Welcome to music at PRES! My name is Lynn Donnavan and I am the general music teacher and the Fourth & Fifth Grade Chorus director. I’ve been teaching elementary music since 1989 and I love my job!
I graduated from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. My principal instrument was piano and I minored in voice. After graduation, I began my teaching career at Fostertown Elementary School, a magnet school for the visual & performing arts in Newburgh, N.Y. While I was teaching in Newburgh, I received my Masters in pedagogy from the Hartt School of Music, Hartford, CT. I also had the amazing opportunity to work in the William Floyd School District on Long Island, nationally recognized for their music program, where I taught in an all sixth grade building.
In 1998, I moved to Westchester from Long Island when I got engaged to my husband, another Bedford music teacher!! I taught at Bedford Village for ten years before I had my daughter, Chloe. When I returned from my leave, Pound Ridge was in need of a music teacher, thus, PRES has been my home school ever since! For the past three years I have shared my time between PRES and West Patent Elementary.
Fun fact: In the year 2000, My Fourth & Fifth Grade Chorus from Bedford Village sang at my wedding! This chorus also received a “Gold with Distinction” rating from the NYSSMA Adjudication Festival.
When I’m not teaching, I love gardening, traveling, cooking and spending time with my family. Each fall, I’m always so excited to begin working with a new group of choristers. Choral conducting is my passion, so I am thrilled to be working with our ensemble of young singers again! There is nothing like the beautiful sound of children’s voices!