Julie Haydon

Julie Haydon began her service with Cantare in 2003, developing Cantare’s after-school choirs and classroom music education programs in underserved neighborhoods of Oakland, California. Under Julie’s leadership, Cantare received the Chorus American Education and Community Engagement Award in 2005 and 2014. In 2008, she founded Nova, Cantare’s citywide choir for 6th to 12th grade students. Julie also served as Director of Music Ministry at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alameda for nine years, directing choral music from diverse traditions. During her tenure, she directed adult and youth choir singers, and the handbell choir.

Raised in Lafayette, California, Julie benefitted from outstanding music education opportunities available at her public schools. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and her Master’s degree in Music Education at Holy Names University in Oakland, specializing in Kodály music education, which favors a child-centric approach to teaching. She previously served as president of the board for the Northern California Association of Kodály Educators and has been a Mentoring Conductor for Distinguished Concerts International in New York’s conducting masterclass series.

Julie is passionate about Cantare’s mission of inclusivity and the power of choral music to bring together people from a variety of backgrounds.