Ms. Kiersten, a native of Waterville, started making music in her community in her early teens, singing and playing piano in her childhood congregation. At 16, she gave her very first piano lesson, and continued to take on new students until she left home for school- not too far away, at the University of Southern Maine to study Vocal Performance with Margaret Yauger, Ellen Chickering, and Scott Wheatley.

With young performing credits such as Elle Woods in  Legally Blonde The Musical, and Catherine in Pippin, she added Operatic Roles to her repertory, including Angelina from Rossini's La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro,  and the titular leading lady from Bizet's Carmen. This taught her that to be a well-rounded singer in today's world, singers can and should be able to sing in More Than One Way. This has been the foundation of her technical approach for herself and for her students. Relying on healthy practices, one may learn to manipulate the voice in order to sing in more than one genre's style. So much of her teaching relies on two things: The ability to assess your own voice for it's health on a given day, and the ability to adapt yourself to be more marketable, and a more diverse singer. 

She is the recipient of the Jean and Harvey Picker Senior Prize, as well as a Nordica Award winner and soloist.

Recent performing credits for Ms. Kiersten include OperaMaine's productions of Verdi's Aida, Puccini's La Bohème, and their 2025 production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. 

When she's not singing or playing the piano, she is a wife, mother, dog-lover, and an avid amateur gardener and home-decorator.