Missoula Community Chorus

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Close-up of a smiling woman with long brown hair, wearing a black top.

  • Ellen McKenzie is proud to direct the Missoula Community Chorus—and to teach at Hellgate High School. Her experience in choir direction and music instruction dates back to 2002, with previous positions in Frenchtown, Manteca (CA), and Kalispell.

    McKenzie earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Integrated Arts and Education from the University of Montana. She is recognized as a National Board-Certified Teacher in Music/Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood.

    Throughout her career, McKenzie has actively contributed to her schools and local communities, coordinating choir trips to destinations including Hawaii, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Banff, Alberta. She frequently performs with the Missoula Community Theater and enjoys pursuits such as running, reading, camping, and spending time with her husband, Peter, and their two sons, Ben and Jack.

  • Sylvia Wood accompanies the Missoula Community Chorus. She is a composer, pianist, and flutist based in Missoula, Montana.

    Wood holds Bachelor of Music degrees in Composition and Flute Performance and a minor in Climate Change Studies from the University of Montana. She is currently working towards a master’s degree in composition at UM, where she maintains a graduate teaching assistantship.

    Wood plays piano collaboratively with 'Aiga Singers, and for solo vocalists and instrumentalists at UM. She is church pianist at Missoula First Christian Church and maintains a studio of private students in both piano and flute.

    ​ She loves to use music to turn her emotions and impressions of the world into works that resonate with others, and possibly even compel them to see their surroundings in a new light.​

    When not making music, you can find her hiking, painting, skiing, or baking excessive amounts of sourdough.

MPower Voices

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  • Malcolm Lowe feels fortunate to direct MPower Voices, as he has from their start as the VSA Arts Choir,  in 1998.

    Malcolm earned a bachelor’s degree in voice performance from Western Washington University and a master’s degree in composition for theater from San Diego State University. He worked as a composer, performer, and sound designer in theater.

    Since relocating to Missoula in 1993, he founded The Loose Caboose, which continues to keep Missoula caffeinated. Malcolm remains active in the arts community through performances at the Missoula Community Theater and as a long-standing member of Dolce Canto.

  • Linda Stratton moved to Missoula in 1990 and has since collaborated with many musicians from master’s in performance candidates at the University of Montana to preschool toddlers. She has worked extensively with the Missoula Children’s Theater on community productions and accompanied many public schools throughout the region.

    MPower Voices is close to Linda’s heart. She has collaborated with Malcolm for the last twenty-four years to help the MPower participants realize their love of performing music.

Forte Children’s Choirs

A smiling man with dark, slightly tousled hair in a white button-up shirt leaning on a grand piano with the lid open, revealing the strings and hammers, in a dimly lit room.
A woman with brown hair smiling at the camera, wearing a white top.

  • Brenda Griggs began leading the Forte Children’s Choirs in 2025 and teaches music at Hawthorne Elementary School.

    With over 20 years of experience in Missoula, she holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Brigham Young University and a Master of Music Education from University of Northern Colorado.

    She has taught at various Missoula schools, including directing the All-City 6th & 7th Grade Girls Chorus for seven years, and holding various leadership roles with children’s choirs in the Five Valleys.

  • Jack Desmul accompanies the Forte Children’s Choirs. He is a graduate student studying piano performance at the University of Montana. Through his work as a graduate teaching assistant, Desmul teaches a piano class and tutors theory students in addition to maintaining a studio of private and undergraduate piano students.

    Before attending the University of Montana, Desmul received degrees in music and business from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

    When he is not in Missoula, he is in his hometown of Kalispell assisting in the operation of his family's business, Big Mountain Ciderworks.