Archdiocese of Cincinnati's

A Music Ministry Experience for Young People in Grades 8-12

Mouseover a staff member for a short biography

Brian

Jeremy

Karen

Bob

Emily

Noelle

Brian Bisig is the Director of Music and Worship at St. Michael Church in Sharonville, Ohio, where he has served since 1996. He serves on the National Council of NPM and assists on various projects in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Brian also teaches private piano, organ and voice lessons and composes liturgical music for the church. He particularly enjoys teaching and working with young musicians. Brian and his wife, Jen, live in Sharonville with their two daughters, Julia and Rachael.

Jeremy Helmes currently works as a campus minister for the University of Dayton, working in the area of Liturgy. He has served as Director of Liturgy & Music for a number of parishes in the archdiocese. Jeremy is the former chair of the Archdiocesan Worship Commission, having served on its subcommittee on Music. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the Director of Music Ministries Division of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He is a clinician/presenter for workshops on liturgy and liturgical music locally and beyond.  Jeremy is currently pursuing an MA in Theological Studies with a concentration in Liturgy.  He lives in Sharonville with his wife, Karen, and their toddler son, Nathan.

Karen Kane has been the Director of the Worship Office for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati since June of 2003, when she became the first lay person to head the office. Karen previously served as the Assoc. Director for several years. She holds a Master’s in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame and a B.A. in Church Music from the College of St. Teresa, Winona, MN.  Karen is a local and national speaker on liturgy and the RCIA. Before arriving in Cincinnati, Karen lived in Albuquerque, NM where she was a parish musician and liturgist.   After several years of serving in parish music ministry, she taught sacramental theology at a high school and directed the high school choir. Karen is the proud mom of two teenage girls who are very involved in theatrical productions in their high school/middle school in Cincinnati.

Bob Wurzelbacher is the Assoc. Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and also shares the position of music director at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Greenhills. Prior to that he served as Director of Youth Ministry at St. Gertrude Parish in Madeira for four years. He holds a Masters Degree in pastoral ministry from the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. His musical accomplishments include directing a youth choir and ensemble for three years in San Antonio, TX, as well as a contemporary campus ministry choir in Austin for three years. He was also fortunate to be chosen as part of a military choir in Lourdes, France while serving in the US Army, and to direct an ensemble during World Youth Day in Toronto, CA.  He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Cindy, and infant daughter, Ellie.

Emily Strand is Campus Minister for Liturgies at the University of Dayton. There she coordinates campus liturgies and provides catechetical programs and opportunities for students who serve as liturgical ministers. She also serves as a cantor for the University community and adjunct professor for the Religious Studies department. Emily has a B.A. in theology from the University of Evansville and an M.A. in theological studies with a concentration in liturgy from the University of Dayton. She serves on the Archdiocesan Music Ministry committee, and participates in Prison Ministry at Lebanon Correctional Institute. Emily is also a pop-folk songwriter, recording artist and performer who, in 2004, was awarded a John Lennon International Songwriting competition Grand Prize for her song “Lou”. In her spare time she enjoys reading, playing music and spending time with husband Matt.

Michael Dailey currently serves as Pastoral Musician at St. John the Evangelist Church in West Chester, where he oversees an active music ministry with three choirs, a parish orchestra, and a hand bell choir. He is also a composer of liturgical and choral music, and his works have had premiers in churches throughout the United States, Great Britain and France. Michael has served as a board member of the National Pastoral Musicians Cincinnati Chapter, and is a member of the Archdiocesan Music Committee. He grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah before moving to Washington State to earn an organ performance degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, where he also served as accompanist to the school's Choir of the West on concert tours and recordings. He has served as an organist and choirmaster in Catholic and Lutheran churches in Utah, Washington State and Ohio. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, working out, singing in the Athenaeum Chorale and reading.

Noelle Collis-DeVito currently serves as the Coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Centerville where she is going into her third year.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Dayton, and hopes to pursue a Masters in Pastoral Ministry in the near future. She has been involved in liturgical ministry since her high school days, and was a member of the Jubilee Singers from 2005 - 2008.  Noelle lives in Centerville with her husband, Andy, and her two year old daughter, Ava Marie. She is incredibly excited to be a part of the Laudate Team this year and is looking forward to helping young people better understand the significance of Liturgy.

Doug's bio