Key Note Speaker: Dr. Cherilyn Worthen
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Cherilyn Worthen is an associate professor of Choral Music Education at Utah Valley University where she directs the Emerald Singers and is the Music Education Coordinator. She holds degrees in Music Education and Choral Conducting from Brigham Young University as well as a PhD in Music Education from the University of Utah. Since 2006, she has served as the director of the Choir School for The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square where she designs and directs performance training programs for newly admitted singers, current choir members, and the global participants.
Dr. Worthen was the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill Endowed Fellowship from the Research Institute at the Women’s Success Center at Utah Valley University (UVU). She is currently serving as a member of the Hymnbook and Music Member Experience Committees for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has served on the Utah Music Education Association (UMEA) Choral Committee and the UMEA Executive Board as the Higher Education Vice President and is currently the past president of American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Utah. Under her direction, the UVU Women’s Choir has performed by invitation at UMEA, ACDA Utah, and ACDA Western Division Conferences.
BYU Organ Traveling Workshops Presenters
Dr. Neil Harmon
Dr. Neil Harmon teaches organ at Brigham Young University and serves as Coordinator of Organ and Carillon Studies. Prior to his full-time appointment at BYU, Dr. Harmon served as Director of Organ Studies at Utah State University and as Adjunct Professor of Organ at Utah Valley University and BYU. He worked as full-time Director of Music and Organist at Grace United Methodist Church in Wilmington, Delaware, for 19 years.
Dr. Harmon earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music. He enjoys a career as teacher, performer, accompanist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is known throughout the country for his creative organ arrangements and choral and handbell compositions.
Elizabeth Forsyth
A native of San Francisco, Elizabeth Forsyth received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ performance from BYU. Active in church music for over 50 years, she has served Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and LDS congregations as both organist and director of music. Currently, she is the organist at First Congregational Church, Berkeley. She has served on the executive boards of both the San Francisco and Philadelphia chapters of the American Guild of Organists and served as one of four program chairs for the American Guild of Organist (AGO) National Convention in San Francisco in the summer of 2024.
As a recitalist, Ms. Forsyth has performed throughout the Bay Area, Utah, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. Recent collaborations with performing groups have included the First Church Festival Chorus, Chora Nova, the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, the Folsom Lake Symphony, and the Stockton Symphony. Elizabeth teaches both piano and organ at her home in Orinda, CA, where she takes special delight in introducing her teenage piano students to the organ. She is the proud mother of four sons and has ten grandchildren.
Additional Presenters
Stacie Wicks
Stacie Wicks has held a primary music calling for most of the last 30 years. She holds a degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Elementary Music from BYU and has completed her National Kodály Certification Levels. She is the mother of five beautiful children, and grandma to one amazing granddaughter. She currently teaches music to elementary school students and loves to help enhance children’s lives through music.
Kathryn Latour
Kathryn Latour has been making music all her life. Born into a large family of singers and instrumentalists, Kathryn performed regularly with her family in church. Beginning piano at age 8, she discovered she could sight-read, allowing her to fool her piano teacher with performance-ready pieces without practice. She was called as a Ward Primary Pianist at age 10, Sunday School Organist at age 12, and Sacrament Meeting Organist at age 14. She has never been in a ward in her life without a music calling.
While at Stanford Law School, she sang with the Mayfield Singers and Valparaiso Singers, the latter of which performed throughout the Bay Area, Carnegie Hall, and Russia. She also conducted Valparaiso Singers for one season. While teaching International Law at Menlo College, she formed and conducted the Menlo College Chorale, a 40-voice student group, and the children’s choir, Sing with the Heart. Kathryn moved to Portland in 2021 and joined Portland Choir & Orchestra as an alto. Her compositions of choral works can be found at http://sacredsheetmusic.org/Kathryn_Latour.