Ms. JoAnna Powell

Director of Music
Phone: (313) 862-4400 ext. 023
Email: Click Here to Email

Ms. Powell’s love and passion for music have led her on her life’s journey. For over ten years she served as the musician at Good Shepherd/Our Lady Queen of Heaven and at St. Elizabeth parish. It was at St. Elizabeth where she was moved by the Spirit to join the RCIA process and enter in full communion with the Catholic Church.

As a child, she had the opportunity of living in Dakar, Senegal for three years before returning to Detroit where she attended Immaculata High School, her first exposure to the Catholic faith. Ms. Powell was a French Educational Technician at the Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School (Detroit Public Schools Community District) where she developed and led a performing children’s choir for seven years whose repertoire included jazz, spirituals, showtunes, gospel and popular songs. Her years working within DPSCD and her students taught her to enjoy thinking outside of the box and to find creative solutions.

Ms. Powell has been at Gesu since 2021. In her spare time, she enjoys organic gardening, cooking diverse dishes from around the world, reading science fiction/fantasy, watching Marvel/DC movies, beading jewelry, talking with people, and of course, singing. She believes that music can touch where mere words sometimes cannot, and that a sincere smile is the perfect accessory for any occasion.