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Sarah Montgomery Administrative Assistant Sarah has been the Administrative Assistant at St. Paul's Since 2013. She works behind the scenes to make sure bulletins are printed for Sunday services, updates bulletin boards, and maintains the church's online presence amongst many other administrative tasks. She is a polyamorous Cis Woman who considers herself to be under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. She has 2 kids whom she homeschools. She has a BS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University. When she is not homeschooling, playing with her kids or doing projects around the house she is often working on whatever her current craft hyperfixation is. Her and her family sell these craft projects through their small business Jumbled Chaos Creations |
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Austyn Menk Musician Austyn Vaughn Menk is a pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and educator from Le Center, Minnesota currently based outside of Chicago, Illinois. After completing his B.A. in Music at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, Austyn began studying jazz piano under Reginald Thomas at Northern Illinois University. In May 2023, Austyn completed his Master of Music in Jazz Studies at NIU. While pursuing his master's, Austyn served as a graduate teaching assistant, directing the NIU Jazz Ensemble, coaching a student combo, and teaching group jazz piano. Since June 2023, Austyn has served as Music Admissions Coordinator at NIU, helping students find their path forward in music and facilitating their journey beginning study at the NIU School of Music. Austyn has had the great pleasure of playing with groups including Dave Stamps’ MODx big band, active in the Twin Cities area; the Blueshift Big Band led by Joel Baer and Chris Parsons, active in the Chicago area; and is an active member of IRIS, a collective formed by Arman Sangalang. In July of 2022, IRIS attended the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy after having been selected alongside three other groups from the United States. He intends to expand his career as a performer and educator. In his teaching, Austyn emphasizes playing healthily and mindfully as well as practicing technical exercises creatively and intentionally to inform the mind and music, a combination of approaches inspired by his former instructors Paul Baumgartner, Masayoshi Ishikawa, and Reginald Thomas. |
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