Kyle Masson joins the Seneca Valley Intermediate High School after three years at Ehrman Crest Middle School and two years at Oliver Citywide Academy (Pittsburgh Public Schools).  Prior to entering public education, Kyle studied Music Education and Vocal Performance at Shenandoah Conservatory, where he graduated summa cum laude and received awards including the Dean’s Undergraduate Award and Mary Wilkins Conservatory Award and received a scholarship to teach music and arts in Guatemala through the Highland Support Project.   

Subsequently, he obtained degrees in Music History and Theory from Penn State University and Princeton University, where his research centered on interdisciplinary approaches to seventeenth century opera and opera philosophy and aesthetics and he received acceptance into the Princeton University Program in European Cultural Studies.  During his graduate studies, Kyle won research funding from multiple organizations for work in Vienna, Innsbruck, and Venice, and he presented research at meetings of the American Musicological Society National Conference, the Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music, and the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music.  During this time, Kyle maintained an active profile as a performer.  At Penn State University, he took private conducting lessons with Dr. Christopher Kiver, while at Princeton he revived the vocal branch of Early Music Princeton, performed in operas including L’Orfeo and Tobias and the Angel, and was a featured soloist in concerts for various ensembles at Princeton and in the surrounding community.  Favorite collaborations included those with Gabriel Crouch, Thomas Guthrie, and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, with whom he studied voice. 

In addition to his academic work, Kyle founded the Education and Outreach program for Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Opera Festival, where he also performed under Maestro Maazel’s baton in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West.  While attending Princeton, he also served as a featured lecturer and guest artist on opera for The Princeton Festival, created and taught courses on opera for the Princeton Adult School, and taught a course on Early Music Soundscapes at Princeton that he created through Princeton’s Co-Teaching Initiative program.  As a choral singer, memorable venues Kyle has sung in include Notre Dame (Paris), the Kennedy Center, St. Mark’s Basilica (Venice), Normandy, and Saint Peters Basilica (Rome).

As a choral educator, Kyle emphasizes musical play as a means towards developing aural skills and musicianship, and draws on a range of music pedagogies to achieve the expressive goals of his choirs.  Most recently, he is interested in pursuing the connections between Dalcroze and the choral ensemble and exploring ways to engage modern high school students in a fully embodied singing experience as they learn about and develop their vocal instruments.  He looks forward to building on the incredible successes of the Seneca Valley Choral program and working with his choral colleagues to help our students pursue choral excellence in all facets.  

In his spare time, Kyle can usually be caught reading, acting like a goofball with his two delightful children Emelia and Graham and wife Ally, making up nonsense songs, or throwing or kicking a ball around outside.

Email me: massonk@svsd.net

Chessa Fernandez Crum (Mrs. C) is a graduate of Seneca Valley.  Chessa went on to major in Music Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she also received a Minor in Piano.  After her acceptance into Teach For America, she spent a summer in the Mississippi Delta teaching summer school and then began teaching in Appalachia in the Fall of 2012.  Lynn Camp Schools (Middle and High School) in Corbin, Kentucky gave her first full time teaching job where she taught Middle/High School Choir, Theater, General Music.  Under her direction, Lynn Camp had their first All School Musical where she was the director, choreographer, and producer.  She participated in the Union College Adult Chorus and Musical Theater productions under the direction of Diane Montgomery.

Her next adventure took her back to Pennsylvania to continue to teach Choir and General Music in the Plum School District.  Montour School District gave her the opportunity to teach 5th-8th Chorus before the opportunity opened to return to Seneca Valley in 2019.  She began teaching Chorus and General Music at Haine Middle School and is now the Choir Director at Ryan Gloyer Middle School. 

Chessa conducted a 200 piece children’s choir for four years at the Byham and has performed with ensembles at the Benedum. You can also find her assistant directing a Circle of Friends Choir and directing musical theater productions at Lutherlyn.  She has her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Point Part University and has completed Level 1 and Level 2 training in the Estill Voice Method.

Chessa lives in Cranberry with her husband David, and daughters Violet (4) and Ivy (2).  She enjoys cooking, gardening, and teaching private lessons in her free time.  She happily spends most of her time on adventures with her family making forts, playing in the backyard, and finding new places to visit.

Email me: crumcf@svsd.net