ZACHARY STEELE - Director of Choirs
ZACHARY STEELE holds a Master of Music Education from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Music Education from Tarleton State University. Mr. Steele is in his eighth year as a music educator and his sixth at Keller High School. Ensembles under his direction have earned consistent sweepstakes ratings at UIL Concert/Sight Reading and the Keller show choirs have earned honors and awards at various competitions. Currently, Mr. Steele serves as the TMEA Region 30 Vocal Division Chair as well as the High School Choir Area Lead for Keller ISD.
Mr. Steele is an active performer, clinician, and composer. He has performed with choirs around the DFW area and has sung in Ireland, Japan, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. His composition, "Veni, Emmanuel!" was selected as the Emily Crocker Emerging Composer Competition winner in 2022 and was published by Hal Leonard. In the same year, he was invited to present at the Texas Choral Directors' Association convention. Additionally, Steele has been invited to clinic ensembles and adjudicate various vocal competitions, auditions, and evaluations.
Mr. Steele previously worked in Lewisville ISD where he taught the choirs at both Briarhill and Durham Middle School. Prior to that, he was the Elementary Music Specialist at Willis Lane Elementary in Keller ISD. He is thrilled to return to Keller ISD and to his alma mater to teach in the very place he acquired his love for choral music. In his time at KHS, Steele was a member of the TMEA All-State Choir, show choir, choir officers, and a frequent participant in musical productions.
Mr. Steele resides in Fort Worth with his wife, Macie (a fellow music educator), and his two daughters, Millie and Ella. He is passionate about mentoring students, inspiring a love for choral music, and embracing life's joys with family and friends!
Erin Schmidt - Assistant Director of Choirs
ERIN SCHMIDT is originally from Fargo, North Dakota, and is entering her eighth year as a music educator. She holds a Master of Music in Conducting from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from St. Olaf College. Ms. Schmidt recently completed her graduate studies at Baylor University, where she regularly rehearsed and conducted each of the choral ensembles there, including the Baylor A Cappella Choir, Bella Voce, Chamber Singers, Women’s Choir, and Men’s Choir. While at Baylor, she also taught high school and junior high choir at Live Oak Classical School in Waco. She regularly returns to her hometown in the summer to teach musical theatre classes at Trollwood Performing Arts School.
Before moving to Texas, Ms. Schmidt taught middle school choir in Wayzata, Minnesota, for six years. She and her colleague in Wayzata presented at the state conference of ACDA-MN in 2018. She also directed and/or vocal directed several musicals per year at both the middle and high school levels throughout the district.
Ms. Schmidt is an active performer, most recently singing with several ensembles at Baylor, including a tour of Ireland with Baylor’s advanced treble ensemble, Bella Voce. In Minneapolis, she was a member of the soprano section of Magnum Chorum for six years. During her time at St. Olaf, she toured extensively with the renowned St. Olaf Choir and served as the choir’s president in 2013-2014. She also co-founded a vocal jazz ensemble at St. Olaf that is still in existence today.
Outside the choral rehearsal, Ms. Schmidt is an avid opera-goer and loves reading and staying up to date on pop culture.
