church Choir and the Tilikum Choir Community under the direction of John Baker. Cindy feels she has come ‘full circle’ in her musical adventure as she was a proud alto in the adult ORS choir in the mid-1980s! When not collaborating with ORS Youth, you will find her performing with her husband Allan, a professional musician.
Photos by Richard Poppino