Music Directors
Jenna Lebherz Daly, Artistic Director
Jenna Lebherz Daly directs Cantare Bel Canto I. She first sang with the Frederick Children’s Chorus from 5th-12th grade and fell in love with the unique silvery sound of a children’s choir. After high school, she went on to Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ to earn Bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance. She then earned a Master’s in Opera Performance with University of Maryland’s Opera Studio. Mrs. Daly has performed in many states and venues, and she continues to be active in the opera world as a mezzo-soprano, singing for opera companies and orchestras. Currently, she is the Chair of the Performing Arts Department, and teaches the Lower and Middle School Music Programs (Pre-K through 8th grade) at Gerstell Academy in Finksburg, MD. She thoroughly loves working with children and keeping music alive through their voices.
Rachel Morgan Im
Rachel Morgan Im directs Il Coro Della Bella Voce and Cantare Bel Canto II. Since joining CCCC in 2010, she has led the combined Cantare Bel Canto choirs to win awards at choral festivals and adjudications and has co-directed touring ensembles that have performed in prestigious venues both in the United States and Europe. A freelance musician and video editor, she books her services through rachelmorganim.com. In 2022, Ms. Morgan Im was named Conductor of the York County Junior Honors Choir in Pennsylvania. She also enjoys recurring contracts as Music Director for The Maryland Academy of Dance’s musical theatre program. Other organizations with which she has held conducting and teaching contracts include the National Christian Choir and Lamplight Artists. Ms. Morgan Im teaches private voice and piano lessons out of her home studio, and she has been active for many years as a church musician. A school music teacher from 2005-2020, Ms. Morgan Im earned elite recognition as Teacher of the Year 2015 Finalist for Carroll County Public Schools. She holds a Master of Music in music education from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Music Education from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. Additionally, she has completed 40+ graduate credits centered on world and folk arts, diversity, and pedagogy at McDaniel College, and she has studied West African hand drumming.
Tamba Giles
Mr. Tamba Giles directs Les Petites Voix. Mr. Giles currently teaches at Sandymount Elementary School. He is loved by every student and by every colleague that he encounters. Mr. Giles is originally from Houston TX and graduated from Prairie View A&M University. He has worked for many churches in the Baltimore area bringing song to many hearts each Sunday. Mr. Giles has performed in many places like Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the United States Capitol, and won awards as a music educator like Carroll County’s Outstanding Teacher’s Award in 2022.
Accompanists
Joann Long Benson
Joann Long Benson, Accompanist and Instructor of Skills since 2013, is a graduate of Mansfield University of PA with a degree in piano performance, and has completed a Master’s of Music Education at Towson University. Prior to retirement she was a music teacher in Carroll County Public Schools for 25 years, most recently at Sandymount Elementary School. Mrs. Benson worked for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra several summers designing the teacher’s resources for their Education concerts. She was employed previously as an adjunct at Carroll Community College and is currently supervising student teachers for McDaniel College as well as being the vocal music teacher at North Carroll Community School. Mrs. Benson enjoys accompanying a wide variety of musical groups in the region, including Eisteddfod honors choruses and soloists.
Diane Jones, Artistic Director Emeritus
Diane Jones, Co-Founder and Accompanist, earned a Masters of Liberal Arts from Western Maryland College and a Bachelors of Music Education from Houghton College in New York. She taught elementary, middle and high school in New York and Maryland public schools for over twenty five years. She was also adjunct faculty at McDaniel College. As Artistic Director of Children’s Chorus of Carroll County, she established the Chorus’ structure, including an emphasis on musically enriching travel opportunities for its members. She currently has an active private piano studio, is Director of Music for St. Paul United Methodist Church and enjoys a variety of collaborative musical experiences.
Under her leadership, Voce Viaggio performed in Estonia, Finland, and Sweden (2004), participated in the “12th International Children’s Choir Festival” in Oxford, Canterbury, and London (2008), and “The Children’s Choir Festival at Canterbury Cathedral & London” (2011). She and three Chorus members also participated in the “Estonian Song Festival” in July of 2009. As co-directors of Voce Viaggio, she and Ms. Im led students who participated in the “Austrian Choral Festival with Henry Leck” in 2014. In June 2015, their BC groups performed in the Manhattan Concert Production’s National Children’s Festival Chorus, which culminated in a gala event at Carnegie Hall.