Meet the Team

  • Kenny Kabak

    FOUNDER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

  • Briar Douglas

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

  • Alayna Dick

    MARKETING DIRECTOR

  • Founder, Artistic Director

    Kenny Kabak, a St. Louis native, is the Director of Music and Youth Ministries at Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, MO, and the Founder and Artistic Director of the Queen City Chorale. He also serves as an Artistic Advisor for Perform International, which organizes performance tours for ensembles across the globe, building bridges and transforming lives through the power of music.

    Kenny’s career highlights include four years as Associate Director of the Springfield Street Choir and a tenure as Conductor of the Drakensberg Boys Choir in South Africa. A passionate advocate for young choral musicians, he co-founded the Missouri Student & New Teacher Academy during his time as Student Representative for the Missouri Choral Directors Association (MCDA). His achievements have been recognized with the MCDA Prelude Award and Missouri State University’s STAR Award for Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year.

    Kenny earned both his Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Bachelor of Music Education from Missouri State University. As a choral musician, he has performed and conducted across the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. His professional affiliations include the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and the National Collegiate Choral Organization, among others.

    Outside of his musical endeavors, Kenny is a proud cat dad to Stevie and Hobbes, a devoted RuPaul’s Drag Race fan, and a lover of a perfectly crafted caprese sandwich.

  • Executive Director

    Originally from Hannibal, Missouri, Briar graduated from Missouri State University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Administrative Management, then again in 2022 with his Master’s degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education. During his time at Missouri State, he was a member of the Missouri State Chorale for five years and served as the Student Representative on MSU’s Board of Governors throughout graduate school. In 2022, Briar began working in the university’s Office of Student Engagement (OSE) as their Coordinator of Co-Curricular Involvement, serving as an advisor for all 325+ student organizations on campus, and as the organizer and lead facilitator for leadership development education programs in the OSE. He also serves as the 2024-2025 President of Springfield Little Theatre's Associate Board.

  • Marketing Director

    Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Alayna graduated from Missouri State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Music Education - Vocal/Choral. During her time at Missouri State, Alayna was an active member of the choral studies program, notably serving on the choral studies committee as Public Relations Coordinator from 2019-2020. She also participated in many international and domestic tours as a singer in the MSU Chorale. Currently, Alayna is based in the Kansas City area, teaching general music and serving as choir director at Highland Park Elementary in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. She also continues to sing in several Missouri-based choral groups, including Queen City Chorale and the Kansas City Symphony Chorus.

QCC Advisory Board

  • Michaela Lovig

    Chairperson

    QCCAB Member since 2023

    Michaela Lovig is the choir director for Republic Middle School. She received her Bachelors of Music Education from Missouri State University. During her years at MSU, Michaela served on the committee for the choral program as well as being a founding member of an all-female a cappella group, Sound Bearrier. She has also been involved in the Springfield community through her time as a choral scholar since 2017, initially at First & Calvary Presbyterian Church and now at Christ Episcopal Church. Michaela has also been a part of recording projects for Walton Music and Choristers Guild, chosen for the Young Artist Program at Baylor’s International Choral Conducting Masterclass, as well as singing for Missouri-based choirs like Queen City Chorale and Missouri Choral Artists.

  • Hannah Martin

    Immediate Past Chairperson

    QCCAB Member since 2022

    Hannah Martin is the Director of Choirs at Reeds Spring Middle School and High School. Previously, she taught at Fort Zumwalt South High School in St. Louis. Hannah graduated from Missouri State University with her Masters in Music, with an emphasis in choral conducting. From the same institution, she also holds bachelors degrees in Vocal Music Education and Vocal Performance. Additionally, she participated in a week-long study of melody with Alice Parker at her home in Massachusetts in 2018. At Missouri State, she participated in many of the Chorale’s international tours. She has also performed at several professional music conferences, namely MMEA, NCCO, and ACDA. In 2019, she was selected for the World Youth Choir, where she performed across France and Portugal with ensemble members from around the world.

  • Giovanni Hernandez

    QCCAB Member since 2022

    Giovanni Hernandez is a first-year graduate student at Missouri State University (MSU) pursuing a Master of Music in Choral Conducting, serving as a G.A. for the Choral Studies program. Giovanni previously received his Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in Vocal/Choral Music from MSU. He is a frequent clinician and adjudicator of choral festivals and competitions across Missouri and the midwestern United States. 

    Giovanni has spent the last five years teaching in Missouri where he taught in Title I middle schools, including the Reed Academy of Fine and Performing Arts. While teaching at Reed Academy, his choirs earned consistent Superior ratings at various contests and festivals throughout the state and he had multiple students selected to the American Choral Directors Association National Junior High Honor Choir. 

    Along with his work at Reed, Giovanni was selected to study conducting at the International Choral Conducting Masterclass hosted at Baylor University where he studied conducting with Dr. Brian A. Schmidt, Dr. Richard Sparks, and Mr. Stefan Parkman.

    Giovanni also previously served as a Director of The Ozarks A Cappella: an auditioned, community youth a cappella group based in the greater Springfield, MO area. During the group's tenure from 2020-2023, they won the Finals of the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) and were nominated for multiple CARA awards.

  • Emily Melton

    QCCAB Member since 2024

    A Springfield, MO native, Emily graduated from Missouri State University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Music and currently acts as the Administrative Specialist II at efactory, an entrepreneurship and small business resource center that is a part of Missouri State University. She is passionate about investing in the people of Springfield and providing opportunities for community enrichment. Outside of efactory, Emily spends most of her time performing and creating music. Beyond Queen City Chorale, she has also performed both domestically and internationally with the Missouri State University Chorale, and was a founding member of Missouri State’s Multicultural Ensemble. Emily was the former Music Director for Missouri State University’s premier all-gender a cappella group, The Hibernotes, with whom she won numerous awards for both performance and music arrangement.

  • Zach Reece

    QCCAB Member since 2022

    Zach Reece is a graduate assistant at Missouri State University, where he also received his Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Music Education in 2020. He has sung in the choirs of Missouri State University since 2015 and has toured with ensembles both domestically and abroad to Europe, South Africa, Scandinavia, and China. In August of 2019, Zach received a fellowship to attend the Yale-Norfolk Choral Conducting Workshop, under the direction of Simon Carrington. Zach has also sung as a recording artist for Walton Music and Choristers Guild, as well as local choirs Springfield Chamber Chorus, Queen City Chorale, and Missouri Choral Artists. Since 2016, Zach has been a choral scholar at First and Calvary Presbyterian Church.

  • Asher Tillman

    QCCAB Member since 2023

    Asher Tillman is a budding bass-baritone from Strafford, MO in his fourth professional season and his second year serving on QCC’s advisory board. A highly active young performer based in Kansas City, Tillman has quickly established himself as a heavy hitter within Missouri’s choral arts scene. He appears regularly with such groups as Kantorei KC, Te Deum, Missouri Choral Artists, Voices of Kansas City, and the GRAMMY Award®-winning Kansas City Chorale, with whom he can be heard on their upcoming album The Travels of Marco Polo. Additionally, he is a long-term staff singer with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Brookside. Beyond the choral sphere, Tillman is also a versatile theatrical performer, enjoying a wide range of character roles in such works as Violet, Molière’s Tartuffe, Cabaret, Chekov’s The Three Sisters, The 25th Annual…Spelling Bee, Peter and the Wolf, and The Fantasticks.

  • Lauren Vomund

    QCCAB Member since 2022

    Lauren Vomund graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Vocal Music Education with Educational Honors from the University of Missouri - Columbia, where she performed and toured extensively with the Mizzou University Singers and Show Me Opera Program. During her time at Mizzou, she also served as President and Music Director for the music service fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota. Lauren is in her 9th year of directing choirs and currently teaches at Nixa Junior High School, previously directing choirs in Willard, Ozark, and Spokane, Missouri. She has performed at multiple conferences across the state, and in 2021, her 7th Grade Treble Choir was selected to perform at MMEA. Lauren has been singing with the Queen City Chorale since its inception and also performs with Springfield Chamber Chorus and the Missouri Choral Artists. Additionally, she serves on the music team with University Heights Baptist Church.