Music Staff
Dr. Carlton Monroe – Director of Music
Dr. Monroe is Director of Music at St. Thomas where, in addition to directing three choirs, he established and leads the St. Thomas Bach Vespers, a monthly service featuring the Cantatas of J. S. Bach. In 2011 he served as Artistic Director for the Bach Cantata Program at the acclaimed vocal music festival, SongFest. He is Co-artistic Director of The Windrush Ensemble, a professional choir based in Cincinnati.
As a conductor and music educator he has taught at every level from elementary to college, including positions at Ursuline Academy and Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Miami University (OH), and Director of Choral Activities at Georgia College & State University. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he directed the University of Cincinnati Men’s Chorus. He worked as a conductor and teacher at the Megamusik Musikschule in Freilassing, Germany, and studied with Helmuth Rilling as a Conducting Participant in the 2000 Oregon Bach Festival. As a singer he has sung locally with the Vocal Arts Ensemble and the May Festival Chorus. He currently lives in Cincinnati with his wife Jennifer, contrabassoonist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and their children Jack and Catherine.
Jason Gunnell – Organist
Jason Gunnell comes to the Cincinnati area to begin a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Organ Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music studying with Dr. Roberta Gary. A native of Idaho, Jason received his Bachelor of Musical Arts at Brigham Young University-Idaho, studying with Dr. Daniel Kerr, and recently completed his Master of Music in Organ Performance and Church Music from the University of Kansas, studying with James Higdon. While at BYU-Idaho, Jason taught courses in Music Theory and Organ Lessons. Jason has performed in masterclasses with organists of renown such as Ken Cowan, Paul Jacobs, Fred Swann, Clay Christiansen, and Richard Elliott. Jason recently won the 2011 Strader International Organ Competition held in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jason comes to Cincinnati with his family, as he is happily married to his wife, Kate. They are the parents of two young boys, Grant who will be three in September, and Mitch, who is 15 months old. They are also expecting their third boy in early October.
Jason has extensive experience as a church musician and organist. Before being appoint organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio, Jason was organist at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and also served as organist at First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Jason also actively serves in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many music capacities and has served in the LDS church in music capacities for over 23 years.
Jason has played in and performed in many venues throughout the United States and Hungary. Noted venues include Walt Disney Concert Hall, Vác Cathedral, Eger Basilica, and the Bales Recital Hall. Jason actively recitals in the famed Mormon Tabernacle and the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah as a Guest Organist at Temple Square, playing on the world famous V/206 Aeolian Skinner Organ in the Mormon Tabernacle and the V/130 Schoenstein Organ in the Conference Center.
Choral Scholars
Alisa Jordheim – soprano
Sarah Jackson – mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Kendall Jackson has been a featured soloist for several concerts in the Cincinnati area. In addition, to her work at St. Thomas, she has been section leader and alto soloist at Covenant First Presbyterian Church and Christ Church Cathedral, both in Cincinnati. Her solo work has been heard beyond Cincinnati in West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky and Toronto, Canada. Most recently, Ms. Jackson was the soloist in Mendelssohn’s Drei Geistliche Lieder with Musica Sacra in Cincinnati and gave a recital at Christ Church Cathedral featuring the works of Bach and Handel. She is also an accomplished recorder player. Ms. Jackson began her singing career in Salzburg, Austria before moving on to study with Patricia Berlin at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. She holds a Master of Arts in Education from Ashford University in Iowa. Ms. Jackson is a former United Airlines pilot and is a German and Earth Sciences teacher. She resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and their combined 7 children.
Kate Tombaugh – alto
Dashiell Waterbury – tenor
Chris Scott – tenor
Emmett O’Hanlon – baritone
Other Music Staff and Volunteers
Sarah Elin, Sarah Jackson – VOICE FOR LIFE Instructors
Rosemary Ritter – Principal Substitute Organist
Pat Matchette – Senior Singers Director
Michael Winland – St. Thomas Brass Director
Sarah Elin, Brian Rau, Dale Smotherman – Taize musicians
