Jenny Ivens
Director of Music

Jenny Ivens, a native Richmonder, has been the Music Minister/Cantor at St. Michael since 1999 and took on the Music Director position in 2023. She received her B.A. in Music with a voice concentration from East Carolina University. Currently, she is the Department Chair for Music and Choir Director at St. Catherine’s School.  Previous to St. Catherine’s, Jenny taught music and choir at St. Bridget School. 
  
Jenny and her husband Ed have been married since 2005, and have a daughter, Genevieve.  When Jenny is not teaching or singing, she enjoys spending her time with family and her adorable dog Willow!
 
St. Michael's Music Ministry became part of my world in 1999 when I started substituting at the keyboard for Tom Kaczmarek when he needed relief or was on vacation.  Being coached/ mentored by Tom Kaczmarek for the next 23 years has been a huge blessing in my life. It has been a privilege to accompany so many talented cantors over the years (starting with Melanie Coddington way back in the day, to our current team of Jenny, Sandi, and Laura).  

My "Church Music Career" began when I was 12 years old and the accompanist at our church left for college (she happened to be my older sister).   My Dad was quick to let the priest know, "I have another daughter who plays!"  For the next six years until it was my turn to go off to college I learned by trial and error how to lead congregational singing (back in the late 60s we had no cantor and no choir). Fast forward to the 1980s, I was the organist and helped with the choir for St. Anthony's Maronite Catholic Church.  

Over the years I have substituted at many of the churches in the Richmond Diocese (including St. Mary's, St. Ann's, Redeemer, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Patrick's, St. John's) and have enjoyed learning how each church is a little bit different in how they do things.  From a non-music "job" perspective, I retired in 2019 after a 42 year career as a Registered Nurse. My husband Tom and I live in Goochland with our German Shepherd, Lexi.  We travel frequently to Raleigh to visit with our daughter, Sara, and her family (husband Steven and our precious Grand-boys Charlie and James). Terri and her husband, Scott, relocated from the Chicago suburbs to Richmond in 2018 for Scott's job.  They joined St. Michael and the music ministry almost immediately. Terri has been involved in pastoral music and liturgy for most of her life, beginning as a parish song leader in the 1970s. She worked and volunteered at parishes across the Archdiocese of Chicago as a cantor, director, and pianist, including directing the Chicago Catholic Charismatic Music Ministry for a number of years. Prior to moving to Richmond, Terri was the Director of Music and Liturgy for St. Margaret Mary Parish in Algonquin, Illinois, where she oversaw the activities of 300+ liturgical volunteers including several adult choirs, children's choirs, the youth choir, and the parish school's weekly mass music preparation. Terri now directs the St. Michael the Archangel Cherub choir and assists as a piano accompanist. For her day job, Terri works at St. Bridget's as the parish receptionist and administrative assistant. Terri says, "I love the Catholic Church. Serving God through the Sacred Liturgy has always been my passion. I am blessed to be able to share my gifts with the St. Mike's community."

As the daughter of our founding cantor, Laura Stapleton grew up in the wings of St. Michael. Nurtured by a musical family, and singing in choir at an early age, she’s claimed a chair in the adult choir since 2004, and serves the parish as a cantor. A graduate from Longwood University (B.A. w/ Education focus) and St. Joseph’s College of Maine (M.A. Pastoral Theology,) she was commissioned by Bishop Knestout as a Lay Ecclesial Minister in 2023. Laura serves as the Coordinator of Middle School Youth Ministry and Liturgical Ministries here at St Michael’s. She resides in Beaverdam with her family. Laura loves gathering with friends around the table and creating unique pieces in her sewing workshop.