Knoxville Christian Arts Ministries

Jill Lagerberg, Director

Knoxville Christian Arts Ministries is a community of choral and instrumental musicians, actors, and dancers who share God’s love through the medium of the arts wherever He leads in the Knoxville area and beyond. The ministry is open to all Knox-area performing artists who desire to minister in the name of Jesus. If you are an experienced choral singer or an accomplished instrumentalist, actor, or dancer, high school age or older, amateur or professional, Knoxville Christian Arts Ministries is a place of belonging for you. KnoxCAM is an outgrowth of the Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church music and worship ministry. In 2005, the Cedar Springs sanctuary and hand bell choirs took a ten-day mission trip to Peru, where they sang in a number of universities and churches in Lima. They began to pray at that time that the trip would not be a self-contained event but would be the beginning of a continuing outreach ministry to the Knoxville area and further afield, as God led. During the past four years the choir, hand bells, and men’s ensemble have been able to serve in prisons, inner-city ministries, homeless shelters, retirement communities, and other venues. The opportunities for ministry are numerous; the church ministry now has expanded into an area-wide group of musicians and other performing artists who desire to share God’s love through their art.

SOAR

Steve Ritter, Director

SOAR Youth Ministries magnifies the inherent potential in urban youth by enabling them to have the highest regard for themselves and others. SOAR creatively connects and bridges the gap between community resources focused on addressing local needs and giving back through faith-based service. As a ministry, it models obedience to God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.

Daniel Barret

Coach

Daniel James Barrett graduated Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Science in Speech Education and a Master of Arts in Theatre. While in college, he travelled with the Truth in Action Drama Team touring the southeast. For his Graduate project, Daniel wrote and directed an original play, Listen to the Silence, which was produced for video and script published.

Daniel has been teaching for over 20 years. He taught at Bob Jones University while in graduate school. He taught in Christian schools in Florida, Connecticut, and Tennessee. Daniel's career also took him to Walt Disney World as a teacher and facilitator with the Disney Institute, Camp Disney, and Youth Education Series (Y.E.S).

He has been involved in church drama ministry in several churches. Acting, directing and writing programs, skits and two musicals with his wife.

Daniel has also been active in local theatre companies. He has acted with Theatre Knoxville, Oak Ridge Playhouse and Foothills Community Players. Currently, he is a company member with The WordPlayers, a local theatre group of Christian artists where he has acted and directed for several seasons.

Andrew McCoy

Guitar

Born and raised in Hodgenville, KY, Andrew was exposed to music at an early age, but did not discover the guitar until sixteen. While studying chemistry in college, he decided to move to Nashville, where he devoted his studies and time to classical guitar and composition at Belmont University. Andrew graduated in December 2005 with a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition with a Principal in Guitar. He is currently a graduate student in the Jazz Studies program at the University of Tennessee.

From January 2007 until August 2008, Andrew served as a faculty member at the Forerunner Music Academy at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. A player of all types of music, mainly blues, jazz and classical, Andrew believes that worship can and should include various musical styles.

Brad McIlwain

Brass

Brad McIlwain, Director of the Cedar Springs Music Academy, graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Middle Tennessee State University in 2007. He performed extensively during his college years all over Nashville and as far as South Korea and Mexico. In 2002, he had the opportunity to perform in the Semi-Final round of the National Trumpet Competition at George Mason University near Washington D.C. When he was not performing, he maintained a private studio of 10 to 15 students from local middle and high schools.

In December of 2007, Brad joined the Worship Staff at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church under the leadership of West Breedlove, Director of Music Ministries. One of his roles has been to work with West and the worship staff in developing the CSPC instrumental program. This endeavor led to the conception of the Cedar Springs Music Academy in the fall of 2008 which has grown into an outreach music education program serving over 100 students in the Knoxville community.

Cheryl Baddorf

Piano

Bio coming soon...

Dee Ann Symington

Piano

Dee Ann Symington is a graduate of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, with a B.A. in Piano Performance, and A M.M. in Piano Literature from the University of Tennessee. She has taught piano in the Knoxville area for 30 years. Her students enjoy a variety of learning experiences which include: private and group lessons, recitals and auditions, pop, sacred, jazz and classical sytles of repertoire, the ability and knowledge in technique and theory are pursued also. Young beginners are taught using the Suzuki method, and a variey of piano methods are used to teach students to read music. Her husband, Ed, and their two teenagers enjoy the gift of music with their individual instruments. As a family they have been a part of worship music in a few churcehs in the area.

Emily McCoy

Piano, Violin, Voice

Emily, a native of Knoxville, grew up in a musical home and began taking violin lessons at age three. She was drawn to the piano at age nine, followed quickly by vocal lessons. Emily is a 2006 Graduate from Belmont University in Nashville, TN, with a Bachelor's of Music in Commercial Music, Voice Principal, Composition and Arranging Emphasis, and is currently a graduate student at the University of Tennessee in Jazz Studies, with an emphasis in piano and arranging. She has written and arranged for orchestra, big band and string quartet, as well as classical, jazz, gospel, and acapella choral groups. She is a respected studio singer and musician, and has been part of many worship projects, including recordings of many of her original songs and arrangements.

From January 2007 until August 2008, Emily served as a faculty member at the Forerunner Music Academy at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, where she was also a worship leader. Emily has traveled throughout the U.S., performing and leading worship with various groups, and has was on staff as a worship leader at Succat Hallel, a 24/7 House of Prayer in Jerusalem. Emily has eleven years of teaching experience, and makes an effort to focus on incorporating solid musicianship with true worship in all her musical endeavors.

Kate Sivy

Piano

Kate Sivy holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the Ohio State University where she studied with Caroline Hong, received the Piano Graduate Teaching Associate Award, and organized Ohio State University’s first annual piano workshop. She also completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance from Geneva College under the instruction of Eugene Alcalay. For twelve years, Kate has been teaching piano lessons to students of all ages ranging from beginner to advanced levels. She has adjudicated several piano competitions, including the 2008 Knoxville Music Teachers Association Auditions and the Rhea Arts Festival piano competitions in Dayton, TN. She accompanies a variety of vocal and instrumental performers and is an accompanist for the University of Tennessee School of Music in Knoxville. Kate has held leadership positions in the Chattanooga Music Teachers Association. She has taught at the Cadek Conservatory of Music in Chattanooga, TN and the Bryan College Community Music School from 2005-2009. Currently, Kate is an adjunct piano instructor at Bryan College.

Kathleen Bowman

Cello

Cellist Kathleen Bowman completed a master's degree in cello performance in May of 2009 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. During her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee, Ms. Bowman participated in the Chancellor's Honors Program, received the Presser Scholar Award for academic merit, and was recognized as a Top Collegiate Schol ar and the outstanding graduate in the School of Music Bachelor of Arts program. She attended the Bowdoin, Maine, and Hot Springs, Arkansas, music festivals, and has completed extensive Suzuki Cello teacher training in Chicago, Illinois, Ithaca, New York, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Ms. Bowman has appeared as a guest artist and clinician for the Oak Ridge Summer Music Conservatory, the East Tennessee String Workshop, and coordinates the Suzuki cello program associated with the annual Tennessee Cello Workshop. Kathleen actively performs and freelances, and maintains a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and artistry in performance.

Visit Kathleen's Studio

Rob Sivy

Violin

Rob Sivy holds a B.A. in violin performance and B.S. in music education from Geneva College, where he studied violin with Christopher Wu of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has also studied violin in Pittsburgh, PA with Leo Ficks and in Atlanta, GA with Vera Ilyushina. Rob is currently attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and is working on a Master of Music in music theory. He has performed with a number of orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Philharmonic and the East Tennessee Symphony Orchestra. For the last three years Rob has had the privilege of teaching high school music theory and history as well as directing several ensembles, including jazz and concert bands and orchestras for annual musicals at Chattanooga Christian School. He has provided private instruction in violin for more than 10 years and has taught at prominent music institutions such as Musik Innovations in Pittsburgh, PA and at the Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga, TN.