Who we are

In the spring of 2021, the choir formerly known as Denver Choir League (founded by Katy Lushman in 2018) made some exciting changes! After Katy announced that she was relocating out of the Denver area, we brought on three new partners to run the organization alongside Katy: Kali Paguirigan, Lizabeth Barnett, and Katherine Mulready. Kali steps in as the new Artistic Director in the summer of 2021 and we are now operating under the name Choir League, as we anticipate bringing the joy of singing to communities outside of Denver in the near future! Read more about Choir League below.

Kali moved to Denver from Brooklyn with her Denver native husband, and their two children. She is a musician through and through, having grown up playing piano and violin, and finally studying vocal performance at the Eastman School in Rochester, NY, and then received her Master’s degree from CalArts where she studied new opera works, and singing styles from all over the world. Despite her degrees, she has always struggled between playing music for her own joy and enjoyment and music as performance.

Her musical interests are vast in both her singing and listening. Depending on her mood, on any given day she might spend equal time playing Joplin, Bach, Mozart or George Shearling on the piano, working out chord shapes for a Joni Mitchell song, or singing through Mozart arias. She hopes that the Choir League repertoire and concerts reflect her enjoyment of music from every nook and cranny of the world. Kali sings professionally locally and with Denver’s own Kantorei. She also teaches at Kent Denver, and has a small studio of private students. When not making music, she loves practicing yoga, cooking, gardening, and being with her husband, Shane, and their two children, Mahalia and Desmond.

Lizabeth has been singing, teaching, and generally enjoying life in Denver since relocating here in 2000. Originally from Atlanta, Lizabeth graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens, and taught vocal music in North Georgia for a few years before fleeing for a life of adventure in Colorado. Lizabeth has been a singer with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra choir under Robert Shaw, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra choir, and this year celebrates 20 years of singing with Denver’s own Kantorei. After taking a short break from teaching, Lizabeth returned to her first love, and has been the vocal music teacher at Slavens School in DPS since the fall of 2003.

When not singing, hiking, or mountain biking, Lizabeth is in her garden, pairing cocktails, or both. After completing the Expert Garden coursework from CSU, she started a Facebook group named “The Boozy Botanist,” helping fellow gardeners deal with Colorado's gardening issues with advice and cocktails.

Katherine is an executive with the Colorado Hospital Association, as well as being involved in a number of community organizations here in Denver. She has had a long history singing with choirs in Denver and New York City, and is thrilled to be joining the Choir League family!

Katy Lushman founded Denver Choir League (now Choir League) in 2018 after many years of plotting how to make her love of singing and her love of happy hour intersect. Having been a choral conductor since 2004, Katy knows her way around a choir rehearsal. She has taught music in places as far reaching as China and Switzerland, and closer to home in Cincinnati and Denver. From 2013-2021, Katy was a proud member of the music staff at Denver North High School. She has choral music degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Westminster Choir College. In 2021, Katy relocated back to the little Alpine village of Leysin, Switzerland with her partner, Andy, and their pup, Sky, where she is the Associate Director of Communications and Strategic Projects at Leysin American School. In 2022 Katy launched Choir League’s first international group, Choir League Leysin.

Want to know more about how Choir League got started?

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