Artistic Staff

karen p. thomas
artistic DIRECTOR and conductor

Karen P. Thomas has served as the artistic director and conductor of Seattle Pro Musica since 1987. With Seattle Pro Musica, she has produced 14 critically-acclaimed commercial CD recordings, and has received both the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and the ASCAP-Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. She has appeared as guest conductor at the Bergen International Festival, the International Conference on Women in Music, the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing, Berkshire Choral International, Festival Vancouver in Canada, the NPR radio show Saint Paul Sunday, the American Guild of Organists National Convention, and the American Choral Directors Association National Conference, among numerous others.  Read Karen's full bio.

Benjamin Rogers
Tenor/bass section leader

Benjamin Rogers joined Seattle Pro Musica as a singer in 2023 and serves as the Tenor/Bass Section Leader. Benjamin hails from Savanna, Illinois, and earned their Bachelors of Music in Music Education and a Minor in Music Business at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. 

Benjamin is the Director of Choirs at Skyline High School in the Issaquah School District and also serves as the Director of Music Ministries at University Congregational United Church of Christ. In addition to their role with SPM, you may find Benjamin singing as a baritone vocalist with local groups such as Radiance and Whateverandeveramen. 

jenny spence
soprano/alto section leader

Jenny Spence joined Seattle Pro Musica as a singer in 2016 and served on the Membership Committee and Inclusivity Advisory Group from 2017 to 2019. Jenny brings 25 years of section leading and professional singing experience to the group and is delighted to be joining the Artistic Staff this season. Prior to moving to Seattle, she maintained a busy schedule singing with professional chamber ensembles such as Bach Collegium San Diego, SACRA/PROFANA, and Pro Arte Singers, in addition to regular section leader positions at area churches. Jenny is currently serving as a Soprano staff member at Epiphany Parish, Seattle.

Administrative Staff

KATIE SKOVHOLT
executive DIRECTOR

Katie Skovholt is the Executive Director of Seattle Pro Musica, one of the Northwest's most acclaimed adult choirs. She has helped raise the profile of SPM through such initiatives as the New American Composer Series which commissioned five groundbreaking BIPOC composers, the addition of regular livestreaming to SPM's concert season, an annual fundraising cabaret featuring SPM singers, and the Choral Tapas virtual performance series which paired choral performances with food and cocktail demonstrations.

Ms. Skovholt holds an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree, and she is a member of Chorus America and the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium. She is active on national conference panels and committees and recently represented Seattle Pro Musica as part of the national cohort of the Intrinsic Impact Audience Project, a two-year study of choral music audiences conducted in partnership with Chorus America and arts consulting firm WolfBrown. She is currently a member of the Seattle Girls Choir Board of Directors.

In addition to her position with Seattle Pro Musica, Ms. Skovholt serves as Director of Music for Richmond Beach Congregational Church, and is in demand as a soloist in the Puget Sound region, hailed for outstanding and expressive singing. She has  performed as an ensemble vocalist for a variety of nonclassical performances in the Seattle area, including a featured vocalist appearance on the GRAMMY Award-winning album Winds of Samsara by Ricky Kej and Wouter Kellerman. She is a musical theater aficionado, an avid foodie, and an amateur mixologist. Cheers!

kate posey
oPERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSOCIATE

Kate Posey is a Seattle-based arts administrator, theater producer, and operatic stage director with a passion for increasing community access to the arts. Kate holds a BM in Applied Voice (Baylor University, 2015) and an MM in Voice Performance (the University of Washington, 2017) and serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Lowbrow Opera Collective, a non-profit arts organization that she co-founded in 2018 with the goal of bringing modern works from diverse perspectives to the forefront of opera. Notable directing credits include #adulting, a new opera (LOC, 2019 & 2020), WINDOWS (LOC 2021), MARThA (LOC 2022), Amahl and the Night Visitors (Music on Site, Inc., 2022) #adulting2, here we go again (LOC 2022), and Achilles and Patroclus (from More Than Friends: a triptych on queer love through the ages, LOC 2023). This season, Kate will stage direct Lowbrow’s June 2024 production of Sweets by Kate. Kate is proud to support the important work of Seattle Pro Musica and grateful to be part of SPM’s vibrant community of musicians and artists.

Jenn Newland
Stage Manager

Jenn Newland joined Seattle Pro Musica as a singer in 2001, and has proudly served on the board and as Auction Committee chair in the past, and now as Stage Manager. Jenn's priority is ensuring performance management details are presented in a focused manner, allowing the singers more time to enjoy the part they love best - singing unique and challenging music beautifully, so as to touch the souls of our audience members.

In her professional life, she is the Property Manager for Rain Shadow Properties and Investments, LLC, and also works part time as a Limited Practice Officer for First American Title.