Choir director shapes young voices despite losing hers

South Kitsap resident Stephanie Charbonneau began studying piano and singing in choirs at age 3.

But a lifetime of honing her craft nearly came to an end when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which wrapped around her vocal cord. She had her first surgery in May 2007.

“When I woke up from the surgery, I couldn’t breathe,” Charbonneau said. “They put me on a ventilator.”

Charbonneau, 31, survived the surgery but no longer could speak. She said her communication was limited to whistling and snapping her fingers.

That changed the following January when Charbonneau had another operation that inserted a prosthesis behind her paralyzed vocal cord.

“I feel like my voice still is improving,” she said. “I can sing well enough to teach, but I don’t think I could perform.”

Instead, Charbonneau has dedicated herself to training the next generation of choir students. Earlier this year, she formed the Spectrum Vocal Performance Ensemble.

The group rehearses from 9-11 a.m. each Saturday at Charbonneau’s home. She is the executive director of the ensemble, while her husband, Donald Stojack, serves as the director of operations and marketing. Both graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Music degree with emphasis in piano performance.

They also are staff members in the Music & Worship Department at First Pres-byterian Church of Bellevue. Charbonneau said she plays the piano for the youth group there and directs the middle school choir.

That is in addition to their work with the select group of students that comprise the Spectrum Vocal Performance Ensemble. That group includes teenagers from the West Sound and a few from the Seattle area.

“It’s really geared toward kids who want to excel in music,” said Stojack, who was the founding director of the Prestant Boys Chorus of Port Orchard and served in that position until 2008.

Among the nine-member Spectrum Vocal Performance Ensemble is 16-year-old Bremerton resident Maggie Bies. She was involved with Irene’s School of Dance in Silverdale for six years before an injury led her to focus on a choral career.