head shot of Jenny Crane, Cedar Lane member
Children's Choir Director

BIO

I grew up singing with my family, and both my Mom and Grandma were church music directors and voice teachers. Music has always been really important to me, spiritually and otherwise, and I sang in choirs, and played piano, flute, and guitar throughout my childhood. After that, I studied music at Guilford College (voice and classical guitar) and Shenandoah Conservatory, where I had a teaching assistantship in the conservatory for graduate school. I taught classical guitar for several years as well as group music lessons for young people. Like many life-long musicians, I changed focus mid-career and went to George Mason University where I earned my PhD in psychology. In my day job I'm a research psychologist and work in the US DOJ Civil Rights Division. 

While I have been a Unitarian Universalist for my entire adult life, it took some time to convince my partner, Ezra, that actually going to church could be a good thing. I strongly believe that the values and ideals of Unitarian Universalism are vital in today's world, that many families are hungry for the kind of community a UU congregation can provide, and consider myself something of a "UUvangelist.” I joined the UU Church in the Shenandoah valley on my own in 1999, and Ezra and I were married at All Souls in 2004. After we moved to Maryland and had our daughter we wanted a vibrant and active congregation in which to raise our children. We found that at Cedar Lane where we became members in 2011. Along with several other parents, I saw a need for young children's music here and created the Little Voices choir for ages 4-7 in 2014. I am excited to work with more of the wonderful children here as we expand the Children’s choir for all kids ages 4 through 10. Together, we are going to grow an engaged and lively group of young music makers and weave that energy into the congregational life of Cedar Lane.