Jason Strunk

Artistic Director

Praised for his expressive interpretations, imaginative programming, and commitment to storytelling through music, Jason Strunk is a conductor, educator, and artistic leader redefining the role of professional choral music in rural America. A simple belief guides his work: music has the power to help us understand one another more deeply. Through performances that unite exceptional artistry with compelling storytelling, he creates experiences that invite audiences not only to hear beautiful music, but also to engage with the ideas, histories, and people behind it.

Dr. Strunk serves as Director of Choral Activities at Shepherd University, where he leads the university's choral program and teaches conducting, choral pedagogy, and music history. His teaching is grounded in the conviction that technical excellence and artistic curiosity are inseparable, and that the rehearsal room should cultivate not only accomplished performers but thoughtful collaborators.

He is the founding Artistic Director of Renatum, West Virginia's only professional chamber choir. Founded in 2022, Renatum grew from a desire to rebuild human connection through music following the isolation of the pandemic. Under Strunk's leadership, the ensemble has earned recognition for innovative programming that explores shared human experiences. Bringing together professional singers from across the region and the nation, Renatum demonstrates that world-class artistry can flourish in rural America while creating meaningful dialogue through music.

Before devoting his career fully to conducting and higher education, Dr. Strunk enjoyed an active career as a professional singer and performer. He worked with Broadway artists Brad Oscar, Linda Eder, and Liz Callaway, appeared in projects involving filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, and performed with internationally acclaimed tenor Andrea Bocelli. 

His scholarly interests focus on the emerging art form of choral theater and the role of storytelling in the choral arts. His doctoral research at the University of Miami examined Leonard Bernstein's A White House Cantata, exploring the intersections of music, politics, and historical memory. That scholarship continues to inform his programming, particularly projects that examine overlooked histories, amplify diverse voices, and explore how choral music can contribute to civic dialogue.

Maria Watson

Stage Director

Maria Watson is a director, choreographer, educator, and theater artist with a career spanning professional, educational, and community theater. She served as Co-Artistic Director and co-founder of the Mohawk Theater Guild and as Artistic Director of Millbrook Playhouse, where she produced, directed, and choreographed a wide range of plays and musicals while championing the development of new works by regional playwrights.

Over the course of her career, Maria has directed and choreographed more than 100 productions, from professional theater and community companies to acclaimed high school programs. Her work is recognized for its collaborative spirit, imaginative storytelling, and commitment to developing artists of all ages.

In addition to her stage work, Maria served as co-producer and featured performer for a nationally broadcast radio variety show recorded at the Clark Art Institute and aired on National Public Radio, bringing live performance to audiences across the country.

Maria is currently on the faculty of Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C., where she teaches acting and serves as the founder and Artistic Director of the GDS Theater Lab. Through the Theater Lab, she has created an innovative performance series dedicated to producing intimate works by women playwrights, giving students the opportunity to engage deeply with contemporary voices and meaningful stories.

Maria is delighted to collaborate once again with Jason Strunk on The Witness, bringing together their shared passion for compelling storytelling and transformative performance.

Thomas LaVoy

Composer

Thomas LaVoy is an award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work centers on the expressive power of the human voice. Celebrated for music that unites emotional depth with refined craftsmanship, he reflects a deep commitment to the relationship between text and sound. His distinctive musical voice is shaped by an extensive performance career as a choral artist, pianist, percussionist, and singer-songwriter.

LaVoy earned his bachelor's degree from Westminster Choir College and his Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, where he served as a choral scholar with the Chapel Choir of King's College. His choral works have been commissioned and performed by ensembles throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Recent commissions include water psalms for the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union's 400th anniversary celebration of Greyfriars Kirk, I Am: The Song of Amergin for the National Youth Choirs of Northern Ireland, and Your Name Falls Like Rain for the Dallas Chamber Choir. He has also served as composer-in-residence for numerous ensembles and has twice been a guest composer at the Choral Institute at Oxford.

A recurring theme throughout LaVoy's work is the exploration of history through music. His compositions frequently draw on firsthand accounts and historical narratives, including A Child's Requiem, commemorating the Italian Hall disaster; a work based on World War I prisoner-of-war diaries; settings of Civil War texts; and In Heaven, Hereafter, inspired by the life of Martha's Vineyard folk figure Nancy Luce. This fascination with lived history continues in The Witness: Incidents of the War of the Rebellion, which transforms the memoir of Civil War soldier James Waxler into a compelling work of choral theater.

LaVoy is Composer-in-Residence and a founding member of The Same Stream, a professional choir based in Philadelphia. His music is published primarily by GIA Publications, with additional works available through Walton Music, G. Schirmer, and Hewitt Hill Music.

Sean Watkinson

James Waxler

Sean Watkinson  is a New York City-based actor and creative artist whose work spans Broadway, national tours, and leading regional theaters. His select credits include Broadway's A Beautiful Noise, the National Tour of the Tony Award-winning Hadestown, Working Girl at La Jolla Playhouse, Jesus Christ Superstar at Asolo Repertory Theater, Spring Awakening at Round House Theater, Rent and Billy Elliot at Signature Theater, and Newsies at Lyric Theater of Oklahoma.

Brittany Chanell Johnson

Mezzo-soprano

Brittany Chanell Johnson  is a Washington, DC-based singer, music director, educator, and conductor. She holds degrees in Music Education from Furman University and Vocal Performance from Florida State University. Her work spans opera, musical theater, gospel, jazz, and contemporary commercial music. She is the founder of OnStage Performing Arts Collective and has served on the Musical Theater Faculty at Howard University, where she made history as the first female music director of a production of Pippin. Johnson has also appeared as a guest conductor for PBS's Black Broadway: A Proud History, A Limitless Future. She is a frequent collaborator with Luke Frazier and the American Pops Orchestra.