Meet the Leadership
Jeff Vallier - Artistic Director
Jeff Vallier (B.M.E., University of Wisconsin–Madison; M.M. in Choral Conducting, Western Michigan University) brings more than 35 years of experience as a music educator, conductor and clinician, working with choirs and ensembles from the elementary through university levels.
From 1989 to 2001, he served as Director of Choirs and Chair of the Music Department at Lakeview High School in Battle Creek, Mich. Under his leadership, the SATB concert choir consistently appeared at the MSVMA State Festival, while the advanced SATB show choir, The Spartanaires, achieved regional and national recognition. The ensemble earned numerous awards — including Grand Champion, Best Vocals, Best Visual, Best Band, and Best Show Design — and was honored as the featured show choir at the 1996 Show Choir Camps of America in Tiffin, Ohio.
From 2001-08, Vallier directed the advanced SSAA and SATB Concert Choirs at Jefferson High School in Lafayette. The SATB Concert Choir regularly placed at or near the top at the ISSMA state finals and was featured at both IMEA and ACDA conventions. During this time, he also served as assistant director of The First Edition SATB show choir, continuing its tradition of excellence and award-winning performances.
Since 2008, Vallier has served Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO), where he directs the Purduettes and University Choir and serves as PMO’s Director of Recruitment. Beyond Purdue, he is an active adjudicator for ISSMA State Qualifications and show choir competitions across the Midwest, a clinician for Music for All, and a frequent guest director and workshop leader for high school choirs throughout the region. Thanks to the support of PMO and its community, he and his ensembles have shared their music internationally, performing in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Costa Rica and Hawaii.
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 currently the Director of Communications & Community Engagement for the Lafayette School Corp. 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.
