Director of Choral Music
J. Senja Morgan

J. Senja Morgan has been serving God through music ministry for over 20 years and is currently serving as Director of Choral Music at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Geneva, IL, where she has been for 7 years. Most recently she directed the St. Mark's Choir in a one-week choir residency in August 2004 at Durham Cathedral, UK. She served as assistant, section leader and soloist for two previous choir residencies; at Gloucester Cathedral in 2000, and Truro Cathedral in 2002.

Prior to St. Mark's, Senja worked as Director of Music for 5 years at a United Methodist church in Naperville, IL, where she led 3 other paid music staff coordinating music for adult, children's, youth and hand bell choirs, and a drama troupe. The first 10 years of her career were spent in an Episcopal church in north-central Massachusetts, where she assisted as treble section leader for a men and boys' choir, coached vocal solos, studied organ, founded a mixed children's choir, sang as soprano soloist and section leader, and served as assistant to the choirmaster doing music planning, substitute organ playing, and several interim conducting sessions.

Senja received a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and a Master's Degree in Sacred Music from Boston University, with a concentration in voice. Her master's thesis involved a study of evaluating styles of worship music. She did post-graduate study in choral conducting with James Jordan and John Bertalot, and Alexander Technique at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Senja has also taught private voice and piano lessons, and public school music; accompanied on piano, acted in and musically directed community theater; and done solo vocal work with community choral groups, including a three-week music tour in China, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore.

In other areas, she has past experience as a newspaper writer- doing feature articles, music, art and drama reviews and a weekly interest column; as well as part-time work in teaching swimming, life guarding, advanced First Aid; and being a summer camp counselor, waterfront director and Emergency Medical Technician for an ambulance company. Senja lives in Wheaton with her husband Timothy, and their 3 children including a 8 year-old with Down Syndrome.
 

Assistant Choral Director
Patricia Hughes Mangis

Patti has enjoyed serving the Lord as choir director at a Baptist church in Wyoming, and as soprano soloist and keyboardist at churches in Michigan and in metropolitan Chicago. In Wyoming, she was also active in statewide arts groups and in university and community theater. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from the University of Wyoming, where she subsequently taught voice in the UW Music Department. Patti received a Master's Degree in Religion in American Life from Wheaton College, where she was awarded the Kantzer Award for excellence in Church History. Her thesis focused on the life and work of Lydia Maria Child, 19th-century journalist and abolitionist, best remembered today for writing the children's poem, "Over the River and Through the Woods."

At St. Mark's, Patti directs the Hallelujah Choir for 2nd through 4th grades, and developed a new adult choir, St. Caedmon's Choir. She sang in the 2002 and 2004 Cathedral Residency Choirs, serving as section leader and soprano soloist at Durham. Most recently, Patti served as Musical Director for the 2006 Rochester Cathedral residency choir. She teaches private voice lessons at Wheaton Academy and at her home in Wheaton. She is a member of Vox Caelistis, a Chicago-area professional women's choir. Patti also serves as Managing Director for the Center for Rural Psychology, an Elburn, IL not-for-profit. She and her husband Michael are the parents of Josh, a middle-school drummer and basketball player.
 

Director of Instrumental Music / Organist
Carol Latimer

Carol Latimer graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Music Composition and an emphasis on piano and organ.

She served as a church organist and professional pianist in the St. Louis, MO area for 34 years before relocating to Geneva. During that time, Carol served as Organist for twelve years at Kirkwood United Church of Christ and twelve years at Faith Presbyterian Church in Des Peres, MO. Following those positions, she became assistant organist at Manchester United Methodist Church, accompanied three choirs there, and substituted at many other churches through-out the St. Louis area. She was the choral accompanist at Parkway West High School, and accompanied District and State Solo and Ensemble Festival students in the West County area for many years.

In St. Louis, Carol was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the American Association of University Women, and Mu Phi Epsilon Professional Music Fraternity as well as other community organizations.

In addition to her work at St. Mark's Church, Carol is a pianist at Von Maur Department Store and has a decorating business, "Inviting Interiors".

A published composer (Abingdon Press and Lawson-Gould) of choral and instrumental music, Carol's compositions have been performed by choirs, soloists, and bands through-out the country. She has been awarded first and third place in international composition competitions and has received several composition commissions,. Her most recent commission was for a piece for the Kirkwood Children's Chorister Choir in the St. Louis area. Carol enjoys writing both the words and the music as a way of sharing her faith.