Dr. William O. Baker, Music Director
Dr. Baker came to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in September 2020. A native of Atlanta, Dr. Baker completed studies in American history, theology, and music at Mercer University and the University of Georgia, culminating in the Doctors of Musical Arts from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
In a ministry career that has spanned 45 years, Dr. Baker has served as a music leader for ten congregations in four states, including The Village Church in Kansas City and the historic Grace United Methodist Church in Atlanta, building large programs in each. He is best known for his work as the creator of The Choral Foundation and as Music Director of The William Baker Festival Singers (www.FestivalSingers.org) through the Festival Singers’ numerous recordings, broadcasts, and tour performances in significant venues across the United States and Great Britain.
Dr. Baker is the author of two devotional books, Hearts & Hands and Voices and Wonder, Love & Praise.
Dr. Jamea Sale, Associate Music Director
Jamea is a native of Colby, Kansas. She holds the Bachelor of Music Education in vocal and instrumental music from Kansas State University and the Master of Music Education in Vocal/Choral Pedagogy from the University of Kansas. She earned her Ph.D. in Vocal/Choral Pedagogy and Research at the University of Kansas in May 2022.
Jamea has been a member of the William Baker Festival Singers for over 20 years. She served as Student Intern from 2010 to 2012 and joined the professional staff of the Choral Foundation in 2012. In 2017 she was appointed Executive Associate Director of the national organization, and in 2018 she was appointed Director of the Institute for Healthy Singing. She began full-time with the Choral Foundation in 2022.
Jamea is the granddaughter of a late United Methodist minister and has been active in church throughout her life. She served with Dr. Baker as Associate Director of The Cathedral Chorale at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City from 2012 to 2017. The mother of two grown daughters, Jamea makes her home in Overland Park, Kansas.
Alisa Carmichael, Organist
Alisa Carmichael is a native Floridian. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, and a Master’s in Library Media Education from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. Her professional career experience has included teaching, public library administration, and nonprofit management. She has been a lifelong church musician, serving churches in Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Her most recent appointments have been at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, 2008-2018, in the Tampa area, and at Christ Episcopal Church, 1994-2008, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Alisa was ordained as a vocational deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida in 2013. She served as associate chaplain at the USF Chapel Center, an Episcopal campus ministry on the campus of the University of South Florida. She is currently the Chair of the Campus Ministry Commission for the Diocese of West Missouri. Alisa and her husband John, who is the founder/director of the Pinnacle Winds and choir director for St. Peter and All Saints Episcopal Church, live in Kansas City, MO, with their two large dogs, Barney and Daphne.
Amy Chinnery-Valmassei, Director – St. Paul Ringers
Amy has been an enthusiast for handbells since 1984 when she became a youth member of the St. Paul Ringers. Her participation continued in the early 1990s when she participated in the Handbell Choir of St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church in Rochester, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. There she participated in numerous community bell events, learning advanced techniques and solo ringing.
Mrs. Chinnery-Valmassei was appointed director of St. Paul Ringers in 2005. In 2019, she was appointed a member of the select civic ensemble, Kansas City Bronze.