Kirt N. Mosier
is currently in his 23rd year of teaching. In addition to
his duties at Lee's Summit West, Mr. Mosier created the
Entertainment Media Technology Center of Excellence for the
Lee's Summit R-7 School District. Students from multiple
school districts will be able to enroll at the center to
learn how to produce music for today's media
market.
Mr. Mosier is also an adjunct professor for the University
of Missouri at Kansas City where he teaches arranging for
music education and masters degree candidates. Mr. Mosier
holds a BME degree from the University of Missouri at
Kansas City, as well as a Masters of Music in composition
from the same institution.
Mr. Mosier is an active clinician and adjudicator
throughout the Midwest and southern regions of the United
States. Mr. Mosier is also a composer and has had works
featured at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra
Clinic.
Mr. Mosier lives in Lee's Summit with his wife and four
children.
CLIFTON THURMOND, DIRECTOR OF BANDS
Mr. Thurmond was
born in Dallas, TX, but does not claim that state as his
own. He was raised a Californian, a suburbanite from the
Los Angeles metropolitan area. He spent his summers and
weekends at the beach, however, his first time surfing came
on his honeymoon in Maui.
He earned a Bachelor of Music Education from the University
of Colorado, Boulder in 1998 and completed his Master of
Arts at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Mr.
Thurmond is a tuba player, but was wise enough to marry a
better one. He and his wife, Angie, live in Lee's Summit
with their two children, Emory and Miles. He has worked for
the Lee's Summit R-7 School District since 1999.
SHAWN HARREL, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF
BANDS
Mr. Harrel comes
to Lee's Summit West with a B.S. in Music Education from
Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri
State) and a Master of Arts in Jazz Studies, with an
emphasis in arranging and composition, from the University
of North Texas.
While at UNT, Mr. Harrel was a teaching fellow for several
professors in the jazz studies department including Dan
Haerle and Mike Steinel, two leading authors and educators
in jazz. After Dan Haerle's partial retirement in 2002, Mr.
Harrel directed The Zebras, a jazz keyboard ensemble formed
by Mr. Haerle in 1980.
As an arranger, Mr. Harrel writes regularly for high school
bands in Missouri and Kansas and was a staff arranger for
the Missouri State University Pride Marching Band in
addition to being a drum major for four years.
Mr. Harrel teaches jazz band, concert band and IB Music at
Lee's Summit West High School and Entertainment Media
Technology at Summit Technology Academy. He currently lives
in Greenwood with his wife, Jamie, and two sons Evan and
Aaron.
AMY KRINKE, DIRECTOR OF CHORAL
ACTIVITIES
Before coming to
Lee’s Summit West, Mrs. Krinke served as the
Assistant Director of Choirs at Blue Springs High School
and at Truman High School. She also taught K-8 general
music in Albuquerque, NM. She is the former director of the
Young MAIsterSingers Children’s Choir, and has
prepared the MaisterSingers for numerous annual
performances with the Kansas City Symphony.
Over the years, choirs under Mrs. Krinke’s direction
have consistently earned superior ratings in performance
and sight-singing at State Music Festival and were selected
to perform on the Missouri Music Educators Annual
Convention in 2008.
Mrs. Krinke holds a Bachelor of Music Ed. degree from
Wichita State University, where she graduated Magna Cum
Laude in 1999. Mrs. Krinke is currently serving as the
Vice-President for High School Choral Music for the Kansas
City Metro MMEA District, and is the All-District Choir and
All-State Choir Coordinator. She is an active member of
MMEA, MENC, and ACDA and serves as a frequent adjudicator
across Missouri.
RYAN SULLIVAN, CHORAL DIRECTOR
Ryan Sullivan, a
native of St. Louis, is a Choral Director at Lee's Summit
West High School and Lee's Summit High School and has
worked for the R-7 District since 2009. He is also
co-director of the Young MAIstersingers Children's Choir at
the Music-Arts Institute in Independence and prepared them
for their performance at the Grand Opening of the Kauffman
Center for Performing Arts. As a 2009 graduate of UMKC , he
received Bachelor degrees in both Music Education and Vocal
Performance.
Mr. Sullivan has a rich background in choral music and has
sung in ensembles such as Collegium Vocale, the Simon
Carrington Chamber Singers and is a founding member of the
Kansas City Men's Ensemble . Ryan's choral compositions
have been performed by the St. Charles County Youth Choir
and Lee's Summit High School choirs. Mr. Sullivan currently
serves as Youth and Student Repertoire & Standards
Chair for the Missouri Choral Directors Association. He and
his wife Kristen, an actress and voice teacher, live in
Lee's Summit.
TERRIN
PABST, STAFF ACCOMPANIST
After graduating
from Lebanon High School in 1978, Terrin (Gilpin) Pabst
spent three years at Central Christian College of the Bible
in Moberly, MO, then transferred to the University of
Missouri-Columbia. There she completed a Bachelor of
Science degree in Vocal Music Education, K-12, with piano
concentration. Her first position was with the Ft. Zumwalt
School District teaching vocal music at St. Peters
Elementary School.
She then moved to Independence, MO and taught vocal music
at Spring Branch Elementary and Luff Elementary. Her last
year there, she married her husband, Damon Pabst. They went
into the ministry for the next thirteen years, eventually
moving to Texas for eight of those. They have two sons,
Josiah and Gage, both of whom attended LSW High School and
participated in its instrumental music program.
Upon returning to the Kansas City area, Mrs. Pabst accepted
the staff accompanist position in 2004. She continues
giving private piano lessons and thoroughly enjoys her work
at West with both the students as well as the music staff.