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Music Staff - Education
Group #1 - Directors & Section Leaders & Music Chair- meet monthly
Director Judy Olson E-Mail Vocal Technique Coach & Education Coordinator
Associate Director
& Bass Section Coordinator
Mary Zgonc E-Mail Vocal Technique Coach
Voice Lesson Coordinator
Assistant Director
& Bari Section Coordinator
Barb Harvey E-Mail Guest Coordinator
Trax Techie & Learning Tracks
Music Chair Kathy Gray E-Mail Learning Tapes & CDs
Education
Lead Section Coordinator Wendy Hamilton E-Mail Board Liaison
Tenor Section Coordinator Dawn Bradshaw E-Mail Music Librarian
Taping Charts
Group #2 Notes & Word Specialists - meet 3 times/yr to discuss vocal issues
(August, November, March)
SECTIONS Coordinators Notes & Word Specialists
Tenors Dawn Bradshaw
TBD
Leads Wendy Hamilton
TBD
Bari Barb Harvey TBD
Bass Mary Jo Zgonc TBD
Group #3 Coaching Coordinators meet with Directors & Section Leaders 2ce/yr (January & June)
Coaching Coordinator Karen Kennerly
Coaching Documentation
Music Change Notation
Merilee Spaeth
Coaching Documentation Yvonne Sjostrand
Group #4 Special Event Coordinators meet 3 times per year (September, December, April)
Quartet Promotion Co-coordinator, Performance Chair Darlene Solheim
On-the-Road Show Coordiantor Nancy Ellis
Special Events Coordinator Bev Kenealey
Group #5 Music/Learning Tracks & Technical Communications
Trax Techie & Learning Tracks
TC Yahoo Moderator
Shelley des Islets
TCGuests Yahoo Moderator, Web Manager Barb Harvey
Gloria Gillette Super Singer Program Coordinator
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TCSC Master Director - Judy Olson

Judy Olson "The people are everything at T.C."

The inspiration and motivation behind the chorus music team is the amazingly gifted Judy Olson, who has the talent, tact, and energy to lead and direct a very diverse group of women toward commonly set goals by balancing extreme hard work with loads of humor.

Judy found Sweet Adelines in 1965 and joined the Minneapolis-based City of Lakes Chorus. After several years she moved north and continued her barbershop interest with the Duluth Harbor Chords Chorus. Upon her return to Minneapolis she rejoined the City of Lakes Chorus and became their Assistant Director and Choreographer. She accepted her current position as Director of the award-winning Twin Cities Chorus in 1981 and earned her Master Director designation at Regional Competition in 1998.

Judy Olson 1993 Int'l Judy is an accomplished choreographer and a member of the Sweet Adelines International Music Faculty. She travels frequently, coaching choruses and quartets in staging, choreography and performance techniques. She has also served as Can-Am Region 6 Director of Musical Activities.

Judy sang lead in the 1981 first place Regional champion quartet, Sunshine Special. Not busy enough, Judy also performs several nights a month as the alto singer with a mixed quartet, the Nostalgics.

Nostalgics This group is an integral part of the local Classic Big Band under the direction of Dan Odegaard. Judy says singing with the band "feeds her soul".
PHOTO LEFT: The Nostalgics top l-r: Joel Kleschold, Pam Parker, Judy Olson, Reeves Cary]

Besides coming from a "theatre family" with a genuine love for anything to do with stagecraft, Judy holds a B.A. in Music Education from North Dakota State University and has taught junior high vocal music in both Osseo and Duluth, Minnesota.

Shots from Judy's 25th Anniversary as Director of TCSC >>

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TCSC Associate Director - MaryJo Zgonc
Mary Jo Zgonc "The Music Team is just that ... a Team!"

Voicepart: Bass. Joined Forest Lake Chorus in 1974. Former director of Forest Lake Chorus.
Transferred to Twin Cities in 1996. She is working on her Director Certification and has applied to become a member of the Regional Music Faculty.

Mary Jo's love of music began when she started taking piano lessons at the age of eight and continued through high school with involvement in band, choir, numerous recitals and musical contests. Even through RN nursing studies, she took private music lessons at St. Benedict's College in St. Joseph, MN and further studies at McPhail Center for the Arts (Extension of the University of Minnesota) in Minneapolis.

Mary Jo Zgonc When introduced to Sweet Adelines in 1974, this talented musician seemed a "natural fit". "The harmonies and overtones just got me hooked!" As Assistant Director of the Forest Lake Chorus, Mary Jo used her ear for tuning chords, her background in piano performance and instruction, and her experience as Director of Music for her church in Lindstrom to help the chorus rise to international competition level. She eventually became director and advanced them to Sweet Adelines International competition in Houston Texas in 1988.

Mary Jo transferred to the Twin Cities Chorus in 1996 and soon took on the position of Associate Director under Judy.

Mary Jo is a major contributor to Judy and the Music Staff of the T.C. chorus. Her warmth, energy, and enthusiasm inspire chorus members to strive for new heights and continued growth in music.
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TCSC Assistant Director - Barb Harvey
Barb Harvey
"I used to sing along with the radio and fill in the missing harmonies. Altho' the tenor is nice, the bari harmony makes the 'ring' happen!"

Voicepart: Baritone. Achieved her Director Certification in 2008.
Barb joined the Forest Lake Chorus in 1967 and transferred to Twin Cities in 1999.

Barb grew up harmonizing with her aunt and cousins around the family piano. She attributes her love of harmony (especially 4-part) to early exposure to a quartet called the Max-i-Moms [all relatives].

Barb joined the Forest Lake Chorus in 1967 [currently Lakes Area Chorus] as a tenor and transferred to the Twin Cities Chorus in 1999 as a baritone. She served as an Assistant Director for the Forest Lake Chorus for almost the entire time as well as serving on her chapter board and the music committee. She became one of Judy's Assistant Directors for T.C. shortly after joining them in 2001 and continues to serve on the Music Team. She says "I'd never want to become the actual director - it's way too much work! [Besides which, I'd become a very nasty person as I don't have the patience it requires to be a good teacher.]" For several short years, she served on the Regional Music Faculty Team and as Regional WebManager from 1999-2007.

Barb is single, a Graphics Designer by trade, and does freelance web design amongst other things in her semi-retirement. She has also sung alto with the Roseville Big Band on ocassion. In high school, the choir director eventually weeded her out of the choir because her voice kept sticking out! She played the pipe organ at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church for several years just after high school.

"Those who knew me as a kid will tell you I was painfully shy. Now I love getting up in front of an audience. Those wonderful ladies in Sweet Adelines have a LOT to answer for!"

"No matter the time and effort I put into this hobby, it continues to give back so much more, especially in the way of some really terrific friends who like the same things I do! Baritone fits me like a glove - I absolutely love the challenge of adding the missing harmony notes. It's the baritone notes that create those fabulous OVERTONES! In my life I've been extremely fortunate to have been able to combine my three great passions - music, art, and theater in my hobby."

"Other things I have learned from Sweet Adelines ...

  • That audiences will love you if you love them first (no matter what you look like)
  • Love and knowledge is meant to be shared without reservation (and gobs of humor)
  • Some people can be dangerous to stand next to on the risers. If you don't sing the right notes, you get an elbow in the ribs!"
Barb's Quartet History is both rich and extensive. She has sung tenor, and lead, but prefers baritone over all other parts because it's the part that makes the chords "RING"! Barb's Quartets: Good News! 2005 5th place Medalists. , Just 4 the Moment, KeyChange, the TrebleMakers, Just 4 Today, JB Jamboree (2nd & 3rd place regional medalists), Adam's Ribs, Show Stoppers, Sounds Contagious, Sound Appeal, Sounds Contagious, Humbugs, Pied Pipers,
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