Meet the Leadership
Jeff Vallier - Artistic Director
Jeff Vallier has a long tenure as a choral conductor. He is currently on staff at Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO), where he directs the Purduettes and University Choir while also serving as PMO’s Director of Recruitment. Through his leadership, these ensembles have had the opportunity to perform internationally in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Costa Rica and Hawaii. In addition to his work at Purdue, he serves as an adjudicator for ISSMA State Qualifications and show choir competitions throughout the Midwest. He has served as a clinician for “Music for All” and high school choirs across Indiana and the Midwest.
With more than 35 years of experience as a music educator, Vallier has taught choral, general and instrumental music at university levels and under. From 2001-08, he directed the advanced SSAA (Expressions) and SATB (Varsity Singers) concert choirs at Jefferson High School in Lafayette, where the Varsity Singers consistently placed at or near the top at the ISSMA State Finals and was featured at IMEA (State) and ACDA (regional) conventions. He also co-directed the advanced SATB show choir, The First Edition, maintaining a tradition of excellence and awards dating back to 1986.
Prior to his time at JHS, from 1989-2001 Vallier served as Director of Choirs and Music Department Chair at Lakeview High School in Battle Creek, Mich. Under his direction, the SATB concert choir performed annually at the MSVMA State Festival, while the advanced SATB show choir, The Spartanaires, competed throughout the Midwest, New York, Orlando and Branson, Mo., earning multiple Grand Champion titles and awards for Best Vocals, Best Visual, Best Band and Best Show Design. The ensemble was also featured at the Tiffin, OH Show Choir Camps of America.
Vallier holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Music in choral conducting from Western Michigan University.
Email Jeff Vallier.
Cindy Gerlach - Executive Director
Cindy Gerlach has worked as a local journalist, covering the arts for both the Journal & Courier and Lafayette Magazine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism/magazine sequence from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her master’s degree in English from Bradley University. When her daughters were younger, she worked as the Youth Chorus & Children’s Choir coordinator for the Bach Chorale Singers, and she is the former Marketing & Communications Director for Purdue Musical Organizations.
As Executive Director of the Lafayette Master Chorale, she manages development and donor relations; fundraising; marketing and publicity; and community relations, in addition to overseeing operations. She earned her certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and The Fund Raising School at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
Gerlach is the Director of Communications & Community Engagement for the Lafayette School Corporation. She has taught in the Brian Lamb School of Communications at Purdue University and writes for Greater Lafayette Magazine. She is an active volunteer and is currently the secretary of the Historic Ninth Street Hill Neighborhood Association and has served on the boards of the Public Schools Foundation of Tippecanoe County, the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society and the Jazz Club. She lives near downtown Lafayette with her family, where she is passionate about her historic neighborhood, travel, reading, arts and culture, and sharing craft cocktails and wine with friends.
Email Cindy Gerlach.
Kirsi Seagraves - Lafayette Children’s Choir Director
Kirsi Seagraves teaches music at Vinton Elementary School in Lafayette, where she has secured over $8,000 worth of music materials from grants. In addition to teaching general music, Seagraves directs the third and fourh-grade choir at Vinton. The before-school choir has about 80 students each year.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education in 2018 from The Ohio State University in Columbus. While in Columbus, she was an intern for the Middle School Summer Singers camp sponsored by the Columbus Children’s Choir and the Ohio State Flute Camp led by Kathy Borst Jones. As a college student, she participated in a variety of ensembles including the University Chorus, Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony. Her primary instructors were Kathy Borst Jones, Scott A. Jones and Julia Shaw.
As a flutist, Segraves placed second in the Central Ohio Flute Association Competition in 2013 and performed the Mozart in G concerto with the Fort Wayne Youth Symphony in 2014. She has also performed at the National Flute Association Conference, American Bandmasters Association Conference, Indiana Music Educators Association Conference and the Ohio Music Educators Association Conference. She currently operates a private flute studio and plays with the Lafayette Citizens Band and the Lafayette Flute Club.
She was a member of the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir for 11 years under the direction of Fred Meads and Jonathan Busarow. Seagraves has received certification in First Steps in Music and has completed her Orff Certification at Anderson University where she is currently pursuing her master's degree in Music Education.
Email Kirsi Seagraves.
Jamie Tartell - Youth Chorus Director
Jamie Tartell is the choir director at Tecumseh Junior High School in Lafayette, Ind., where she directs the seventh- and eighth-grade choirs, as well as the award-winning ensemble Tecumseh Singers. She holds a bachelor's degree in music education with High Distinction from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. At IU, she served as the Director of Education for the Grammy-nominated Singing Hoosiers and the Vice President of the American Choral Director's Association.
Tartell has previously served as the choir director at Jennings County Middle School in North Vernon, Ind., and as a vocal director for Bloomington Expressive Arts Training. She has adjudicated and led show choir clinics in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts and Australia. Over the summer, she works on staff as a counselor at Showchoir Camps of America.
Email Jamie Tartell.
