Kristie recently completed her D.M.A. in choral conducting at the UW-Madison. She has been a teaching assistant in choir and music education. She sang and conducted the Concert Choir, Treble Choir, and Chorale Lab choir.

Originally from Iowa, Kristie graduated from Luther College with majors in vocal performance and English. Kristie went on to earn her M.M. in choral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After earning her teaching degree from the University of Washington, Kristie taught choir and general music in Viroqua, as well as private studio voice and piano lessons. She served as a musician in churches in Seattle and Wisconsin.

Kristie’s current research examines commonly used choral conducting textbooks and recommends musical examples from marginalized composers to teach the same concepts that are in these books. She hopes conducting professors will include these examples in their own teaching.

Kristie has made a career out of making music with people of varying abilities. She builds community within choirs and values the time that singers spend making beautiful music together. She is keenly aware that she learned how to do this from her mentors, the late Weston Noble, Timothy Peter, Eph Ehly, Geoffrey Boers, Beverly Taylor, Mariana Farah, and Teri Dobbs.