Meet Matthew Frable, The STCPA and Chorale Director!
(email: mfrable@stcpa.org)

Matthew Frable, Artistic Director of the San Tan Chorale, possesses three decades of choral directing experience, including first and secondary educational settings, community choirs, music programs for several congregations, and musical drama productions. Following a childhood filled with music, his educational emphasis led him to bachelor degrees in both Music Therapy and Music Education and later a Masters of Sacred Music from Trinity Lutheran Seminary. A keyboard instrumentalist of merit, Matthew has achieved the status of Colleague with the American Guild of Organists.

In addition to directing the San Tan Chorale and the Fountain Hills Community Choir, he is the Director of Music Ministry at Christ’s Greenfield Lutheran Church in Gilbert.

Serving as the Fine Arts Department Chair at Seton Catholic High School, and in addition to classroom teaching, Matthew directs a full season of drama productions with casts ranging from a select few to over sixty enthusiastic youths. He has also coordinated many choral festivals and performances of choral masterworks that have included chamber ensemble accompaniment. Matthew considers a career highlight to be the rapid growth and musical achievement of San Tan Chorale and is eager to develop future creative endeavors within the San Tan Community Performing Arts organization to encompass orchestral and dramatic pursuits. His family includes wife, Betty, and their three children.

Meet Katherine Shields - Director of the San Tan Orchestra
(email: kshields@stcpa.org)

Katherine Shields, conductor, is Adjunct faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and a member of the Arizona Opera Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Arizona State University (Tempe) where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda.

Katherine began her study of conducting as a high school student in Winnetka, IL. She has worked with youth orchestras in Phoenix and Orlando (FL) and has adjudicated Solo & Ensemble Festival, Regional Orchestra and All-State Orchestra auditions in both states. She has been clinician for Tempe District Honor Orchestra and presented a session entitled “Boot Camp for Band Directors” at the Arizona Music Educators Association annual conference. For the Arizona Department of Education Katherine presented a three-day workshop on “Literacy through Music” for students at Tsaile School on the Navajo Reservation. She has conducted at ASU High School Invitational Strings Day and Virtuoso Violas Day. Katherine has conducted the Western State College (Gunnison, CO) College/Community Orchestra and is a former Orchestra Director for Tempe Unified High School District.

An avid chamber musician, Katherine is a member of ensembles Seventh Roadrunner and Quartet Sabaku, a group on the Teaching Artists Roster of the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Katherine is faculty for the West Valley Youth Orchestra’s “Chamber Music Camp,” the “Fall Colors Chamber Music Workshop” in Silverton, CO and is Director of the Chamber Music Workshop of Chaparral MusicFest in Prescott.

Katherine’s articles have been published in “The Leading Tone,” the newsletter of the Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA) and online at AZOOMA.com and Scribd.com. She is a former member of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago String Ensemble. Katherine resides in the East Valley with her family of humans, canines, and assorted musical instruments.

Meet Carol Eisenbise - Assistant Director

Serving as Assistant Director and Treasurer of the San Tan Chorale is Carol Eisenbise.  Carol was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  She attended Lebanon Valley College where she was a music major.  She accompanied several community choruses and theatre groups in and around the Lehigh Valley.  Carol majored in special education and she currently teaches students with emotional disabilities at Mesquite High School in Gilbert and is Treasurer of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Kathy Renfro, Accompanist for the San Tan Chorale!

Kathy Renfro, accompanist for San Tan Chorale, began her studies of piano at age four and cello in the 4th grade. At sixteen, she became the youngest member of the Oklahoma City Symphony. Under a full scholarship, Kathy studied piano and cello at Oklahoma University, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota with a degree in ethnic and urban studies, and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. A church pianist for 30 years, she also taught private lessons, accompanied lyric operettas, recitals, and students’ college juries. Kathy is employed by a local law firm, makes her home in Gilbert, AZ, and is the proud mother of four children, eight grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.