Ken Foley is the director of the East choral department. He also helps direct musical productions and sponsors various clubs, such as Ultimate Frisbee Club and Glee Club.Mr. Foley was born in Cleavland, OH in 1965. He grew up as the middle child of a family of five, surrounded by music.His father, Bill Foley, was a trumpet major in college and was the band director at the his school. His mother, Carol Foley,  was a piano and voice major and she taught private lessons at  their house. Foley started playing the trumpet at age four and picked up other instruments like bass, guitar, drums and piano as he was growing up. His younger brother, Tom, also played the trumpet and his older brother, Will, played the saxophone.

Everyone in his family could sing, and on a road trip to California his parents brought a book of barbershop music hoping to pass the time singing. When they got back, their dad decided to start an act. They called themselves the Foley Family Singers. Their first gig was at a republican party rally, hosted at a country club in the town where they lived. With the 50 dollars they got from their first gig, they treated themselves to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Mr. Foley’s favorite gig was at Sea World. For two summers straight, they sang four to seven times a day as the pre-show entertainment for the ski show.

Mr. Foley attended Chagrin Falls High School and was involved in choir, band, musical productions, baseball and soccer. He received music scholarships to the University of Cincinnati and a second to play division one soccer that covered room and board. Mr. Foley decided early on that he was going to major in music education and become a choir teacher, although he had considered becoming a band teacher like his father was.

Mr. Foley credits his parents for his teaching methods.They made everything he wanted to know about music available to him, but they never forced him to take lessons. Similarly, he will teach a student anything they want to know about music, but he will not force it on them. He often compares music to sports, because both require a group working together. One of his many philosophies in choral directing is “Many singers, one voice.”

After college, Mr. Foley moved back to Cleavland and got a job there, teaching music and coaching soccer from 1987 to 1995. During this time, he met his wife, Heather Foley. They had a mutual friend who was getting married, and the groom’s mother sat them at the same table at the reception, thinking they would be a good couple. They got married two years later and moved to Kansas City, KS so Mr. Foley could get his Masters degree at UMKC. He was one of the four people accepted into the two year program there. He got a job while finishing up at Pembroke Hill while finishing up his last few months at UMKC, intending only to stay for only a few more months; but he and his wife both had good jobs, so they decided to stay.

He taught choir and coached soccer at Pembroke for twelve years until he came home one day to a voicemail on his phone telling him that the East job was open. Although he was happy at Pembroke Hill, he decided that he would look into it, not wanting to look back years later with regrets. He applied for the job and it is now his fourth year teaching at East.
Mr. Foley lives in Leawood with his wife and two daughters, Brianna and Jillian. His hobbies include woodworking, soccer, water skiiing, traveling and telling bad jokes. He hopes to continue teaching music for another 20 years.

Print FriendlyPrint