Kathryn Harsha
Artistic Director
Kathryn Harsha holds a Master of Music in Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Bluffton University. While studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, she served as Assistant Conductor of the Chorale des Étudiants Etrangères and studied conducting at the Conservatoire Messiaen in Saint-Maurice, France.
An active conductor in choral, opera, and orchestral music, Ms. Harsha has worked with ensembles across the country, conducting most recently in Severance Hall and the Kennedy Center, and in France, Italy, Austria, and Germany. Kathryn served for many years as Music Director and Conductor of the Lakeland Civic Orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio, and as the Music Director of Opera per Tutti, now the Cleveland Opera Theater. For more than 20 years, she was the Music Director of the Sing Out! for Cleveland Rape Crisis Center benefit concert, where the Visionary Voice Award was named in her honor in 2018.
Ms. Harsha enjoys working with musicians of all ages, including young people at the Peabody Children’s Chorus and Opus Community Music School, and mature singers at Encore Creativity for Older Adults, where she currently conducts multiple ensembles across the Washington metropolitan area.
Kathryn is honored to serve as the Artistic Director of Pro Coro Alexandria and the Alexandria Choral Society for its 55th season.
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Contact Kathryn: Kathryn@alexandriachoralsociety.org
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Megan yingst
executive Director
Megan Yingst, a passionate leader and music educator, is excited to serve as Executive Director for the Alexandria Choral Society. She is the founder of Megan’s Marvelous Music, a thriving music studio that offers private in-home voice, piano, and guitar lessons to students of all ages in Alexandria and Arlington where she teaches and manages a team of teaching artists. Most recently, Megan joined the Alexandria Children’s Chorus as Conductor of the Training Chorus and served as the music director in recording Santa Had No Elves, a children’s Christmas book written by local Alexandrian Author Dr. David Charney.
Megan has dedicated her life to music education advocacy, founding her own choir at a middle school where the chorus program had been discontinued when she was only 18 and advocating on Capitol Hill for music education legislation with the National Association for Music Education Association from 2016-2018. After receiving her bachelor's degree in Music Education from Florida Southern College, Megan served five years as a Chorus Director in Title I communities in Baltimore County, Maryland and Polk County, Florida. Under her direction, her choirs and students achieved remarkable successes including superior ratings at district festivals, admission to prestigious music schools, and performances at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. As a leader in music education, Megan served as the Children’s Choir Coordinator at First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, the District 12 Coordinator-Elect for the Florida Vocal Association, and Coordinator of Polk All County Chorus.
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Contact Megan: Exec@alexandriachoralsociety.org
Justin streletz
Collaborative Pianist
Justin Streletz is excited to be returning to Alexandria Choral Society for the 2024-2025 Season! He is a local collaborative pianist who has worked with many school divisions in Northern Virginia for concerts and festivals. Justin is also a music director, including a pit conductor and vocal director. During the day he is an elementary music teacher, entering his 10th year of teaching. Justin studied piano at West Chester University with Dr. Patricia Powell. In his free time, he enjoys reading, traveling, working out at OrangeTheory, and all things LEGO.