Program Director

Rebecca McLaughlin

Rebecca McLaughlin is the first graduate of Brigham Young University’s five-year double major in Elementary Music Education and Classroom Teaching and holds licensure in both areas. She was the first program graduate hired by Provo City School District, where she served as a model teacher in the district’s implementation of Kodály-based music education and school-based children’s choirs. Supported by parents and administrators, her work helped demonstrate the effectiveness of sequential Kodály instruction, contributing to the creation and funding of full-time music specialist positions in every elementary school in the district.

As District-wide Kodály Program Teacher Coach, Rebecca established a district-wide elementary choral festival and developed a collaborative professional learning community for teachers. She has served as President of OAKE-UFOLKS, sang with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, and is currently the owner-director of The Artful Musician Music School.

At InterMuse: Vocal Health, Solfa and Musicianship Level I, Elementary Choral Development Track instructor; Co-Director of InterMuse Choir Camp.

 

Guest Faculty

Judit Walter

Judit Walter graduated from the University of Debrecen with a Bachelor’s degree in elementary school music teaching, solfège teaching, and choral conducting, and later earned a Master’s degree in music theory teaching, solfège teaching, and choral conducting. She has taught secondary school music, solfège, and music theory at the University and Conservatory of Debrecen, contributed to broadcasts for the Debrecen Kodály Philharmonic and Debrecen City Television, and served as assistant conductor of the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir.

She currently serves as Vice President of the Kodály School in Budapest and Co-President of the Hungarian Kodály Society. Her international teaching appointments include pedagogy and solfège instruction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the Waldorf School of Valencia, Spain; and Beijing, China.

At InterMuse: Instructs Levels I, II, III Solfa and Musicianship, Director of the InterMuse Chamber Choir.

 

Faculty

Jessica Heaton

Jessica Heaton holds a Master’s in Music Education from Brigham Young University and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Brigham Young University–Idaho. She has 12 years of experience teaching music to K–12 students, including three years in Winslow, Arizona, where she taught high school, junior high, and elementary choir and orchestra, and nine years as a music specialist in the Provo City School District.

Trained in the Kodály approach, Jessica is Level III Kodály certified through the InterMuse program at BYU and currently serves as President of the Utah Fellowship of Local Kodály Specialists (UFOLKS), an affiliate of the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE). She has received the Winslow Employee of the Month award (2017) and the Provo Way Award (2021), and conducted the Provo Elementary Festival/Honor Choirs in 2019.

At InterMuse: Level I Conducting instructor.

 

Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard

Dr. Jerry L. Jaccard is a BYU School of Music Professor Emeritus and the visionary founder of the BYU InterMuse Academy for Kodály Certification. Having taught vocal-choral-instrumental music in Kindergarten through post-graduate levels, he is also internationally respected as an author, editor, and researcher, and regularly sought after for his music teaching leadership and expertise. Professor Jaccard is President of the International Kodály Society and Executive Editor of the Bulletin of the International Kodály Society. He is the recipient of many teaching awards, and was awarded the 2025 Pro Cultura Hungarica Prize by the Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation. We are blessed to have him continue as our Pedagogy and Music Literature teacher, and as a member of the Elementary Choral Development Track team.

At InterMuse: Pedagogy, Music Literature, and Elementary Choral Development Track instructor.

 

Deanna Lee

Deanna Lee is an award-winning educator recognized by the Tooele County and Provo City School Districts. She was selected as Utah State’s Sorenson Legacy Award Winner—Outstanding Music Educator (2019)—and received the Janis Smart Performing Arts Leadership Award for Lifetime Service. Over nearly 30 years of volunteer and professional work in public schools, Deanna has held a wide variety of musical and educational roles. She served as a music specialist for Utah Festival Opera’s “Opera By Children” program and later facilitated operas in her general education and music classrooms.

As a K–6 music specialist, she conducted choirs, orchestras, and other musical ensembles. Deanna holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Elementary Education and an Administrative Certificate, and she currently serves as Assistant Principal at her school. She also works as a guest lecturer, helping teachers develop effective music instruction for children. 

At InterMuse co-director and manager of The InterMuse Children’s Choir Camp

 

Logan McKinney

Logan McKinney is a graduate of Utah Valley University, where he earned degrees in Music and Philosophy, and holds a Master of Music Education with Kodály Emphasis from the Kodály Center at Holy Names University. With over 20 years of experience in private cello instruction, he continues to contribute to the string community as a conductor, coach, and adjudicator.

After initially teaching at the secondary level, Logan now teaches elementary general music classes in the Provo City School District and directs an elementary choir. He is a past President of the Utah Fellowship of Local Kodály Specialists and serves as a Regional Representative for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Logan has presented at national and international conferences and holds certification levels in Kodály, Orff, Suzuki, Conversational Solfege, and World Music Pedagogy.

At InterMuse: Pedagogy instructor and Chamber Choir Manager.

 

Cynthia Richards

Cynthia Richards brings to InterMuse Academy extensive experience as a professional violinist and studio pedagogue, having maintained a successful private violin studio for over 50 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Violin Performance from Brigham Young University and studied abroad with Franz Samohyl, professor of violin at the Vienna Academy.

Cynthia has taught violin performance and string pedagogy at both Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University, and she served for many years as concertmaster of the Utah Valley Symphony. She developed and co-authored, with Jerry L. Jaccard, the innovative string curriculum The Complete Musician, based on principles developed by Zoltán Kodály. Her work has been featured in American String Teacher.

She is also the mother of eight children, whom she used as “laboratory subjects” for her book How to Get Your Child to Practice Without Resorting to Violence.

At InterMuse: String Pedagogy instructor

 

Matt Thornton

Matt Thornton holds a master’s degree in music education from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Utah State University. He has worked with the Opera by Children program of the Utah Festival Opera, the Cache Children’s Choir and is currently the assistant director for the Heritage Youth Chorus.

Matt earned his Kodály certification through the InterMuse Academy at BYU and is now an instructor at the Academy for the secondary choral track. He is the fine arts department head at American Fork Jr. High where he has taught 7th–9th grade choirs since 2005. Matt has been a clinician at events in Utah and Wyoming and has presented at the national convention for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. He is passionate about the power of music and musical literacy.

At InterMuse: Secondary Pedagogy and Musicianship Track instructor.