FLORENCE SCATTERGOOD - Lead Director & Co-Founder
Florence Scattergood is a veteran choral music educator whose teaching assignments number 11 schools in 4 districts and vary from 2A rural to 5A urban campuses and include suburban private as well as at-risk public schools. Mrs. Scattergood has been honored as District Teacher of the Year for both Irving and Waco Independent School Districts and as Regional Teacher of the Year for the 81 school districts of Region 10. Her Waco High School choirs were recognized as community builders by a variety of civic organizations and were honored with the Model of Unity Award by the Community Race Relations Coalition and by the Waco Scottish Rite with the Abner B. McCall Service Award. Although her most recent years have been spent in secondary schools, she has taught grades 1 through 12 and has served for many years as a cooperating teacher and field instructor of choral music education on the collegiate level, supervising over 30 student teachers for 5 universities. In 2009, Mrs. Scattergood was the first recipient of the Baylor University Music Education Distinguished Alumni Award. Mrs. Scattergood is a native Wacoan who attended St. Alban’s Memorial School, Hillcrest Elementary, Lake Air Junior High, and graduated from Richfield High School. She earned her BM and MM degrees from Baylor University. Her memberships include ACDA, TCDA, TMEA, and Texas Music Adjudicators Association.
JENNA HERNANDEZ MCLEAN - Assitant Director
Jenna Hernandez McLean is a music educator, conductor, and Mezzo-Soprano based in Waco, TX. Jenna has taught public high school and community choirs in Texas and Oregon and has also served as a Teaching Artist with the VOCES8 Foundation. While teaching in Salem, her advanced treble chorus was invited to perform at the Northwest NAfME convention in 2019.
In addition to her work as an educator and conductor she also maintains an active schedule of ensemble singing with groups around the United States such as GRAMMY®-winning The Crossing, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Ensemble Altera, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, Incarnatus, and The Highland Park Chorale. Previously, Jenna was a member of the VOCES8 US Scholars program. While residing in Oregon, Jenna recorded Cycles of Eternity: Works for Female Voices with In Mulieribus, a professional chamber ensemble devoted to exploring repertoire for treble voices from Renaissance to new compositions.
Jenna’s involvement with the Youth Chorus of Central Texas dates back all the way to 2013. She served as an intern with the YCCT during all four years of her undergraduate studies. When she returned to Baylor in 2019 for her graduate studies, Jenna re-joined the YCCT as an intern for the Fall 2019 semester, and now she is back as an assistant director.
Jenna completed her undergraduate studies in choral music education and her graduate studies in conducting with a choral emphasis at Baylor University. She enjoys spending her free time finding new adventures and laughs with her husband, Will, and beloved dog, Hildegard.
LYNNE GACKLE, Ph.D. - Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Lynne Gackle currently is Professor of Ensembles and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University (Waco, TX) where she conducts the Baylor Bella Voce (Select Women’s Ensemble) and the Baylor Concert Choir. She currently serves as the Director of the Ensemble Division for the Baylor School of Music. Lynne is an active clinician, conductor and adjudicator for choral clinics, honor choirs, workshops and festivals throughout the United States and abroad. Dr. Gackle is the editor of Choral Artistry for the Singer with Walton Music and the Lynne Gackle Choral Series for Colla Voce Music, Inc. She has written several articles for the Choral Journal and contributed to the MENC publication, Music at the Middle Level: Building Strong Programs. Recognized both nationally and internationally for her research on the female adolescent voice, Lynne is the author of Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart: Nurturing the Adolescent Female Voice, published by Heritage Music Press. She was also a contributing author to the GIA publication, Conducting Women’s Choirs: Strategies for Success and a Lead Author on the McGraw-Hill/Hal Leonard text, Voices in Concert. Dr. Gackle was also awarded Baylor’s Outstanding Faculty Award in Research in 2012. In 2013, she and fellow choral conductor, Florence Scattergood co-founded the Youth Chorus of Central Texas. She is a member of ACDA, MENC, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Texas Choral Directors Association, ISME and NATS. Gackle received her BME from Louisiana State University and her MM and Ph.D. from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Board of Directors:
Colby Burton
Jennifer Carter
Anna Clark-Martinez
Erin Conaway
Jenna Hernandez McLean
Ron Lange
Susan Li
Jewel Lockridge
Florence Scattergood, President
Pam Wurgler
Vena Williams