meet the team

Primary & Training Choir Conductor

Marissa Dickerson

DARREN DAILEY

President & Artistic Director

Darren Dailey came to Jacksonville in 2006 and since then has been shaping The Jacksonville Children’s Chorus into a world-class organization. Under his artistic leadership, The Chorus has grown to serve over 1,000 First Coast children annually with five core performance choirs, multiple satellite rehearsal locations, and outreach throughout the region.

A nationally recognized clinician and conductor, Mr. Dailey has served as guest conductor in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and the ACDA Honor Choir in Seattle. He has presented workshops for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, Organization of Kodály Educators, American Choral Directors Association, and Music Educators’ National Conference. As the founding artistic director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, Mr. Dailey and his chorus performed at the 2004 Democratic Convention, and appeared as the host chorus on the television special, “Raising the Roof: A Celebration of the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Song,” broadcast nationally on WGN, and performed internationally in Japan. He is the 2014 recipient of the Reinhold Foundation Outstanding Executive Director Award and currently serves on the Jacksonville University Linda Berry Stein College of Fine Arts Advisory Board. Mr. Dailey was honored in 2017 by Galaxy Music to create a Choral Series specifically for children’s voices.

Mr. Dailey has produced four recordings: “Come and Rejoice” (Cantate), “Sing!” (Boston Children’s Chorus) and “Voices for Voices” (Jacksonville Children’s Chorus). His work may also be heard on “A Boston Christmas” (Back Bay Chorale), “Building Bridges” (Mystic Chorale) and “Amani Celebration,” a limited-edition compact disc of holiday songs from 15 children’s choirs to benefit African children who have been orphaned because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In 2019, Mr. Dailey was honored with the distinguished Alumni Merit Award by Westminster Choir College. In 2020, Chorus America presented Darren with the Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award. The Jacksonville Children's Chorus, under Darren Dailey's direction, achieved significant recognition in 2022, winning the American Prize for Choral Performance. Furthermore, in the same year, the ensemble was bestowed with the David C. Brotemarkle Award for their outstanding presentation of 'Songs of the Sunshine State.'

Mr. Dailey received a Bachelor of Music Education degree with a concentration in Voice from Westminster Choir College and a Master of Music Education in Choral Conducting from Appalachian State University’s Hayes School of Music.

Safiya Rahaman

Virtual Preschool Class Instructor

Shayla Nelson

Choral Fellow

Kaitlynn Tobias

Training Choir Instructor

Dr. Julie Myung Ok Song

Cantate Choir Conductor

Kiera Bates

Recruitment, Marketing, & Special Events Coordinator

Shayla Nelson

Marketing Intern

Dale Patrick

Program & IT Coordinator


ARTISTIC STAFF

Katherine "KT" Boling

Choreographer

Sachiko Frampton

Collaborative Pianist

Melissa Barnes

Primary, Training, & Intermezzo Choir Conductor

Virginia Dickert

Instructor

Rebecca Minor

Vocal Exploration Class & Voice Instructor


ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Katherine “KT” Boling

Director of Operations

Joyanne Goronal

Business Coordinator

Susanne Dailey

Training Choir Conductor

Jessye Russom

Preschool Music Classes Instructor

Sarah Leitch

Program & Volunteer Coordinator

Susana Cruz, Chair

Vice President, Senior Account

Executive at Marsh

Arend Dorsett, Treasurer

Sr. Operations Business Leader at Unison

Jesse Shimp

Managing Director at JLL

Advisory Board

Ryan Hesser, Secretary

VP Third-Party Risk & Associate

Legal Counsel at Vystar Credit Union

John Thompson

Private Wealth Advisor/Owner

Congruent Wealth

Richard Hadden, Chair | Contented Cow Partners

Jackie Cornelius | Retired Principal, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

Marsha Oliver | The Players Championship

Craig Smith | Alhambra Theatre and Dining

Amanda Warford Videll | FBI Jacksonville Division

Amanda Hegeman

Senior Counsel at Florida Blue

Board Members

Allison Hollander

CEO at Hollander Poker

Join the JCC Team

We have positions available for administrative and artistic staff.

We can’t wait to meet you!