Allen Matthews

Artistic Director, Cantate Choir Director
Allen Matthews is Artistic Director of Cache Children’s Choir and also serves as director of the Cantate choir. He is a positive and passionate music educator, choral conductor, arranger, and singer with a varied conducting and teaching experience ranging from elementary to collegiate levels.

Prior to this appointment with Cache Children’s Choir, Allen taught classes and directed choirs at the Logan Institute of Religion at Utah State University. He has also directed choirs at the Orem Institute of Religion at Utah Valley University, served as the Artistic Director of the BYU Jazz Voices in Provo, Utah and as an assistant director of the Utah Valley Children’s Choir.

Allen holds degrees from the University of Northern Colorado in Choral Music Education (B.M.E), K-12 Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (M.A.), and an Educational Specialist Degree (ED.S) in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Arts Administration.

When not directing choirs, he enjoys learning and teaching, playing the piano, listening to music, and playing basketball and golf! He delights in spending time with his wife, Tara, and children Miles, Quincy, Porter, and Ella. They and their wonder-puppy named Roxie are residents of North Logan, Utah.

Jerry Vander Does

Assistant Artistic Director
Jerry Vander Does is a retired high school music educator of 38 years. After retiring, he moved from Parker, Colorado to Cache Valley. Jerry has a BM in Vocal Music Education and an MFA in Theatre Directing, both from the University of Utah.

While under Jerry’s direction, in 2006, the Chaparral Jazz Choir was selected to perform for the Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA), and in 2008, the Chaparral HS Concert Choir was selected to be a featured solo group at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Jerry has taken groups to perform in Paris, France; New York City; Hawaii; Salzburg, Austria; and China. In addition to teaching high school choir, he has taught numerous musical theater classes. Jerry was awarded Colorado Teacher of the Year in 1996 (Cherry Creek School District). He also served as director of the Colorado Mormon Chorale for 4 years.

Jerry loves Musical Theater and has both directed and played various roles in numerous productions throughout his life. He is a composer and has written 2 musicals, a Christmas Cantata and numerous choral pieces with lyricist, Richard Lindahl, and script writer, Brianna Lindahl. In 2005, their musical, Puck’s Potion, was selected to be performed at the International Thespian Conference in Lincoln Nebraska by Chaparral High School Theatre Department.

Jerry is currently director of the Cache Valley Men’s Chorus and is also a member of The American Festival Chorus. He teaches private vocal and piano lessons.

Jerry loves to cook, bake and decorate cakes. Jerry and his wife have four children and four grandchildren. He loves Cache Valley and the people here. Jerry says, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the talented staff of Cache Children’s Choir.”

Martha Rawlings

Chorale Choir Director (grades 4 and up)
Martha Rawlings was forced to take violin and piano lessons as a child. At the age of 11, her parents informed her that she would have to choose an additional instrument for the family bluegrass band they were organizing. Her siblings picked all the cool instruments. Since she didn’t want to play the spoons or the washboard, she was stuck with guitar. In her youth, the amount of effort Martha spent to get out of practicing was significant. But whenever it came to singing, she was ready and willing. Eventually, singing and bluegrass guitar gave her opportunities to perform and garner the attention she craved as a middle child.

 Martha spent most of college at Utah State University studying music and theater but, as life often does, there were detours along the way and she ended up graduating from Brigham Young University with a BA in History and a minor in Music. However, most of her adult life has been spent learning, teaching, and participating in music, especially vocal music.  Martha sang with Valley Voices, Riversong Chancel Singers, and Theatre West (all in Nebraska). When her youngest child went to kindergarten, she went back to school for her music endorsement and teaching certificate. She was an adjunct voice teacher at Western Nebraska Community College as well as maintaining a private studio. Martha has a master’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She taught K-12 music in Nebraska before relocating to Utah in 2021. 

 Since moving to Logan, Martha has been singing with the American Festival Chorus, substitute teaching and providing private vocal instruction. She lives with her unicycle-riding and drum-playing husband. They have six children, three of whom have been launched into adulthood but haven’t landed yet. The other three attend Logan City Schools. And just like her parents did to her, she makes them all take piano lessons and play other instruments. And best of all, she makes them sing!

Melissa Pettit

Cadet Choir Director (grades 2-3)
Melissa Pettit is thrilled to join Cache Children’s Choir as the Cadet Choir Director, bringing her passion for music education to second and third graders. With extensive vocal training from Idaho State University, Melissa fell in love with the choir community and the art of teaching music. This led her to direct a variety of children's musical groups, from traditional choirs to modern bands.

After taking time to raise her three children and explore teaching and performance outside of college, Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree in general studies from California State University, Bakersfield. She is a licensed teacher who currently teaches at Summit Elementary in Smithfield, where she enjoys playing guitar and singing with her students.

Melissa is excited to put her experience and endorsements in music education to good use. Her goal is to make Cadet Choir an adventure, using games and exploration to teach fundamental singing skills. She hopes to cultivate a choir where every student can share and grow their unique voice, building skills and memories that will last a lifetime.

Outside of teaching, Melissa loves playing guitar and singing with her family in their home in Cache Valley. The Pettits enjoy participating in many local activities, including their family favorite—disc golf. 

Erika Andrus

Caprice Choir Director (grades K-1)
Erika Andrus holds a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in piano from Utah State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Westminster University. She received her Dalcroze Professional Certificate from The Dalcroze School of Music and Movement, as well as her level 1 Orff-Schulwerk Teacher Training from Orff-Schulwerk in the Mountains. Erika has been an elementary music teacher for four years and currently teaches music at Providence Elementary. She has also taught private piano lessons for 12 years. Erika is passionate about helping kids build self-esteem, camaraderie, and creativity through music.

Outside of music, she also loves teaching tumbling and going on walks with her dog and husband, Kyle.

Ewa Wilczynski

Cadenza Choir Director (PreK ages 4-5)
Ewa Wilczynski has a master’s degree in music education from Marie Curie University in Poland. She has obtained Orff-Schulwerk Teachers Training Certification Levels 1-3 from Utah State University and completed the International Summer Course in 2014 at the Carl Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. In 2017, Ewa completed the Early Childhood Music Professional Development Course Level 1 at the Gordon Institute for Music Learning at Temple University.

Ewa is an experienced preschool music teacher and has also taught flute, piano, and music theory for over thirty years in Poland, New Jersey and Utah. She is currently on the faculty of the USU Youth Conservatory, Cache Children’s Choir and teaches music at the Stokes Nature Center Preschool. She also offers private lessons in her studio. Ewa has presented at the Utah Early Childhood Conference, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, and the Utah Chapter of American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She was a founder of the program "Music for the Small and Tall" where she taught early childhood music and movement classes, 2008-2023. In March 2016, along with Leslie Timmons, Ewa co-founded the Music Box Concert Series, providing free concerts for children and accompanying adults.

Ewa is a member of the Music Teachers National Association. She serves on the boards of the Utah Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and the Chamber Music Society of Logan. She also served on the board of the Utah Flute Association, 2005-2008.

Leslie Timmons

Orff-Schulwerk Specialist
Leslie Timmons is Professor Emeritus, Music Department, Utah State University, where she was responsible for the flute studio and elementary music education. She is flutist with American Festival Chorus Orchestra, Logan Canyon Winds, and duo with clarinetist Nicholas Morrison. She has been the Orff Specialist with Cache Children’s Choir since 1991.

Leslie has served as clinician with the Utah Arts Council, Utah State Office of Education, and the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program.  She directs national certification courses in Orff-Schulwerk at USU each summer and is a clinician for workshops across the country.

Her degrees in music education and flute performance are from Michigan State University. She was awarded a Fulbright grant for post-graduate study at the Orff Institute/Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and was active in establishing the first Utah Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She has served on the national boards of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and the American Recorder Society. Leslie has been honored as Utah Music Educators Association’s "Outstanding Music Educator” and “Outstanding Elementary Educator”, inducted into the Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA) Hall of Fame on February 4, 2022, and was awarded the Sorenson Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Arts Education in May 2025.

Julianne Larson

Horrigan Scholar
Julianne Larson is currently a senior at Utah State University studying Music Education with a Choral Emphasis. She is a lover of all things music but especially loves choir, musical theater, and opera. Julianne has been singing as long as she can remember and playing piano for nearly as long. In addition to music, she enjoys painting, reading, and going on long walks. After she graduates, Julianne aspires to teach elementary school music.

Millie Camire

Masters Student Intern
Millie Camire teaches Private Organ Instruction at USU along with maintaining an active studio of her own. When not teaching on campus, Millie works with Anderson Organ Works helping to install, tune, maintain, and refurbish electronic and pipe organs, as well as provide training workshops throughout several of the western states.

Millie is also currently a student in the Masters in Choral Conducting program under the direction of Dr. Craig Jessop at USU.

Jan Jenkins

Administrative Director
Jan Jenkins grew up in a home filled with music. She has played the piano most of her life and regularly accompanies both vocalists and instrumentalists. She also studied organ with Dr. James Drake while at USU and regularly accompanies congregations.

Jan holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics and M.S. in Industrial Mathematics from Utah State University, a Chorus Management Certification through Chorus America’s Chorus Management Institute and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration through Southern Utah University. Jan brings an in-depth knowledge of nonprofits to the choir through more than 15 years serving on local, council, and region PTA boards.

Jan and her husband, Todd, are the parents of four children. She loves to read, gardens extensively, and is always interested in a new project.