Meet our Staff
Martha Weathers Brown
Founder and Artistic Director
A native of Elkton, Kentucky, Ms. Brown has lived in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina since 1995. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, and a Master of Music in Education from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. In 1995, Brown earned a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Having taught elementary and middle school choral music and served as an adult church choir director. Now in her 30th year of teaching public school, Brown is the choral music teacher at Tuscola High School in Waynesville, North Carolina. Ms. Brown was elected as the 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year at Central Elementary. She is frequently invited to be a workshop leader and choral clinician throughout the southeast. In addition, Ms. Brown is active at the state and national levels of the American Choral Directors Association, North Carolina Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, and Chorus America. Her children, Liam and McLain, are alumni of Voices. Liam and Mclain both live in Waynesville.
Emily Youngwood
Operations Manager
Emily is our new operations manager. She has grown up in Haywood County and is a Voices in the Laurel Alumni! Emily, her husband Liam and her new baby boy currently reside in Canton, NC. Emily has a bachelor’s degree in Child Development from Appalachian State University. Emily has taught in childcare and the public school system for many years. She is passionate about providing outlets for children to try and experience new things. Emily is very excited to be a part of the Voices team working alongside these other incredibly talented women.
In her spare time Emily enjoys spending time with her family and two dogs, she also enjoys painting murals, and building film props and costumes with her husband.
Mary Ann Cooper
Accompanist
Mary Ann has served as one of Voices’ accompanists since the fall of 1997. Originally from Texas, she holds both Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in organ performance from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and has done post graduate work in organ at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In addition to her work with Voices, she is organist/accompanist at First Baptist Church in Waynesville. In her spare time Mary Ann enjoys composing and arranging, and has several pieces that are published or are pending publication. Mary Ann and her husband, Robert, have two grown daughters, Amy and Kristen, who are both alumni of Voices in the Laurel. They are also the proud grandparents of Evan and Charlotte King, children of Kristen and her husband, Dustin.
Anna Watson
Accompanist
Anna Watson, accompanist for Concert Choir and Treble Makers is in her 24th year with Voices in the Laurel. She was one of the forces in organizing Voices in the Laurel in 1996. Watson earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from the University of Georgia in 1975. She currently teaches private piano lessons and has taught in Haywood County for 39 years. Anna and her husband Rob live at Lake Junaluska and have three children and four grandchildren. Her granddaughters Betha and Lila Belle Murray are involved in Voices in the Laurel. Their daughters, Jenny Watson Murray and Sarah Hayes Harkins, participated in Voices years ago. Jenny was inspired by Voices to major in music at UNCG and now she is the worship pastor / music director at New Covenant Church in Clyde. Sarah is a Principal Dancer with Charlotte Ballet.