Executive Director
Director, Intermezzo
Director, Prelude
Choir Accompanist
Director, Intermezzo (North)
Director, Una Vocé (South)
Director, Intermezzo (South)
Margaret Heron recently retired after a 25-year career Choral Director and AP Music Theory Instructor at Mortimer Jordan High School and Choral Director at North Jefferson Middle School in the Jefferson County School System. For her first nine years, Mrs. Heron also taught Junior and Senior High Band. She earned a BA in Instrumental Music Education from The University of Alabama and a Masters in Choral Music Education from The University of Alabama at Birmingham, summa cum laude. Mrs. Heron received National Board Certification in Choral Music in 2008. Under her direction, her choirs consistently received Superior ratings at District, State, national, and international festivals and were invited to perform all over the Southeast. She has been the Choral Clinician and adjudicator for various honor choirs, festivals, and camps throughout the south. Mrs. Heron served on the state board of the Alabama Choral Directors Association and the Alabama Vocal Association Executive Board. She has worked for the College Board, training teachers to score AP Theory exams. Mrs. Heron developed It Works In Theory, a sequential and comprehensive curriculum for teaching music theory in the classroom. She rejoined the teaching staff at Birmingham Girls Choir in 2013 and became Executive Director in 2021. She is passionate about teaching young people the value of commitment to excellence and unity through the beauty of choral singing. She is excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization and looks forward to the growth and expansion in the Birmingham area and beyond.
Meredith Devore is the music specialist at Shades Mountain Elementary School where she teaches K-5 music and directs the SMES Singers. She has been the director of the Intermezzo Choir of the Birmingham Girls Choir since 2011. She earned her Bachelor's of Music Education from Auburn University, graduating summa cum laude in 2008. Mrs. DeVore directed the choral program at Clay-Chalkville Middle School for seven years, growing the program and leading the choirs to perform locally as well as across the Southeast. At CCMS, her singers consistently earned superior ratings and were accepted into local and state honor choirs. Mrs. DeVore is also active in the music ministry at Hunter Street Baptist Church, where she sings in the worship choir and directs OneVoice, an ensemble of auditioned high school singers. Mrs. DeVore is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the American Choral Directors Association, where she serves as a coordinator of the Young Voices Festival. She and her husband Elliott have two children, Hadley and Wyatt.
Sadie Wall is the music specialist at Edgewood Elementary in Homewood, AL. There, she teaches general music to grades Kindergarten through 5th and conducts the 4th and 5th grade Edgewood Choir. Ms. Wall earned her BM from the University of Montevallo and is currently pursuing her Masters in Music Education at Texas Tech University. She is a certified Kodály educator through the endorsed program at the University of Montevallo and holds her Level I certificate in Orff. Ms. Wall serves as President-Elect of the Sweet Home Alabama Kodály Educators (SHAKE), Vice President of Alabama Voices, and Music In Our Schools Month chair with the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA). She is the recipient of the 2021 AMEA Young Music Educator Award. Ms. Wall is looking forward to working with the students in Prelude, introducing them to the joy of choir.
Karen Krekelberg is currently on staff at Vestavia Hills Methodist Church as the Associate Director of Music Ministry and Organist. Karen earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Montevallo with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy. While there, she studied piano with Robert Cowan and organ with Betty Louise Lumby. She currently teaches private piano at VHUMC’s Conservatory of the Arts and is a member of AMTA and AGO. Karen is a mother of two grown children and grandmother of one precious girl. She can often be found accompanying for various music groups and theatre productions around Birmingham.
Ginny Hughes, a graduate of The University of Alabama, retired from Jefferson County after teaching for 30 years. During those 30 years she taught choir at Hewitt-Trussville Junior High School, Bragg Middle School and Gardendale High School. The past four years she was the Choral Music Educator at John Carroll Catholic High School. During her tenure at each school she built and developed choral programs that had greatly diminished in numbers or had totally closed. At each school the choirs consistently received Superior Ratings at State and National Festivals and a few performed in the Festival of Gold in New York. Recently she was awarded The Robert Wright Award for Exceptional Service by the Alabama Choral Directors Association. Mrs. Hughes served as District Chairman on the State Board for the Alabama Vocal Association and is an active member of the Alabama Choral Directors Association. She has also served as Choral Clinician at the UMC Blue Lake Choir Camp and staff member at Music and Arts Week at Camp Sumatanga for over 20 years. She currently serves as Traditional Worship Leader, Handbell and Chancel Choir Director of Hope Church where in 2018 she developed the Hope Fine Arts Academy where she currently teaches voice. Mrs. Hughes and her husband have two children, two ‘“in loves” and 5 grandchildren. She is looking forward to being a part of the Birmingham Girls Choir staff and is excited about its continued growth in the North Jefferson County Area.
Ashlyn Kuyrkendall (affectionately known by her students as Mrs. K) has been the Choral Director at Shelby County High School for the past ten years. She received her undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance and Masters in Music Education from Samford University. Mrs. K successfully grew the Shelby County High School Choral program and led her choirs to consistently receive Superiors at State Assessment. Her students are consistently selected for Alabama All-State Choir and many of her students have graduated in pursuit of performing arts degrees. Her choirs have been featured performers at the State Capitol as well as traveled to Orlando, Chicago, and New York CIty. Mrs. K is the recipient of numerous grants including the Alabama Arts Education Initiative, CBS 42 One Classroom at a Time, and the Shelby County Education Foundation grant. Mrs. K lives in Hoover with her husband, Tyler, their two young children, Brooks (6), Kate (3), and the wildest dog around, Dakota.
Cathy Shelton taught choral music in Alabama public schools for 34 years, retiring in 2015 from Hoover High School where she was the Assistant Choral Director, IB Music, and Piano Keyboard Lab instructor. She taught Jr. High and Middle School choir for 15 years before moving to high school. Cathy has music performance degrees from the University of Alabama (piano and organ) and Northwestern University (piano with assistantship in choral accompanying), and has served as the choir director, organist, and handbell director in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham churches.
Cathy currently teaches piano at the Vestavia Methodist Conservatory of the Arts, and enjoys playing for various choral groups. Cathy and her husband Rick are the proud grandparents of three beautiful grandkids.