Staff

Emily Turner, Artistic Director and Conductor
artisticdirector@capitalcitygirlschoir.org

Emily Turner is thrilled to be the successor of Dr. Fran Page, her former Music Education professor and mentor, as the new Artistic Director and Conductor of Capital City Girls Choir! Mrs. Turner holds the Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where she was the recipient of the Pedigo Scholarship in Voice. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a concentration in Voice from Meredith College where she was the recipient of the Alma Dark Howard Memorial Scholarship.

Mrs. Turner has been a music educator for twelve years. She is currently the Vocal Music Director at Cary Academy, where she leads both the Middle and Upper School mixed choirs, grades six through twelve. In addition to teaching multi- level choirs, Mrs. Turner also serves as the Music Director for the school’s annual productions, and teaches Songwriting, an Audition and Performance Preparation Course, and co-teaches a Musical Theater Performance course. Prior to her position at Cary Academy, Mrs. Turner served as a Choral Director in Wake County Public High Schools for nine years. Mrs. Turner currently serves as the Secretary of the Middle School Choral Section of the North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA). Mrs. Turner often serves as a guest conductor and clinician with schools and churches in North Carolina and was certified as a Middle School Music Performance Adjudication (MPA) Judge last year.

Emily lives in Raleigh with her husband, Kyle, and son, Benton.

Amy Brock Davis, Associate Conductor
chorale@capitalcitygirlschoir.org

Amy Brock Davis is the Associate Conductor for the Girls Chorale for the Capital City Girls Choir at Meredith College and the co-director of Choral Activities at Durham School of the Arts.

A 1992 Meredith College graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, she received her Master of Music in Choral Directing from Appalachian State University in 1995. Mrs. Davis is a National Board- Certified Teacher specializing in early adolescence through young adulthood choral music and has been teaching since 1994. Her choirs have sung in Atlanta, West Virginia, New York, Florida, Munich, Vienna, Venice, Florence and Rome. Mrs. Davis is the recipient of the 2017 Richard Keasler NC Middle School Choral Teacher of the Year award which was presented by the North Carolina Music Educators Association.

Mrs. Davis served as the co-director of the Durham Public Schools’ Spotlight Singers for five years. For 20 years, she attended the North Carolina Summer Institute of Choral Art, serving many capacities, including music rotation counselor and middle school coordinator. For her service, she was honored with a commemorative brick on the NAFME “Walk of Fame.” She is the choral director and organist at Glendale Heights United Methodist Church. Mrs. Davis lives in Durham with her husband, Ken, and daughter, Emily.

Jen Wolfe, Cantabile Accompanist

Jen Wolfe is a relative newcomer to the Triangle, having taught music for 20 years at Hope College in Holland, MI. She holds Masters degrees in choral conducting and piano performance, and has published choral music, a children’s book, and a music appreciation teachers’ manual. In her free time she enjoys painting, cycling, kayaking, and birding with her husband and golden retriever.

Pam Stewart, Girls’ Chorus and Girls’ Chorale Accompanist

Pam Stewart has been the Girls’ Chorus and Girls’ Chorale accompanist for rehearsals and performances since 1997. She is a native of New Jersey and graduated from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania with a BA in biology and a minor in piano performance. Pam has lived in the Five Points neighborhood of Raleigh since 1992 and does freelance accompanying in the Triangle area. She has performed with the Durham Savoyards and sings with Carolina Harmony Chorus. After retiring from her day job at Habitat for Humanity of Wake County in 2015, she has more time to pursue other hobbies such as gardening, biking, learning to play the mandolin, sewing, knitting, and spending time with her two grand daughters.

Lauren Saeger, Director

lbsaeger@meredith.edu

Dr. Lauren Saeger is a recent vocal jazz performance DMA graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She has a Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, a Master of Music degree in jazz studies from Georgia State University, and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Illinois. Lauren was a member of the Soldiers’ Chorus, which is one component of The United States Army Field Band. She toured the United States with the Chorus and Band for three years, performing with Aaron Neville, Tom Wopat, Rosemary Clooney, and more.

Lauren has varied experience as an educator. Previously she taught at Illinois State University, the University of New Mexico, Western Illinois University, and the University of Mount Olive, combining her interests in jazz, choral music, theory, ear training, and research to teach a variety of courses. She also works with younger students, with experience teaching elementary school music in the public schools and as a certified Yamaha music instructor. Lauren has been a clinician, festival judge, and festival conductor in Illinois, New Mexico, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Julia Laird, Administrative Assistant

ccgc@meredith.edu

Delaware native Julia Laird is an accomplished opera singer who graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance. While at ASU’s Music Theatre and Opera program, Julia performed as “Romilda” in Serse, “Esmeralda” in The Bartered Bride, “First Spirit” in Die Zauberflöte, and the title roles in Les Mamelles de Tirésias and The Fairy Queen. She is an alumna of the Accademia della Lirica Italiana in Bari, Italy, and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival Opera Studio where she performed scenes from Don Giovanni, The Ghosts of Versailles, and Carmen. In March of 2020, she made her professional operatic debut with Opera West! in Santa Fe performing “Suor Dolcina” and “Suor Genovieffa” in Suor Angelica. Julia was a Filstrup Resident Artist with Tulsa Opera in the fall of 2020, where she covered “Gilda” and sang “Giovanna” and “Page” in an exciting and innovative new production of Rigoletto, the first live opera in the US since March 2020. She made her North Carolina debut in Piedmont Opera’s production of Viardot’s Cinderella as “Fairy Godmother.”

Equally at home in the concert hall, Julia was a featured soloist for the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria and performed excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier and Rigoletto with the AIMS Festival Orchestra. She was awarded the 2018 Warren Hoffer Art Song Scholarship at ASU, for which she performed a recital comprised of Libby Larsen compositions on the theme of the female perspective. Winterthur Museum featured Julia’s recital as the opening event for its 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial Celebration. Julia placed fourth in the 2019 AIMS Meistersinger Competition and placed third in the 2019 American International Czech and Slovak Competition in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She has been a finalist with the Saltworks Opera Competition and MIOpera Competition, and the first place winner at Arizona NATS, Cal-Western Regional NATS, and North Carolina NATS.

Julia is the administrator to the department of music at Meredith College as well as for Capital City Girls Choir.

Fran McCachern Page, Founder

flmpage@gmail.com

Dr. Page is Professor Emeritus from Meredith College and founder of the Capital City Girls Choir. During her 36-year tenure, she served in many capacities, including Chair of the Department of Communication and Performing Arts, Coordinator of Music Education and Director of Choral Activities. Dr. Page is a Past-President of the North Carolina Music Educators Association and Past Chair of the Arts Education Leadership Coalition (AELC). She is past President of Southern Division MENC: The National Association for Music Education and in that capacity served on its National Executive Board. In July of 2004, she was named “Tar Heel of the Week” by the Raleigh News and Observer and in the spring of 2007, she was designated by the Capital City Girls Choir as an MENC Lowell Mason Fellow.

Dr. Page has a B.A. in music education from Limestone College in Gaffney, South Carolina and a M.M. and Ed. D. in music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She holds Orff Levels I, II, and III certification. Recognized for her expertise as a children’s choral specialist, she frequently conducts workshops and festivals. She also has done considerable work in the area of curriculum integration and arts curriculum planning and assessment and consults with schools in that capacity. Dr. Page has served on many teacher education program approval teams for the NC Department of Public Instruction.

In May 2018, Dr. Page was presented the Order of the Longleaf Pine. Among the most prestigious awards conferred by the Governor of North Carolina, it is awarded to persons for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and their communities that is above and beyond the call of duty and which has made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina. In November 2018, Dr. Page was also awarded the Raleigh Medal of Arts, the city’s highest arts honor.