Katie Tharp began as the director of the MacPhail Austin Children’s Community Choir in 2017. This is Katie’s 13th year of teaching Elementary Music. She taught for 6 years in Yuma, Arizona and this is her 7th year in Austin, Minnesota. She has taught grades K-5 as well as various children’s choirs.
‘Sing’, ‘say’, ‘dance’ and ‘play’ are the words that describe her teaching. Through these elements, Katie believes we are able to become 21st Century learners and enrich the lives of ourselves and others.
She performed for 3 years in The Concordia Choir under the direction of Rene Clausen. Katie performed the role of Maria VonTrapp in three separate productions of The Sound of Music. She premiered Rene Clausen’s “Memorial” in 2013 at Lincoln Center in New York City. She performed a duet with the Austin Symphony Orchestra and currently performs with The Northwestern Singers.
Katie holds a Bachelors of Music from Concordia College—Moorhead, and a Masters in Integrating the Arts into the Classroom from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.