Staff
Amy Touchstone, Executive Director, Conductor
Amy Touchstone, a native of Fredericksburg, VA, received her Bachelors of Music Education, Vocal Emphasis from Mississippi College. She is married to Dr. Jantsen Touchstone, the choral director at Desoto Central High School. They live in Olive Branch with their son, Liam, and their two Boston Terriers, Ollie and Thea.
Before becoming Executive Director of CoroRio and the MidSouth Music Institute, Mrs. Touchstone taught choral music in the traditional classroom setting for nine and a half years at Hernando Middle School (Hernando, MS), Hernando High School (Hernando, MS), Madison Ridgeland Academy (Madison, MS) and Blythewood Middle School (Blythewood, SC). Choirs under her direction have received Excellent and Superior ratings at festivals and competitions, earning Grand Champion titles. She is a Mississippi College Presser Scholar, a member of the National Association for Music Educators and the American Choral Directors Association, and avid performer. Her favorite roles include "Mother" in Ragtime and "Cherubino" in Le Nozze di Figaro. She currently sings with the Mississippi River Chorale in northwest Mississippi.
During her time in South Carolina, Mrs. Touchstone was a member of Limited Time Only (LTO), a chamber choir of music educators in the South Carolina Midlands. With LTO, Mrs. Touchstone traveled to Taiwan in July of 2019 on a performance tour and served as the Children's Choir director for the Voice of the Light Festival in Tainan, Taiwan.
Mrs. Touchstone is a member of the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). She serves on the leadership team for Facets, a Leadership Retreat for Women Conductors. She has also served the Mississippi Chapter of ACDA as a Summer Conference Conductor (June 2022). She also served as Operations Assistant to CoroRio during their 10th Season.
In addition to her administrative duties with CoroRio, Mrs. Touchstone conducts CoroCorriente, CoroArroyo, and teaches a First Steps in Music class.
Dr. Libby Hearn, Conductor
Elizabeth (Libby) Hearn is Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) where she conducts the Women’s Glee ensemble and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral music education and conducting.
Prior to joining the faculty at Ole Miss, Dr. Hearn received a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Alabama where she served as assistant conductor of the UA Women’s Chorus. She also taught classes in music education, choral methods, and she facilitated the Chamber Choir.
Dr. Hearn is an active conductor, presenter, clinician, and adjudicator. She has presented her research at national, regional, and state conferences and recently conducted the UA Women’s Chorus at the Alabama Music Educators Association conference. Her research interests include assessment in the music classroom, singing accuracy, ensemble identity, ACDA history, and job mobility in music education. Her most notable accomplishment is being Mom to Catherine (9) and Andrew (5).
Dale Beech, Conductor
Mr. Dale Beech received an A.A. from Pearl River Community College (2011), a B.M.E. from the University of Southern Mississippi (2013), a M.M. in Choral Conducting from the University of Mississippi (2016), and his NBCT certification in Early Adolescence Through Young Adulthood in Music (2021).
Mr. Beech began his teaching career in 2016 at Starkville High School as assistant choral director. In 2017 he was offered a job at Hernando High School. At Hernando he co-teaches middle and high school ensembles. Between he and his colleague, they have 5 (middle school), 5 (high school), Dual credit music appreciation, and Tri-M Music Honor Society. Their ensembles consistently earn superior ratings at choral festivals and competitions. Mr. Beech has been serving MS ACDA since 2020 as one of the high school All-State Honor Choir coordinators. He also regularly serves as a clinical instructor for Student Teaching Interns.
Kathrine Gaines, Conductor
Kathrine Gaines graduated magna cum laude from the University of Mississippi in 2021, where she received her B.M.E. in Vocal Music Education. During her time at the University of Mississippi, she was a
member of the Ole Miss Concert Singers, Women’s Glee, and University Singers. She also served as the appointed secretary for the University of Mississippi student chapter of ACDA.
Kathrine has served as the music director at Camp BOLD, a summer camp for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the summers of 2021 and 2022. While working for this organization, Kathrine aided in developing oral, motor, and social skills through a wide-range of musical activities.
Kathrine has worked with CoroNino as a student intern from 2020-2021. During her time in this position, she worked alongside Joelle Norris to assist in teaching rehearsals and preparing students for
performances.
Kathrine is currently in her second year as the music teacher at Horn Lake Intermediate School, where she teaches general music classes and has developed an after-school choral program with students in grades 3-5.
Kathrine is passionate about providing all children, regardless of race, background, or socio-economic status, with a music education. She believes that a music education provides a multitude of experiences that are necessary for children to grow into well-rounded and considerate adults who play a functioning role in society.
Kathrine is married to Joseph Gaines, who is the Director of Choral Activities at Lewisburg Middle School. They currently reside in Olive Branch, MS. Both Kathrine and Joseph are active members of the Mississippi River Chorale.
Jennifer Rushton, Accompanist
Jennifer Rushton began accompanying choirs over 35 years ago
at the early age of 15 for her home church in Memphis,
Tennessee. For over 25 years she has served on staff at
Carriage Hills and Desoto Hills Baptist Church as keyboardist and
Music Associate. Her choral accompaniment role expanded in
2007 when she played for her first high school choir under the
direction of Joelle Norris. Since then she has accompanied
several middle and high school choirs in the Desoto County, MS
area. Jennifer is also the accompanist for Northwest Community College Choirs and community choirs
CoroRio, Mississippi River Choral and Ictus. Since 2001 she has
accompanied numerous musical theatre productions at Desoto
Family Theater and other local playhouses.
Katie Brown, First Steps Instructor
Katie Brown graduated from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Minor in Piano Pedagogy in 2019. Her collegiate choral achievements include touring the country and China as a member of the Westminster Choir and Kantorei as well as performing with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra with the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Katie was also a resident chorister at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC with the Westminster Choir in 2018 and 2019. While studying at WCC, she interned at a non-profit in Princeton.
Katie is the First Steps Music Instructor. She has a private piano and voice studio in Hernando, MS and she is a member of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Memphis Symphony Chorus, and Mississippi River Chorale.
Joelle Norris, Founder
Joelle and her husband, J. Reese Norris, co-founded the MidSouth Music Institute, Inc. in 2012 through a desire to enrich the musical experiences of young singers in the area and to broaden the cultural fabric of the community. CoroRio was the initial arm of the MidSouth Music Institute, with four choirs for students in grades 1-12. Since then, MMI has expanded to include an adult choir, the Mississippi River Chorale, and most recently, a First Steps in Music program for preschool children. CoroRio has performed at notable venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, and the Normandy American Cemetery.
Prior to her work with MMI, Joelle directed choirs at Olean High School in New York and Olive Branch High School in Mississippi, where she was honored as a STAR teacher. During her tenure at Olive Branch High School, Norris’s choirs received numerous awards and honors, most notably giving invitational performances at the American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Conference and the Mississippi ACDA Conference.
A hallmark of Joelle’s teaching is her dedication to meeting the needs and valuing the contribution of each individual singer with which she works, regardless of skill level or experience. She is passionate about working with treble-voice choirs of all abilities and ages. Norris was a contributing author for Debra Spurgeon’s book, Conducting Women’s Choirs: Strategies for Success, in which her chapter focused on singer development in the introductory-level soprano-alto chorus. She had the privilege of serving as MS-ACDA R&R Chair for SSAA Choirs where she coordinated the first Mississippi All-State SSAA Choir, and also served as a coordinator for the ACDA Southern Division SSAA Honor Choir. Norris has also served as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous treble and soprano-alto festival choruses across the southeast, including conducting all-state choirs in South Carolina and Kentucky.
As a strong proponent of music literacy education and team building in the choral rehearsal, Joelle has given many presentations and workshops on these topics. She developed the Bluff City Choral Festival, an annual event hosted by the MidSouth Music Institute that combines opportunities for performance, clinics, team building, and community service for middle and high school choirs. With a fervor for building and facilitating a healthy, collegial local choral community, Joelle regularly creates innovative workshops for music educators to learn new ideas and to be rejuvenated through the fellowship and encouragement that these experiences bring. Furthermore, mentoring young teachers has been a constant throughout her career, and she and her husband also host “Fellowship Fridays” in their home to provide additional support and networking opportunities for local choral music educators.
Joelle graduated summa cum laude with a BME from Roberts Wesleyan College and a MME from Florida State University. She currently works from home where she cares for her three children: Isabelle, Juliette, and Weston.
Mrs. Norris currently teaches First Steps in Music classes and conducts CoroNino and CoroCorriente.
J. Reese Norris, Founder
J Reese Norris (b.1973) is Director of Choral Studies at Northwest Mississippi Community College and is co-founder, co-artistic director of CoroRio. Reese received degrees from Delta State University and Florida State University, and in 2005 was named Delta State University Music Alumnus of the year.
Reese has served in several leadership capacities for state-level NAfME and ACDA, and at the division level for ACDA. While he was the choir director at Hernando Middle School, his choirs performed in Carnegie Hall, at the National Conference for Middle School Choirs, twice for Mississippi ACDA's State Conference, twice for ACDA's Southern Division Conference, and at the 2018 OAKE National Conference in Oklahoma City.
He has been honored to serve as guest clinician and adjudicator across the Southeast. Reese's compositions and arrangements are published by Lawson-Gould, Santa Barbara, Colla Voce, G. Schirmer and MusicSpoke. He serves as co-conductor for CoroRio and as the conductor for the Mississippi River Chorale.