This is the eighteenth installment of a new series that will highlight the Music for All staff members who work behind-the-scenes to make all of the positively life-changing experiences happen! Get to know each of our amazing staff members, as we learn more about who they are and what they do at Music for All. A new post will be featured every week!
Name/Job Title: Kim Mann, Program Coordinator for the National Choir Festival
Hometown: I grew up in a little town called Bluffton, Indiana, but now I call Cincinnati home.
How long have you been with Music for All?
My choral “side-kick” Lori Lobsiger, and I started talking with Music for All while producing the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati, and have been actively working to incorporate CHOIR into the Music for All family of student musicians for the last two years.
What is your favorite event at Music for All and why?
The premiere National Choir Festival, March 15-17, 2018!!!! This is when we truly become Music for ALL!!!
What has been your favorite part of working at Music for All?
Working with my mentor, Henry Leck, artistic director for the National Choir Festival, and choral conductors & singers across the nation in hopes thst they too can enjoy “positively life-changing” experiences through Music for All, just like instrumentalists have for so many years.
Do you have a favorite memory of working an event with Music for All?
While presenting at Leadership Weekend during Summer Symposium, it was thrilling to lead all the participants in singing while they performed movement they had just learned from Vincent Thomas.
What is your musical background?
I started by singing Goldfinger on the fireplace hearth and tap dancing with Mary Lynn Lautzenheiser, fell in love with singing when elementary music teacher, Miss Sellers, taught us Little Red Caboose, The Muffin Man, and Valderie, Valdera, and was deeply inspired by my Norwell High School choral director, David Jordan. I received my undergrad and masters of choral music education from Indiana University, where I was introduced to opera by Joseph Myers, and have continued to teach pre-schoolers through adults ever since.
One thing you couldn’t live without?
CHOCOLATE! I mean MUSIC! Nope….CHOCOLATE!
What kind of music do you listen to?
My car radio is set on Mo-Town, I listen to every choral post on social media, clean the house with Broadway, and chill out with jazz. I’m listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons right now.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Water the flowers, dig in the dirt, create something…in the kitchen, in the garage, at the studio.
What are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading Devil’s Bargain by Joshua Green, re-reading Orwell’s 1984, and will continue to reference Make Your Bed by Admiral Wm. McRaven, probably forever.
Do you have a favorite quote?
“It’s not what happens that matters, it’s how you handle whatever happens!”
What’s a show you’ve binge watched recently?
“Julie’s Greenroom!” It’s terrific…meant for kids, but I was mesmerized and watched the entire series on a Sunday afternoon. Great lessons presented by the Jim Henson Company and the legendary Julie Andrews with amazing weekly guest artists.
Favorite movie not many people have seen?
If you’re lucky, you’ve seen Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz as many times as I have. “It’s show time, folks!”
