Miss Tolentino received her Bachelor of Music with an emphasis in Music Education at Northern Illinois University.  Prior to post-secondary education, Miss T. studied several years of private piano and voice.  At NIU, she studied voice as her primary instrument with Dr. Orna Arania. She studied piano as her secondary instrument. She was a member of the Chamber and Concert Choir and studied choral music with Dr. Eric A. Johnson. She was music director and one of the founders of the NIU women's acappella ensemble "The Harmolodics."

 

Previously, she worked at Emerson Middle School in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 as a General Music and Piano Keyboarding teacher. She also worked at Plainfield South High School as the Assistant Choir Director. She has worked at other various settings as a music educator, church music director, vocal performer, and piano accompanist.  In previous summers, she directed the music and conducts the orchestra pit for productions by Elgin Summer Theatre. She was nominated for the 2016 Broadway Chicago Awards for best director for EST's production that year.

 

Outside of Oak Prairie, she performs with the St. Charles Singers, a professional chamber choir based in St. Charles, IL. She also performs with Cor Cantiamo, another professional chamber choir based at NIU that tours and performs around the northern Illinois area. She serves on the Board of Directors for the American Guild of Music (AGM), a non-profit music organization. She is also a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), ILMEA (Illinois Music Educators Association), and the National Association of Music Education (NAfME).