About me
Patty Thel grew up a Southern Baptist in a family that sang hymns in four parts at the supper table in North Carolina. Her grandparents lived next door in a house full of hymn-singing at a grand piano and pipe organ. After moving to the Princeton area with her husband and three children, she worked at Westminster Conservatory on the artist faculty, and as an adjunct at Westminster Choir College, teaching Special Education and Music Education along with other courses. She taught for years at the Lewis School and at the Rockbrook School, where her son Tommy attended. Both schools were designed for the neuro-divergent. Patty founded and directed the Westminster Conservatory Children’s Choir program, was Executive Director of Trenton Children’s Chorus, and served as the middle school choral director at Princeton Day School. She served as interim director of children’s choirs at Nassau Presbyterian, her home church. This year, she helped design and teach a class with Martin Tel at Princeton Seminary, "Creating Strategies for Inclusion in Church Life and Worship." She is happy to be serving this way, honoring both the heritage of her faith and her own family journey--finding joyful paths of inclusion for singers of all abilities.
