Dr. Carolyn Cruse brings a passion for fostering vocal development and musical artistry in singers-musicians of all ages and expertise in collaboration and artistic vision in multiple settings. This is her third season with the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio after a 14-year tenure at Texas Tech University as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music Education. Dr. Cruse has served as a clinician/conductor and festival adjudicator throughout the United States and in Canada, Finland, Italy, and Kenya. She is serving as Co-President of the Texas Choral Directors Association (TCDA) following a two-and-a-half-year term as President. As a performer, she is a founding member of both mirabai (nationally project-based) and Alegría (San Antonio), professional-level women’s choral ensembles dedicated to enhancing artistic expectations of women’s choral singing.

Before her appointment at Texas Tech, Dr. Cruse served as a choral conductor-teacher in both middle and high schools in Richardson and Plano ISDs. Her education includes a Ph.D. in Music Education from Michigan State University, a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas. She enthusiastically continues to cultivate and nurture relationships with choral conductor-teachers and music educators locally and throughout the state. 

Dr. Cruse is excited to be part of the Greater San Antonio community along with her husband Rob and their new rescue puppy, “Nola.”

Alyssa Avenatti serves as Executive Director of CCSA, and also has the great honor of conducting the Chorale ensemble. She is a doctoral candidate at Indiana University’s world-renowned Jacobs School of Music, and holds a Master of Music Education degree with a specialization in Kodály pedagogy. Alyssa has also pursued additional certifications in Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy and the Orff Schulwerk approach. Prior to her pursuit of the Ph.D., Alyssa was a founding member of the San Antonio Chamber Choir, singing with the group for six seasons. She has presented academic research and practitioner workshops for music educators throughout the country and has taught undergraduate and graduate students at Loyola University Maryland, Midwestern State University, Indiana University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Alyssa continues to support the music education community by mentoring student teachers at Texas State University and teaching music education students at Trinity University.

Rebecca Lakes is the Assistant Choral Director at Eisenhower Middle School in North East ISD.  Rebecca is the Past-President of the Kodály Educators of Texas and also serves on the board for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. She has presented workshops for school districts across the country and at state and national music education conferences. Rebecca earned her B.A. and B.M.E. from Cedarville University, an M.M. from Belmont University, and her Principal certification from Schreiner University. She is fully certified in both the Kodály and Orff approaches to music education, and serves on the national board of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. In the summers, she instructs music teachers in Kodàly certification programs at Midwestern State University and the Rio Grande Valley.

Patricia Balmer is thrilled to join CCSA as the conductor of the Choristers ensemble. Ms. Balmer was a Secondary Choral Educator for 17 years teaching in Georgia and Texas before transitioning this year to a new position as an Elementary Music Specialist at Great Hearts Northern Oaks. She also serves as the Music Director at Grace Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. Ms. Balmer attended Columbus State University (GA) earning a MMEd in Vocal Pedagogy and a BM in Vocal Performance. She is also Kodaly Level 1 certified. Ms. Balmer has sung with the San Antonio Chamber Choir, Cantus Columbus, and is currently performing with Alegría, a new Women’s Chorus in San Antonio.

Dr. Mabry brings a wealth of experience to the CCSA team having been a member of the UTSA Department of Music faculty since 1991 where he founded and conducted both the UTSA Women’s Choir and the UTSA Men’s Glee Club. He has served in a leadership capacity for the Texas Choral Directors Association and is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association. Dr. Mabry is a former Artistic Director and Conductor of the San Antonio Choral Society and served several years as Chorus Master of the San Antonio Opera. His choirs have presented European performances in Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague and his Yellow Rose Singers performed in 2012 and 2017 at the International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece, an event for which he also served as Chorus Master. This ensemble will perform in England and Ireland during the summer of 2019. With over forty years of leadership experience in church music, he currently serves as Minister of Music for Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in San Antonio.

Lindsay Clavere, an award-winning music professional, has built a remarkable career in both academia and performance. Lindsay holds a PhD in Music Theory from the University of Kentucky, where her dissertation explored the intricate interplay of textual, visual, and aural modalities in Fanny Hensel’s Das Jahr. Her academic journey also includes a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University. Lindsay served as an Associate Professor at Berea College in Kentucky for over a decade, where she supervised and mentored the collaborative piano team, coordinated the music theory curriculum, and led as the Assistant Director of the Concert Choir and Chamber Choir. Her performance experience is equally impressive, with notable engagements at venues like Centro Fox in Mexico, Mozarthaus Boesendorfer Hall in Vienna, and the Tenri Cultural Center in New York City. Lindsay’s dedication to music education, community engagement, and performance has made her a respected and influential figure in her field. Her passion for fostering connections through music continues to inspire those around her.

Karen Feazel has served as an accompanist for CCSA since 2017 and has thoroughly enjoyed working with such amazing directors and students. Karen has a BS in Music Education and a Master of Music Education with a Kodaly emphasis. She has been a music educator for almost 30 years, previously teaching elementary music, middle school and high school choirs, and private piano in Ohio before moving to Texas in 2015. Karen worked with SAISD for three years and currently is an elementary music specialist for Somerset Academy Oaks where she has enjoyed teaching since 2019. Karen is very involved with her church music ministry team and enjoys filling in as an accompanist for various schools, churches, and community choirs in the San Antonio area.

Bio coming soon.

Kelley believes that making music is a transformative process that builds our human community and helps children and families become their best selves. Kelley has served CCSA as the Music Together Program Coordinator since March 2023. 

Full bio at our sister site, musictogethersa.org.

Bio coming soon.