Artistic Staff

Marianne Kim

A Chicago‑based composer, pianist, organist, and harpsichordist, Marianne Kim has been noted for her vibrant performances and compositions in a wide diversity of musical styles, including classical, jazz, Broadway musicals, R&B, and gospel, traditional and contemporary church music and more.

As a soloist and collaborative artist, Marianne enjoys performing piano and organ recitals, chamber music, and jazz. She has worked for the Lakeside Singers, performing highly demanding dual roles of classical accompanist and rhythm section keyboardist since 2005. She has also served as director of music and organist for First United Methodist Church of Glen Ellyn and keyboardist for Willow Creek Community Church and Moody Church for over a decade. Marianne is currently a principle organist at Christ Church of Oak Brook, IL.

Marianne has been creating music for piano, organ, choral and instruments and has published them through major publishers, including Lorenz Corp., Hope Publishing, Augsburg Fortress and Shawnee Press/Hal Leonard Corp. She has received critical acclaim for her compositions; Douglas Wagner wrote “intelligently crafted and quite artful with aural surprises”; Mark Hayes wrote “sparkling arrangements with tasteful jazz harmonies and rhythms” and Larry Shackley wrote “Incorporating invigorating harmonies, syncopated rhythms, and an assortment of jazz elements”.

Born and raised in Busan, Korea, Marianne studied piano and composition at Pusan High School of Arts and earned Bachelor of Music in composition at Pusan National University. Working professionally over 10 years in the United States, she returned to school and earned dual Masters of Music in jazz studies and organ performance with scholarships and prizes from Northern Illinois University.

Marianne is a member of ASCAP and AGO. More detail information can be found on her website www.mariannekimmusic.com.

Paul Langford

A Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor, Paul Langford has a career that spans over 25 years. His works have been performed by vocal and instrumental groups all over the world including The Chicagoland Pops, West Michigan Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Voices of Liberty, GLAD, Willow Creek Community Church, multiple Disney parks, and many orchestras around the nation including the Pensacola, Grand Rapids, La Crosse, Anderson, Dubuque, Jackson, and Southwest Michigan Symphonies.

Paul has been a vocal and piano guest artist in studio and live performance with headline and Grammy Award-winning artists David Foster, Yolanda Adams, Kenny Rogers, Heather Headley, Abraham Laboriel, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Celine Dion, and he’s been honored to perform for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama. Paul also appears as part of the singing duo, Penning and Langford.

As owner and creative director of Paul Langford Studios, a state-of the-art Chicagoland recording facility, Paul produces, engineers, composes, and plays for a variety of leading artists, corporate clients, and television/film projects. On the road, Paul is an in-demand music educator, clinician, guest conductor, respected band and vocal ensemble leader, and invited singer with orchestras and a cappella groups across America and around the globe.

His voice has been heard on radio and TV commercials for such companies as Ronald McDonald House, Oldsmobile, L.L. Bean, Old El Paso, Nintendo, Frigidaire and Nickelodeon. He has also led and arranged for choirs, rhythm sections, big bands, orchestras and acappella groups all across America and abroad. Paul is a published choral arranger and composer, as well as an in-demand clinician for musical groups of all varieties. His works for choral and instrumental ensembles can be found through Hal Leonard, Shawnee Press, Oxford University Press, Alfred Music.

Orna Arania

Orna Arania is a highly regarded singer and choral conductor in her native country, Israel. She has performed extensively as a soloist in concert series and festivals with Israel’s leading orchestras such as: Israeli Chamber Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel’s Kibbutz Orchestra and more, under the direction of Joseph Flumerfelt, Salvador Mas Conde, Thomas Vashari, Avner Itai, Doron Solomon, to name a few. She has also toured as a soloist with various Israeli ensembles in Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, and the United States. Since arriving in the United States, she has performed in opera productions, recitals, and oratorio concerts, with orchestras such as the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, Elgin Symphony, Lima Symphony, The Callipygian Players, Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, Ohio Northern University Symphony Orchestra and more. She also performed in international festivals and concert series in France and Israel. In 2009 she had her Lincoln Center Debut as a soloist in Haydn’s Theresienmesse with Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra New York. Ms. Arania holds a Doctor of Music degree in Voice and Opera Performance from Northwestern University, where she studied with Mignon Dunn and Sherrill Milnes. She held part time lecturer and choral conducting positions at Northwestern University and North Park University and served for three years on the voice faculty of the prestigious summer program, V.O.I.C.Experience at Walt Disney World, Orlando Florida. She is now a tenured associate professor of voice at Northern Illinois University.

Jon Negus

Jon is a studio singer, composer, freelance producer, woodwind player and keyboard player in the Chicago music scene. His voice, instruments and writing have been heard on hundreds of radio and television commercials worldwide for over 30 years. Jon produced more than 700 tracks and 70+ CDs for the pre-school music program Kindermusik. He has performed with Celine Dion, Bob Hope, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, Enuff Z’nuff, Debbie Reynolds & Donald O’Connor, Eddie Arnold, The Lennon Sisters, Dennis DeYoung and Styx, among others. With his wife Jacque, he operates Momcat Music, a music production company producing children’s music, church music and industrials for corporations and commercials.