Amy Harrington, director
Beginning her ninth year at McKinney Boyd High School, Mrs. Harrington conducts A Cappella, Bella Voce, and Fusion. She is a product of the tradition of excellence within Texas Choral Music. Growing up in Richardson, Mrs. Harrington was a member of the J.J. Pearce High School choir program and was a former Texas All-State Choir member. At Baylor University, Mrs. Harrington sang under the direction of Dr. Alan Raines, Dr. Lynne Gackle and studied voice with Dr. Jerry Gordon and Dr. Deborah Williamson. Mrs. Harrington graduated Magna Cum Laude from Baylor with a degree in Choral Music Education. Prior to joining the faculty at McKinney Boyd High School, Mrs. Harrington served as assistant choir director at Brandenburg Middle School in the Garland Independent School District.
Additionally, she serves as the Boyd Fine Arts Team Lead, Region 24 Secondary Vocal Chair Elect, TCDA High School Student Leadership Facilitator for DFW, and is on the McKinney Boyd HS Campus Improvement Team.
Mrs. Harrington and her husband, Zane, live in The Colony with their cat, Louis. Mrs. Harrington has performed in a choral setting in both the United States and abroad in such venues as The Vatican, in Italy and Carnegie Hall in New York City. She sings throughout the year with Ladies Liberty Show Troupe and professionally as a Christmas Caroler with Holiday Cheer Entertainment.
email Mrs. Harrington
Jeremy Brown, associate director
Mr. Brown is serving his second year at McKinney Boyd as the associate director of choirs. He conducts Lyric and Meistersingers as well as instructs the AP Music Theory course. Before Boyd, he was the associate director of choirs at Haltom High School in Birdville Independent School District. He is also a product of great choral music, graduating from Duncanville High School and is an alumni of the Texas Tech School of Music. Graduating both Magna Cum Laude.
Mr. Brown is passionate about choral music education and conducting. In 2020 he served as a student conductor for the 2020 Summer TCDA Convention Choral Conducting Workshop. Also, he served as a conducting fellow for the Atlanta Summer Choral Conducting Institute in Summer 2022. Along with conducting, Mr. Brown performs in two choral ensembles in the DFW area- Brothers in Song and Orpheus Chamber Singers.
Mr. Brown is passionate about choral music education and the power it has to change the lives of others. His teaching mantra is “creating good humans while also creating good musicians.”
Luan Ewbank, private voice instructor
Lyric Soprano, Mrs. Ewbank, holds a Church Music Degree with a Vocal Principle from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. She has been actively involved with singing and theatrical presentations since the age of three. She has been fortunate to sing in top college and community choirs, ensembles, as a soloist touring both domestically and internationally, and as a professional demo recording artist. For the past thirty five years, she has worked with children, youth, and adults in various aspects of private coaching and vocal instruction. She and her husband, Kevin, moved to McKinney in 1998 and have two children. She began teaching in the McKinney area in the fall of 1998 and for the past 21 years she has taught within the McKinney Independent School District in both the high school and middle school choral programs. Her students have been successful in obtaining auditions and scholarships to prestigious colleges and universities including Julliard, University of Westminster, Berklee School of Music, OCU, SMU and UNT. She has had students progress in the Young Arts Foundation competition receiving national awards and mainstage performances. She has been proud to have students successfully compete each year in the Solo and Ensemble competitions previously at the state level and now progressing to the MISD’s Honors Recital. She has also had students selected to participate in the Texas All Region Choirs and fifteen years of All State Choir members.
Kendra Herrington, private voice instructor
Mezzo-soprano, Mrs. Herrington, has earned critical acclaim on national and international opera stages. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters of Music in Voice Performance from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. Following her university studies, Ms. Herrington spent two seasons with the Fort Worth Opera Studio and two seasons with the Portland Opera Studio. Other engagements include the Chautauqua Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, San Antonio Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Opera in the Ozarks. Her mainstage credits include Jo March in Little Women, Dido in Dido in Aeneas, Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia, Penelope in The Return of Ulysses, Siebel in Faust, and the Muse / Niklaus in The Tales of Hoffmann. In addition, Ms. Herrington has been a featured soloist with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Bravo! Vancouver Series orchestra, the Opera America New Works Sampler, and the AIMS Festival Orchestra touring Austria in a concert production of Der Rosenkavalier.
In 2007, Kendra and her husband Mark settled in McKinney where she began a voice studio. Her students have consistently earned top prizes at the TMTA State Voice Competition, earned chairs in the Texas All-State Choir and performed on the MISD Vocal Honors Recital. Her students have also received national recognition from the Young Arts Foundation, the Classical Singer Competition, the NATS National Student Auditions, and the MTNA National Voice Competition. Former students are now attending elite university and conservatory programs, such as the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and the Berklee School of Music in Boston with music scholarships. In 2017, Mrs. Herrington was honored to be nominated by the Plano Music Teachers Association as the Outstanding Pre-Collegiate Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas. Kendra and her husband Mark are the proud parents of two children: Avery, 12 and Jack, 9.