Worship the Lord with gladness;   come into his presence with singing. ~Psalm 100:2

Amy Cowan graduated with a B.M. in Voice from Rice University, then an M.M. in Opera Performance from The Longy School of Music in Massachusetts. In 2008, she earned a Certification in Kodaly Methodology from the prestigious program at Holy Names University in Oakland, where she studied solfege and music theory with Erzebet Hegyi, and choral conducting with Judith Hartyanyi. She has almost twenty years of experience teaching and has held positions with San Francisco Arts Education Project, Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, Coastal Repertory Theatre, and Seacrest School, among many others. In addition to maintaining a private voice studio for many years both in Blacksburg and in California, Amy Cowan is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Virginia Tech Music Department, teaching Diction, Vocal Pedagogy, and applied lessons.  Amy also teaches individual voice students and gives private voice and piano lessons. Her long history with Lutherans began back in the Lutheran Summer Music programs she attended each year as a young high school singer, and then as a professional soloist with church choirs consistently throughout university and graduate school. She then directed the music at Coastside Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in California, for ten years before moving to Blacksburg with her family. Though primarily a teacher, Amy's favorite roles as a singer include Maria in The Sound of Music, Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense, and her very first professional role at age 17, as the First Spirit in Houston Grand Opera's version of The Magic Flute. She has also given many recitals in Texas and California, and performed professionally with Mercury Baroque and Victoria Bach Festival before turning her focus to teaching and family. Amy lives in Blacksburg with her husband and two children, and recently became a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, which informs her work with singers each and every day. She is happy to be part of the LMLC community and ministry!

Jay Crone is Principal Trombone of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Opera Roanoke, the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Asia, South America and appeared at regional conferences and workshops in the United States, including the American Trombone Workshop, Tromblowin’, and the  Southeast Regional Horn and Tuba/Euphonium Workshops. He joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 1994, where he currently teaches trombone, euphonium, tuba, and Listening 

in the Digital Age, a new approach to music appreciation geared towards the general student. Crone has also been a collaborative pianist in 

recitals throughout the United States, including performances with 

former members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra and current members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Florida Orchestra, among others. Crone holds degrees from 

the University of Southern California, Yale University, and California 

State University at Fresno.