Board of Directors

Michael Smith (President) is the Minister of Music at St. Thomas’ Church, Whitemarsh, located outside of Philadelphia, PA., where he oversees a semi-professional adult choir and a chorister program. Prior to this appointment, he served as Chair of Performing Arts at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, where he oversaw all aspects of the PreK-12 Music and Theater programs while serving concurrently as Organist/Choirmaster at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont.  Before moving to the Philadelphia area, he served as Director of Music at Groton School, where he held the Pratt Endowed Chair of Music. Michael earned his undergraduate degree in organ performance at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He went on to earn graduate degrees in organ and conducting at Yale University, where he served as graduate assistant conductor of the Glee Club. He has performed recitals and accompanied and conducted choirs internationally, and currently serves on the boards of the Yale Glee Club and the Royal School of Church Music in America.

Amy Crawford has, for the last 20 years, worked at the intersection of ministry, consulting,  and psychology. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical and Counseling Psychology with a concentration in pastoral counseling. Amy has worked as a trauma and pastoral therapist for youth and young adults; worked as Associate Pastor of Spiritual Care and Counseling at Liquid Church where she built out programming and ministered to the congregation and surrounding community; has done extensive organizational psychology consulting with start-up organizations where she consulted for company culture; and she currently consults and teaches on neurodiversity in ministry to various organizations, including seminaries and para-church organizations. She is in the process of becoming ordained in The Episcopal Church and receiving a M.Div from General Theological Seminary. She is also the Director of the General Prison Project, an organization that reaches out to incarcerated individuals and provides pastoral care through letters and other communications. Amy was formerly a classically trained pianist and vocalist, and has performed extensively as well as conducted children and youth choirs.

Brent Erstad (Representative to the Summer Choral Residency Committee) serves as Director of Music and Organist at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. where he conducts the fully professional St. John’s Choir, a robust volunteer Parish Choir program, and the children’s Choristers. He previously held positions as Director of Choral Music at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and on the faculty of St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH.  Before moving to Washington DC, Brent served as co-manager of the RSCM training course in Newport, Rhode Island. Brent holds his undergraduate degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and graduate degrees in sacred music and education respectively from Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania.   

Stephen Gibson (Treasurer) is a retired lawyer. He graduated from the University of Iowa and Harvard Law School, after which he practiced international trade law in Washington, DC for 40 years. He has served as volunteer treasurer for a number of non-profit entities, including his local parish, as well as serving two terms as Chair of the Finance Committee of the Diocese of Washington.

Arreon A. Harley-Emerson is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. Committed to the principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), Mr. Harley-Emerson has established a thriving consultancy, Equity Sings, to assist arts and culture nonprofit organizations in remaining relevant in the 21st century. His work includes longitudinal studies, strategic planning, Board Excellence training, resource and asset development, and board diversification. Mr. Harley-Emerson currently serves as the National Chair of the American Choral Directors Association's Diversity Initiatives Committee. An active member of the Wilmington, Delaware community, Mr. Harley-Emerson is on the Delaware Arts Alliance’s Board of Directors, where he serves as President of the Board and chairs the Advancement Committee which is tasked with fundraising, membership development, and DEIB.

Katelyn MacDonald (ex-officio) serves in a dual role as staff specialist for both RSCM America and Duke University Chapel. She joined RSCM America in August 2021 after graduating from Duke Divinity School with her Master of Divinity. While at Duke, Katelyn was a part of the Theology and the Arts Certificate program, and wrote several musical works that brought together the saxophone (her primary instrument) with her love of theology. Prior to moving to Durham, she served as choir and handbell director for several churches in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Katelyn received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Western Kentucky University in 2013, where she studied saxophone under John Cipolla, and composition with Michael Kallstrom. She is a certified candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church. In her free time, Katelyn enjoys listening to audiobooks, brewing coffee, and walking her goldendoodle, Charlie.

Jason Overall is a composer, organist, and choral conductor based in Knoxville, Tennessee. His extensive catalog comprises mainly choral and chamber music, and it includes representative works with symphonic forces as well. His most recent completed project is a two-act opera The Doctor and the Devils, setting a libretto by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. As an organist, Mr. Overall is active as a solo recitalist as well as in duet with trumpeter Gary Malvern. Together they have presented programs to considerable acclaim in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and throughout North and South Carolina. Mr. Overall also excels as a choral conductor and trainer specializing in the Anglican tradition. Jason Overall is canon precentor and director of music of Saint John's Episcopal Cathedral in Knoxville where he plays for all liturgies and oversees all aspects of the music program. During his tenure, the Cathedral music program has re-established a vibrant treble choir, formed a concert series, and traveled internationally on choir pilgrimages to the UK and France. Under Mr. Overall’s leadership, St. John’s has become a featured venue of the internationally renown Big Ears Festival, and the Cathedral Choir has been invited to perform several programs, including Arvo Pärt’s Passio to a standing-room-only audience. He also is founder and director of the twelve-voice male ensemble Orison that presents compelling performances of plainsong and chant-based music. He resides in Knoxville with his wife, Edie Johnson, their two children, James and Elizabeth, and their cats, Albert and Romeo.

Katherine Webb, a native of Lawrence, Kansas, is an organist, conductor, composer, and soprano who currently serves as Organ Scholar at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. She is a doctoral candidate in organ performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied organ with Christopher Young and choral conducting with Dominick DiOrio and Betsy Burleigh. A graduate of both IU and St. Olaf College and an enthusiastic church musician and educator, Katie has served as a member of the choral faculty at both the RSCM America King’s College Course and at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians Conference on Worship and Music at Montreat. Named to the Diapason’s “Twenty Under Thirty” Class of 2019 and honored with IU’s Wennerstrom Fellowship in recognition of pedagogical excellence in the fields of music theory and aural skills, she has served Episcopal parishes in Minneapolis, MN; Bloomington, IN; and Topeka, KS.