Virtual Vocal Coaches
of Puget Sound
Our Teachers
Heather MacLaughlin Garbes, DMA
Heather MacLaughlin Garbes received her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Washington. While at UW, she helped to develop and maintain the UW Baltic Choral Library, the first collection of its kind in the United States. This research has allowed her to present at College Music Society’s National and International Conferences, the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies International Conference, the Baltic Musics and Musicology Conference in Canterbury, England and other regional conferences. She has written the chapter “Baltic Languages: Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian” in the book The Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet in the Choral Rehearsal, (Scarecrow Press) a collaborative effort with Dr. Duane Karna and Andrew Schmidt. She has conducted numerous collegiate and community ensembles in the Seattle, Chicago and Houston areas and was guest clinician for the Bangkok International Choral Festival as well as an artist-in-residence for the Bangkok International Schools. Dr. MacLaughlin Garbes has worked at Lake Forest College and The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She is currently a Seattle-based freelance conductor/performer and continues to work with the Baltic Studies Program and the Baltic Choral Library at the University of Washington. www.heathermaclaughlin.com
Julie Parsons
Julie Parsons is the conductor of the Snoqualmie Valley Girls' Choir (Snoqualmie), Norwegian Male Chorus of Seattle, and music director for Maplewood Presbyterian Church (Edmonds). She has been a regular musical director for Youth Theatre Northwest (Mercer Island) and SecondStory Repertory (Redmond). Julie has adjudicated solo-ensemble competitions and choral festivals in Washington State, and was privileged to conduct the Lake Washington School District Middle School Honor Choir in 2016.
She is the President-Elect of the Washington state board of the American Choral Directors Association. Julie has worked with the board since 2010 as the Youth & Student Activities Chair, promoting communication and interaction among Washington's fine student members and young teachers. She has sung with choirs all over the world, currently with the Seattle-based Mägi Ensemble, a professional women's choir that specializes in music from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
She holds a BA in Vocal Performance from Central College (IA), a MM in Choral Conducting from New England Conservatory, and is pursuing her DMA (currently ABD) from the University of Washington. www.conductress.net