Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course Staff
Our staff is carefully selected to create a professional, positive, and nurturing experience for each girl. Many staff are in residence at the Choir School throughout the course and participate in all aspects of the course (except rehearsals) with the girls, including meals and outings. We strive to build a sense of community among one another, create a high-level musical experience and encourage an environment of kindness.
Course Co-Directors
Claire Griffin
A previous Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course participant and floor leader, Claire is excited to return to the course in a leadership role. She attended the Girl Chorister Course for nine years, and recalls it as the best week of her summers. During the school year, Claire is the School Nurse and one of the Houseparents for Saint Thomas Choir School, where she oversees daily residential life and tends to the emotional, social, and health needs of the choristers. After receiving her B.S. in Nursing from Appalachian State University, she worked as a nurse in both hospital and school environments in North Carolina before moving to New York to pursue her dream of working at STCS.
Claire lives at the Choir School with her two dogs, Ziggy and Buddy, and her husband. In her spare time, Claire enjoys walking in Central Park with her dogs, crocheting, cooking, playing tennis, exploring the city, and playing board games.
Claire’s favorite moment of the course has always been the first rehearsal in the gym, where you can hear the resonance of many voices becoming one and truly feel that you are part of a greater whole. She looks forward to working with the girls and creating the meaningful, transformative experiences that are unique to the Girl Chorister Course.
Margaret White
During the school year, Margaret is a full-time member of Saint Thomas Choir School’s residential faculty, teaching Latin to grades 6-8 and English to grade 5 and serving as Admission Associate. A lifelong New Yorker, Margaret attended the all-girls’ Brearley School for thirteen years and then Princeton University, where she earned her A.B. in English with minors in Theater and American Studies.
She began her career as a substitute teacher in all grades and several subjects at independent schools across Manhattan. After three years teaching middle school Latin and English at Marymount School of New York, she temporarily relocated to Massachusetts to earn her Ed.M. in Learning and Teaching at Harvard University. As a Choir School faculty member, a product of all-girls’ education, and a trained vocal musician herself, she is uniquely positioned to help oversee the next stage of the Girl Chorister Course.
Outside of the classroom, Margaret enjoys reading and writing stories for young people (she also holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults) and spending time with her dog, Blaze. Her other interests include musical theater, baking, board games, and learning new languages.
2025 Guest Music Director - Maxine Thévenot
Canadian-American musician Maxine Thévenot is known for her skillful, musical playing, inventive concert programming, and passionate, informed conducting. She combines a profound commitment to her liturgical work as a cathedral musician with guest conducting, solo and collaborative organ recitals, and thrives on co-creating community experiences.
Canon Maxine Thévenot is director of cathedral music & organist and artistic director of the Friends of Cathedral Music series at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Under her leadership, the cathedral choir and choristers sing services and concerts, have made numerous commercial recordings with RavenCD, and fulfill part of their community outreach mission by undertaking national and international tours. Earlier this month, the cathedral choirs completed a 5-day tour to British Columbia, Canada, singing services, and a concert at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria.
Dr. Thevenot is currently the organ instructor at the University of New Mexico. Previously, she taught music appreciation and music theory and directed the university’s women’s choir, Las Cantantes, for over 15 years. She is the founding & artistic director of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, the state’s first resident professional vocal ensemble.
In demand as a guest conductor and clinician, on June 21, 2026, Maxine will make her Carnegie Hall début conducting a 150-voice chorus and the New England Symphonic Ensemble in the full orchestral version of Maurice Duruflé's Requiem, Opus 9. In 2024, she was the first woman in its 26-year history to lead the Indianapolis Three Choirs Festival. She served as music director for the 2024 RCSM West course and as conductor/co-liturgy planner for the opening service of the 58th annual Association of Anglican Musicians 2024 conference in Minneapolis. In July 2022, Maxine was a co-liturgy planner and was the conductor of the 45-voice choral ensemble, the brass quintet, percussionists, and two guest organists for the National Convention of the AGO in Seattle.
As an organ recitalist, she has performed in concert halls and churches across the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe and in 2024, made her Icelandic début. Her choral and organ recordings appear on the RavenCD label. She is a published composer with Paraclete Press.
A native of Saskatchewan, Canada, Maxine Thévenot received her bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Saskatchewan (with Distinction) and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. She was twice awarded the Bronson Ragan Award at the Manhattan School of Music for ‘outstanding ability in organ performance.’ Maxine is an Associate of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the National College of Music, London, UK in 2006 for her services to music.
2025 Course Staff
Becca Lipsky - Residential Life Coordinator
Returning for her third year with the Girl Chorister Course, Becca is thrilled to be joining this year’s team as Residential Life Coordinator. Becca, a mezzo-soprano, graduates this spring from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA, where she will receive her Bachelors of Music in Education degree in May 2025. During the academic year, Becca sings with the Bucknell University Choir and the Susquehanna Valley Chorale. She also enjoys performing musical theatre and teaches voice and piano lessons for all ages.
Recently, Becca has found a great interest in choral conducting through her time as a student conductor with the Bucknell University Choir. On Sundays, she serves as the Head Choral Scholar at Trinity Episcopal Pro-Cathedral in Williamsport, PA. She conducts anthems and facilitates rehearsals for both ensembles during the week. For the past two summers, she has participated in the Saint Thomas Girl Chorister Course as a Choral Scholar and residential life intern.
When she's not singing or conducting, you can find Becca reading, baking, or trying a new recipe she found online. She looks forward to connecting with the choristers over a shared love of choral music!
Käthe Wright Kaufman - Guest Organist & Music Theory Teacher
Käthe Wright Kaufman is the Associate Director of Music & Organist at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC. Previously, she served as Associate Director of Music and Worship Arts at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church and Chapel Organist at the Candler School of Theology, both on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Käthe completed her master’s degree as a student of David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music, where she also obtained her Bachelor of Music in 2016 after organ studies with William Porter and Edoardo Bellotti. Käthe also spent two gap years in the UK, where she served as Organ Scholar at Truro Cathedral (2016-17) and Peterborough Cathedral (2019-20).
Both a passionate church musician and an active recitalist, Käthe has played in masterclasses and coachings with Ann Elise Smoot, Stephen Farr, and Alan Morrison, among others. She has performed for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Anglican Musicians, the radio program Pipedreams Live!, and in venues such as St. Thomas Church, NYC; Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; Clare College Chapel, Cambridge; the Cathedrals of St. Edmundsbury, Lichfield, Peterborough, and Truro; and St. Michael’s Cornhill, London. She has received several awards, including the Gerald Barnes Award for Excellence in Pipe Organ (2013), the inaugural VanDelinder Prizes in Liturgical Organ Skills (2014 & 2015), and first place in the West Chester University International Organ Competition (2015). Käthe is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists and a published composer with Selah Publishing Company.
