| Kathleen grew up in Union, NJ. Her vocal background
includes solo work in churches as well as the New jersey Opera
Festival. She toured Europe with a choir based in the Lehigh Valley,
PA, where she went to college. In addition to playing the organ
since the age of 9, Kathleen has played violin and viola in orchestras i n
NJ and PA and has been playing piano and guitar for most of her
life. she enjoys performing a accompanying a great variety of
musical styles, including gospel, contemporary Christian, classical,
opera, art songs, new age, jazz, and roadway. Kathleen's musical
family includes her brother, renowned jazz Trombonist Steve Swell.
While living in the Midwest for 9 years, Kathleen earned an M.A. in
theology from he University of Notre Dame. She worked in churches
and parochial schools in Indiana and Wisconsin as music minister and
liturgist; religious education administrator; and as a high school
theology teacher, campus minister, pastoral counselor, and retreat
facilitator.
A career in educational publishing brought Kathleen back to new jersey
in 1090. She spent 1 years developing and editing Music and
Religious Education materials for public and private schools.
Alongside the publishing work, Kathleen continued working part-time as a
church music director - enjoying the very best of many different
liturgical and musical traditions. For the past ten years, she
served as music director at Hilldale Park Presbyterian Church in Cedar
Knolls. Since January 2005, Kathleen as been teaching piano and
guitar at Gill St. Bernard's School in Gladstone.
Kathleen is also a trained spiritual director 9Tree of Life Institute,
based in the Princeton area) and serves on retreat teams for the
ecumenical community known as Tres Dias of Northern New Jersey. Tres
Dias is an international community that aims to develop personal
spirituality and church leadership. Her next adventures include
learning how to play and direct Handbells and training as a leader for the
Intensive Journal Workshops based in the New York area. |
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