Staff

photos: Keren and Camera

Chattanooga Boys Choir Staff

Vincent Oakes, Executive / Artistic Director
Vincent Oakes is in his twenty-first year as Artistic Director of the Chattanooga Boys Choir. He earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Florida and Master of Sacred Music degree in Choral Conducting from Emory University. Under his direction, the CBC has initiated numerous community partnerships and artistic collaborations, premiered more than a dozen new works and commissions, and featured performance tours to Europe, Canada, Costa Rica, and Cuba, as well as significant domestic appearances at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, St. Louis Cathedral, Duke University Chapel, and Carnegie Hall. His professional involvement and leadership in the American Choral Directors Association includes service as President of the Tennessee chapter (2013-2015) and the eleven-state Southern Region (2019-2021). He has also served as Repertoire & Resources and as interest session presenter on strategies for the adolescent singing voice, choral literacy, and ensemble musicianship instruction in the choral rehearsal. In 2012, he was selected to represent the United States at the inaugural ACDA International Conductor Exchange Program in Havana, Cuba. Oakes was awarded the Belz‐Lipman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission in 2021 and the Ruth Holmberg Arts Leadership Award from ArtsBuild of Greater Chattanooga in 2023. Since 2006, Mr. Oakes has also been the Director of Choral Music at The Baylor School, where was awarded the Glenn Ireland Chair for Distinguished Teaching in 2015 and appointed Chair of the Department of Fine & Performing Arts in 2019. As a conductor and clinician, Oakes has conducted numerous honor choirs, clinics, and festivals throughout the United States and in recent residencies with the Bangkok International Choral Festival, the VOCALIZZE Choral Festival in Portugal, and Cor Exaudi in Cuba. A lifelong advocate for music in worship, he has served churches in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee and as a clinician/conductor for children and youth choirs at Lake Junaluska, Massanetta Springs, and Montreat church music conferences. He has contributed articles to ACDA’s Choral Journal and ChorTeach and authored chapters in the textbooks Choral Pedagogy (3rd edition) by Robert Sataloff, Class Voice: Fundamental Skills for Lifelong Singing by Ron Burrichter and Brenda Smith, and Start Singing! From Choristers Guild.

Judy Brittingham, Director of Training Choirs
Mrs. Brittingham earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Master of Administration degree from Lincoln Memorial University. Mrs Brittingham retired from Hamilton County Schools after teaching elementary music for 32 years. She has been affiliated with the CBC since 1979, and also served for over twenty years as Children’s Ministry Director and Children’s Choir Director at Hickory Valley Community Church in Chattanooga. She currently currently serves as a member of Ridgedale Baptist orchestra and staff member of the Children’s Choir Married to Robert Brittingham, they have two children, Taylor (a CBC alum) and Anna and one granddaughter, Billie.

Christine Hassevoort, Music Theory Lab Instructor
Mrs. Hassevoort has a Master of Music degree in voice. She is a classical singer who has performed several operatic roles with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Opera Tennessee, and others. Christine also has been a featured soloist twice for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera’s Holiday Pops concert, as well as several Pops in the Park concerts. She has soloed in many oratorio productions, including Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Haydn’s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. She teaches voice and music classes at Covenant College, Chattanooga State Community College and UT Chattanooga. She is married to Darrin and has two children: Ian, who is a CBC alum and a freshman at Covenant College, and Sophia, who is a junior at Lipscomb University.

Gabrielle Haston, Associate Director
Gabrielle Haston earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education and Masters of Education-Secondary: The Arts from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is proud to be a Kodály certified music educator. Mrs. Haston has served as the Director of Choral Activities for Dade Middle and Dade County High School since Fall 2007, and as Fine Arts Chair since 2008. In Fall 2024, she was named the Dade County Schools Fine Arts Coordinator. Mrs. Haston has been an associate director with CBC since 2014. She is active in the Georgia Music Educators Association and has served as the choral chair for GMEA District VII, as well as organizer and conductor for district and county level honor chorus events. Mrs. Haston is also a member of the American Choral Directors Association. She is married to Nathaniel Haston and they have two children, Caedmon (current CBC Concert singer) and Selah.

Sonya Henry, Outreach Program Director
Mrs. Henry received her Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Music Education from Tennessee Technological University. Mrs. Henry has taught elementary and middle school music in Hamilton County Schools. She has sang with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Chorus, Bach Chorale, Chattanooga Spiritual Ensemble and is a featured soloist and the assistant director with the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African-American Song. She is the Music Minister and Good News Club Coordinator at Phillips Temple C.M.E. Church. Married to Reverend Robert Henry, Jr., they have three children: Olivia, Anthony and Michele.

Jenny Parker, Collaborative Pianist
A North Caroline native, Mrs. Parker received her Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Piano Performance, and her Masters of Music degree in Accompanying from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. She has taught private piano lessons for 28 years in various locations in North Carolina and Tennessee. She taught Kindermusik classes for 13 years, and has also directed children’s choirs in various churches for 28 years. Mrs. Parker has served as a collaborative pianist for churches, colleges, schools, community choirs, choral festivals, individual performers, and the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. She is currently serving as pianist at First Baptist Church of Chattanooga, pianist for the Chattanooga Boys Choir, and as the Staff Collaborative Pianist in the Music Department at Covenant College on Lookout Mt, GA. Jenny is the proud Mom of two beautiful daughters, Jordyn & Jocelyn, and she resides on Signal Mountain with her wonderful husband Jeff.

Stephanie R. Randall, Training Choirs Collaborative Pianist
Mrs. Randall earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where she sang with the UTC Chamber Singers and Chattanooga Singers. Mrs. Randall has taught many piano students and accompanied many student recitals and area choral programs. She is married to Chattanooga Boy Choir alumnus, Andrew Randall. Stephanie is currently working from home raising her two young children, building two businesses, and leading worship in her church.

Stephanie Randall, Music Education Coordinator
Mrs. Randall holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Previously a K-12 music teacher in the Hamilton County schools, she has also taught music to home school students and led children’s church choirs. Mrs. Randall has been the lead CBC Music Theory Lab instructor since its inception in 2003. Her musical experiences include previous memberships in the Chattanooga Bach Choir, and currently sings with the Roueché Chorale and Chattanooga Choral Arts. Mrs. Randall has also held a variety of leadership roles in church music. Married to CBC Alumnus George Randall, Jr., they have three sons: Andrew, Matthew, and Christopher (proudly CBC Alumni), three wonderful daughters-in-law, and four beautiful grandchildren.

Kristen Wiram, Associate Director
Mrs. Wiram earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and the Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Emory University. Mrs. Wiram has been a featured soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Choral Arts of Chattanooga, and the Atlanta Sacred Chorale. Previously the Director of Choral Activities at Ooltewah High School and Red Bank Middle School, she is currently Choral Director at Signal Mountain Middle-High School. Mrs. Wiram is currently serving as President of the East Tennessee Vocal Association.