Our Directors

Beth Klemm

Beth Klemm, Artistic Director, Premiere and Apprentice Choir Director, has taught music in Atascadero Unified School District since 1983 and is presently the Choral Director at the Atascadero Fine Arts Academy, and teaches elementary music at Monterey Road and San Benito Road Schools. She serves on the California Board of Directors for the American Choral Director's Association as the Children’s and Youth Choir Repertoire & Standards Chair. She has presented at the California Music Education State Conference, American Choral Director's Association conferences and local choral workshops. Beth was Music Director at First Baptist Church in San Luis Obispo for 12 years, and has sung with the Cuesta Master Chorale and San Luis Obispo Vocal Arts Ensemble. Beth holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Butler University, and a Master of Education degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This is her fourteenth year working with Central Coast Children's Choir, and loves having her own daughters, Rachel and Aubrey, singing with her.

Melody Svennungsen

Melody Svennungsen, Advanced Vocal Ensemble and Concert Choir Director, is a San Luis Obispo native with over 30 years of experience in vocal and theatre performance. She has appeared as soloist for the Cuesta Master Chorale, Cuesta Chamber Choir, Sing along Messiah, San Luis Obispo Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the Cal Poly University Singers and Polyphonics, where she served as assistant conductor for Dr. Davies and studied voice with Jackie Kreitzer. A member of Vocal Arts from 1986 to the present, Melody served as Soprano Section Leader, POPS Artistic Director, and Assistant Director to Gary Lamprecht, as well as assistant director and voice coach for the Cambria Ocean Pines Choir Camps. Melody recently completed her B.A. in Music at Cal Poly and is currently in the credential and educational masters program at Chapman University. Melody loves teaching and collaborating with the bright and gifted young women of AVE & Concert Choir.

Cassandra Tarantino

Cassandra Tarantino, North County Apprentice Choir Director, has her Bachelors degrees in Church Music emphasizing Choral Conducting and Performance Flute, and English Literature. Ms. Tarantino took a six month sabbatical in Northern Ireland to study music and the Irish-Celtic Language. After receiving her Masters of Music Degree in Flute Performance form California State University, Northridge, Ms. Tarantino began teaching and performing vocal and instrumental music in Santa Barbara. In 2002, Ms. Tarantino began conducting and teaching music theory with the Santa Barbara Children's Choir. Shortly after moving to San Luis Obispo in 2003, Ms. Tarantino formed an Early Music ensemble with Guitarist James Edwards called the Lark Consort, which focuses primarily on Renaissance and Baroque music for lute, Period Guitars, recorder, transverse flute and continuo. Folk music and dance are a passion for Ms. Tarantino, and you will often find her playing and dancing traditional Irish, English Country and Contra Dance music.

Anne Olson

Anne Olson, Director of the North County Debut Choir, has taught classroom and choral music in the Atascadero Unified School District since 1999. She has led choruses at six of Atascadero's eight elementary schools and has also directed various children's church choirs. Anne served CCCC as an Apprentice Choir accompanist several years ago when her daughter was a member and then took a leap of faith to begin directing a Debut Choir in 2006! Anne is a native Texan and a graduate of Baylor University, where she sang in the school's Acapella Choir. She and her husband Don live in Atascadero and are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, Danielle and Alissa.

Sarah Bromell

Ms. Broomell studied collaborative piano at UC Santa Barbara (’06 DMA, ABD) and earned the Master of Music in piano accompanying (’98) and Bachelor of Music in piano performance (’94) at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Sarah founded and directed Young Singers Club in Bozeman, Montana, accompanied music faculty and was a vocal coach at Montana State University-Bozeman. She was orchestra pianist for the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and served as Coventry Choir director, pianist and chorister at St. James Episcopal Church. She enjoys teaching piano and voice. She has recently returned to the Central Coast where she was the musical director of SLO Little Theatre’s Reach the Sky: An Evening of Broadway’s Future Songwriters. She also accompanied the OperaSLO fundraiser Broadway By-the-Sea

Thomas Davies

Dr. Davies is starting his third year as conductor of the Boys Choir. Dr. Davies has been a faculty member at Cal Poly State University, in San Luis Obispo, California since the fall of 1983, serving as Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Studies. In addition to his work at Cal Poly, he is a Part-time Instructor at Cuesta College where he is Musical Director and Conductor of the Cuesta Master Chorale, a 100-member ensemble that performs major works for chorus and orchestra. He is the Director and Associate Teacher of the Master Class in Choral-Orchestral Conducting at the Oregon Bach Festival, held each summer in Eugene. Dr. Davies is a former President of the ACDA Western Division. He lives in Pismo Beach, California with his wife, Susan, and his two sons, Peter and Andrew.