Dr. Julian Ackerley

Director of the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus since 1980, Julian Ackerley has achieved national and international acclaim as an accomplished conductor and administrator of children's choral performing arts organizations. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona with special emphasis in music education, vocal performance and choral conducting. His many successes include national and international tours, numerous critically acclaimed recordings, collaborations with national symphony orchestras and opera companies and increased fiscal stability for the Chorus. He is an experienced teacher having taught at all levels, elementary to college, prior to his appointment with the Boys Chorus.

Dale Adelmann

Dale Aldermann, Choirmaster of St. Paul's Cathedral in Buffalo, N.Y., outgoing president of the Association of Anglican Musicians, and former music director of the Gentlemen of St. John's College Ensemble, Cambridge, England, has accepted the call to become All Saints' new Director of Music. He replaces Tom Foster who retired in June after 27 years which saw the shaping of the music program to one of national acclaim, incorporating two adult choirs, a children's choir, four commercial CDs for Gothic and two in-house recordings; and an outstanding Music Guild concert series.

"I can't say enough about Dale, as a musician and person," said the Rt. Rev. Michael Garrison, bishop of western New York. "When I am at the cathedral, I am exalted by the music, and he is the backbone of that. His moving will be a big loss not only to the church but to the community."

Frank Albinder

Grammy Award-winning conductor and singer Frank Albinder currently directs the Washington Men's Camerata, the Virginia Glee Club at the Univesity of Virginia and the Woodley Ensemble. A native of Hollywood, California, Mr. Albinder hold degrees from Pomona College and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Like most musicians, he has held a number of non-musical jobs, including counter man in a delicatessen, secret document destroyer for a major military contractor, tour guide at Universal Studios and problem-fixer for FedEx. He was Director of Choral Activities at Davidson College in the mid-1980s, and for 11 years, he was singer, associate conductor and finally, acting director of Chanticleer, the world-renowned vocal ensemble.

During his tenure with the group, Mr. Albinder performed in all 50 states and in 20 foreign countries. He appears on 20 of the ensemble's recordings, including Wondrous Love, which was recorded under his direction, and the Grammy Award-winning Colors of Love, for which he designed the concept and selected the repertoire.

David T.R Albulario

Mr. Albulario has been Music Director of All-American Boys Chorus in Orange County, California for 10 years, touring in Austria, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan and nationwide throughout the U.S. He has served as Choral Director at Hollywood Bowl, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Shrine Auditorium, Crystal Cathedral, Opera Pacific, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, William Hall Master Chorale, and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Theater credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Benjamin), Guys & Dolls (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), Dracula (Van Helsing), The Crucible (Danforth), The Libertine (Etherege) and Singin' In the Rain. A Walt Disney theme parks singer, Mr. Albulario has also been a performer in readings of The Wedding Banquet and Making Tracks in New York City. Love to Mom, Dad & Renee for love and faith!

John Alexander

Artistic Director since 1972, John Alexander is considered one of America's finest choral conductors. His inspired leadership both on the podium and as an advocate for the advancement of the arts has generated international respect and acclaim throughout his career.

His long and distinguished career has encompassed conducting hundreds of choral and orchestral performances in 27 countries around the globe. Alexander is not only recognized for his exceptional talent in bringing the masterworks to life, but is also eminent as a strong proponent of contemporary American music. He regularly programs works by American composers, and has presented many premieres of their works.

The 2007-2008 season saw the world premieres of works by Zachary Wadsworth and Michael Eglin, commissioned through Pacific Chorale's Young Composers Competition, and the West Coast premiere of David Del Tredici's Paul Revere's Ride. Previous premieres have included performances of works by John Adams, Dominick Argento, Eric Whitacre, Howard Hanson, Stephen Paulus, Frank Ticheli and James Hopkins.

Brady R. Allred

Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Artistic Director of the Salt Lake Choral Artists, Dr. Brady R. Allred has developed "an international reputation for excellence." Under his energetic leadership, Dr. Allred's choirs have completed eight international tours of Europe, including 13 countries, and a concert tour of Canada. Honors he has received include Grand Prize at the Florilege Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition, Tours, France and First Prize at the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition with additional prizes for Best Interpretation of 20th Century Music and the Conductor's Prize. The University of Utah Singers won the Grand Prize at the 2006 European Grand Prix International Choral Competition in Tolosa, Spain. In May 2007 he was the American judge on the international jury for the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition in Germany.

Jean Applonie

Jean Applonie received her bachelor degree in choral music education and master degree in choral music performance from Brigham Young University. She taught choral music for Davis and Murray School Districs and served on the music faculty at The Waterford School. Ms. Applonie is co-founder/artistic director of Viva Voice! Women's Choir in Salt Lake City. She opened a private voice studio for ten years and is an active church musician. She has organized and presented for various choral music workshops and festivals.

Dr. Charlene Archibeque

Having recently retired after thirty five years as Professor of Choral Music from San Jose State University, Dr. Archibeque continues to remain active in the choral field as clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator, teacher. As a teacher of teachers her choral workshops throughout the world are acclaimed as "practical, comprehensive, and insightful". Her summer workshops at SJSU and for many ACDA State and other University workshops attracted thousands of participants. She appeared on the faculty for Westminster's "Five Perspectives", twice at the Santa Fe "Perspectives", the Four Corners Workshops in Arizona, for both the Tennessee and Oklahoma Fine Arts Institutes, and for many Invitational Festivals. Some of her areas of expertise include conducting technique, vocal training in the choral rehearsal, musicianship skills, rehearsal technique, choral diction, blend and tone quality, as well as performance practices with historical perspective.

Anton Armstrong

Anton Armstrong is the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College and Conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. He assumed this position in 1990 following 10 years in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he served on the faculty of Calvin College and conducted the Campus Choir, the Calvin College Alumni Choir and the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus.

A graduate of St. Olaf College, Armstrong earned a Master of Music degree at the University of Illinois and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. He holds membership in several professional societies, including the American Choral Directors Association, Choristers Guild, Chorus America, and the International Federation for Choral Music. Armstrong also serves as editor of a multicultural choral series for Earthsongs Publications and co-editor of the revised St. Olaf Choral Series for Augsburg Fortress Publishers. He is featured with Andre Thomas on an instructional video on adolescent singers entitled Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice. He is a contributing writer to Volume I of Teaching Music through Performance in Choir and a contributor to Way Over in Beulah Lan' by Andre Thomas.

Dr. Craig Arnold

Craig Arnold is director of choral activities, conductor of the Nordic Choir, and professor of music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Arnold returns to Luther having served on its music faculty in the early 1980s. He was Music Director of Manhattan Concert Productions and Conductor of the New York City Chorale and Chamber Orchestra. He previously served as director of choral activities at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and Capital University in Columbus, OH.

Arnold's education includes a doctorate in conducting from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY; a master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. He has served as guest lecturer at the St. Petersburg (Russia) Conservatory and has conducted choirs and orchestras at New York City's Carnegie Hall and the Weill Recital Hall. He has also frequently appeared as guest conductor, clinician, or presenter in Japan, England, Scotland, Germany, France, Italy, Wales, Hong Kong, China, Alaska, Colorado, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, California, Texas, Michigan, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Eric Banks

Conductor, composer, instructor, vocalist, linguist, and ethnomusicologist, Eric Banks has garnered significant acclaim as one of the most creative and compelling choral directors in the United States - for his unwavering commitment to new music for unaccompanied voices. In 1992, Eric founded The Esoterics, a professional-caliber chamber chorus in Seattle whose mission is to perform and perpetuate contemporary choral music beyond the scope of the established a cappella canon. In 2004, Banks founded yet another group, the all-male vocal ensemble AEDONIS, whose mission is to perform choral music exclusively by gay and lesbian composers.

After completing his BA in Composition at Yale University in 1990, Eric relocated to Seattle to study in the departments of Choral Studies and Music Theory at the University of Washington. His MM thesis (1992) is a performance edition of Dixit Dominus by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani; his MA thesis (1995) is a postmodern analysis of Arvo Part's symphonic Credo; and his DMA dissertation (1996) surveys the choral music of Mexican composer and Aztec ethnomusicologist Carlos Chavez.

Daniel Bara

Daniel Bara joins the Hugh Hodgson School of Music as Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music in fall of 2010, having served as Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University, in Greenville, North Carolina. While at ECU, his university choirs were invited to perform for state, regional, and national conventions of ACDA and MENC, and the ECU Chamber Singers completed two professional recordings for the Gothic Records label (Greater Love, 2007; Eternal Light, 2010). His conducting students have consistently advanced into the live rounds of the ACDA National Conducting Competition, and several of his former MM conducting students now hold collegiate conducting appointments at New England Conservatory, Miami University of Ohio, University of Idaho, and William Jewell College.

Christine Bass

Christine Bass is a distinguished choral director, guest conductor, and clinician, and the Choral Director for the Women's Choir at Temple University. A teacher for almost three decades, she has presented workshops on vocal technique, recruiting male singers, and differentiated instruction for NJEA, NJMEA and ACDA (American Choral Director's Association) high schools and universities. She was named New Jersey MENC Master Music Teacher and received the Governor's Award in Arts Education. She conducted All South Jersey Chorus, New Jersey All State Chorus and in 2009 Christine was honored to conduct the ACDA All National High School Honors Choir in Oklahoma City, and in 2010 South Carolina All-State Women's Chorus. She has served on the NJACDA Board as the Repertoire & Standards Chair for Male Choirs. Christine has been selected for Who's Who of American Teachers and Who's Who of American Women. She was featured in the September 2007 edition of "Choral Director" magazine. Christine currently has a vocal technique DVD, Vocal Transformation, published by Hal Leonard.

Linda Beaupre

Linda Beaupre received her Bachelor of Music degree with a major in music education and concentrations in piano and voice from the State University of New York at Potsdam, and her Master of Music degree with a major in vocal performance form the University of Western Ontario. She has taught school music and school choirs in Australia and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and for several years she was a soprano with the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Torronto Mendelssohn Choir. She has been director of the Bach Children's Chorus since she founded it in 1987. Since 1991 she has also conducted the Guelph Youth Singers, founded in that year, which includes four choirs at differing levels of training.

Barbara Berner

Barbara Berner conducts the advanced touring ensemble, Concert Choir, co-directs Choristers, and oversees all aspects of the children's choirs program as Artistic Director. Under Mrs. Berner's direction Concert Choir has performed at Carnegie Hall, the national American Choral Directors Association convention in Los Angeles, and at the White House.

Mrs. Berner has prepared Concert Choir for numerous performances with the Saint Louis Symphony under conductors David Robertson, Ludwig Wicki, Peter Oundjian, Hans Vonk, Eri Klas, David Amado, David Zinman, Ward Stare, Scott Parkman, Robert Kapilow, and John McDaniel. Mrs. Berner has conducted the young singers in performances with the Bach Society of Saint Louis, the St. Louis Holiday Brass Ensemble, and the St. Louis Chamber Chorus, plus featured broadcasts on KFUO Classic 99, and on international tours to Australia, England and Wales, Austria and the Czech Republic, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Thomas Beveridge

Thomas Beveridge, Music Director of the National Men's Chorus, has had a distinguished career in music. He has been recognized for his multi-faceted abilities: singer, oboist, keyboard player, composer, arranger, teacher, conductor. He attended Harvard College, studying composition with Randall Thompson and Walter Piston, and choral conducting with G. Wallace Woodworth. Vocal study was at the Longy School of Music with Mme. Olga Averino and, later, with Mme. Mascia Predit. He studied composition and conducting in France with the legendary Nadia Boulanger.

His career as a professional singer has included performances at the Yehudi Menuhin Festival in Switzerland, with the National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Choral Arts Society, U.S. Army Band and Chorus, the Boston Opera Group, New England Bach Festival, the Cathedral Choral Society, the New Amsterdam Singers, the Bethlehem Bach Choir, and the Philadelphia Singers. He has appeared in solo recital throughout the U.S., and at Carnegie Recital Hall, Symphony Space in New York City, the Phillips Collection, the Corcoran Gallery, the Library of Congress, and three entire concerts of his own songs at the National Gallery of Art.

Jerry Blackstone

GRAMMY Award winning conductor Jerry Blackstone is Director of Choirs and Chair of the Conducting Department at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at the graduate level, and administers a choral program of eleven choirs. In February 2006, he received two GRAMMY Awards ("Best Choral Performance" and "Best Classical Album") as chorusmaster for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom's monumental Songs of Innocence and of Experience. In 2006, the Chamber Choir performed by special invitation at the inaugural convention of the National Collegiate Choral Organization in San Antonio, and in 2003, the Chamber Choir presented three enthusiastically received performances in New York City at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In addition to Professor Blackstone's choral conducting work at the University, he has led operatic productions with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, including productions of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and Strauss's Die Fledermaus. For his significant contributions to choral music in Michigan, he received the 2006 Maynard Klein Lifetime Achievement Award from the ACDA-Michigan chapter.

Robert Bode

Robert H. Bode is in his fourth year as Artistic Director of Choral Arts. In addition to his work in Seattle, Bode is also on the faculty at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, were he is the Raymond R. Neevel/Missouri Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Activities. Prior to going to UMKC, Dr. Bode was the Alma Meisnest Endowed Chair in the Humanities and Fine Arts and Director of Choral/Vocal Studies at Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, where he conducted the 100-voice Chorale and the 30-voice Whitman Chamber Singers.

Robert Bode received his doctorate in Choral Conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to attending the Cincinnati Conservatory, Dr. Bode won a conducting scholarship at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, where he studied opera conducting with Fiora Contino.

Kristina G. Boerger

Kristina Boerger received her formative musical training from pianist Annie Sherter and holds the doctorate in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois. Having directed independent choirs in Urbana-Champaign and New York City, public-school choirs in Wisconsin and Illinois, and college choirs at Lake Forest College and the Millikin University School of Music, she was recently appointed Director of Choral Activities at Carroll University.

Based in New York City from 2000 through the spring of 2009, Dr. Boerger divided her professional activities among her three principal loves: choral conducting, singing, and academic teaching.

Beth Ann Bonnecroy

Beth Ann Bonnecroy is in demand as a singer, conductor, and teacher of voice. An accomplished soprano, she has distinguished herself as a recitalist and performer in the Seattle area. Bonnecroy is a member of the artistic staff of the Northwest Girlchoir, where she conducts Vivace, the choir of middle school level singers. Under her direction, Vivace traveled to Japan to perform at the Japan-American Grassroots Summit in Hiroshima. She has over 20 years experience in church music, conducting choral groups and handbell choirs of all ages. Bonnecroy is currently on the music staff of Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle. She holds a BM from St. Olaf College and an MM from Arizona State University.

Sara Boos

This is Sara's 6th year as Director of Northwest Girlchoir. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Music degree in music education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Sara has over fifteen years of choral and general music teaching experience and has worked with students at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels in Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Washington.

Along with her work in public school music programs, she has directed adult and children's church choirs and a women's choir at a maximum-security prison in Minnesota. Sara is an active vocal soloist and choral musician. For four years she was a member of the Dale Warland Singers in Minnesota, one of the country's premier professional choirs. Since coming to the Northwest, Sara has sung with Seattle Pro Musica, the St. James Cathedral Choir and Cantorei, Opus 7, and Urban Baroque in Portland, Oregon.

Patricia Bourne

Patricia Bourne is a veteran music educator who has taught preschool through graduate level students over the span of 29 years in four different states. During her long tenure as a teacher, she has presented workshops throughout the country on topics such as children's choral and classroom singing, curriculum development, classroom management systems, working with special-needs students, African drumming, marimbas in elementary general music, to name a few. Patty has guest conducted regional and all-state choruses in multiple states, as well as adjudicated secondary vocal solo and ensembles throughout the Northwest region..

David Brensinger

In 1976 founding conductor, Kevin Culver, and soprano, Cheryl Bray, inspired by their mentor Robert Shaw and his Chorale, brought together a group of their friends for a few concerts, never thinking that The Atlanta Singers would last for over thirty years. Today, the group is known nationally and internationally through their recordings and performances aired on American Public Media's Performance Today, and by concerts streamed over the Internet.

Kevin retired from the Singers in 1992 after leading the group for fifteen years. David Brensinger became the second conductor of The Atlanta Singers in 1993.

Brensinger conducted the group for thirteen years before retiring in 2005. He broadened their audience through recordings and performances around the Southeast, and selections from many of their past Christmas concerts at Spivey Hall under his direction have been heard nationally on National Public Radio.

Dr. Madeline Bridges

Dr. Madeline Bridges is the Associate Dean for Academic Studies and Professor of Music Education in the School of Music at Belmont University. Dr. Bridges received her Doctorate of Music Education from the University of Alabama, Master of Music Education from George Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Shorter College in Rome, GA.

Dr. Bridges has taught music and music education in classrooms from kindergarten through the graduate level. She serves as Campus Director of the Tennessee Arts Academy and is Co-Director of the Nashville Children's Choir, a multi-level community choir program in residence at Belmont. In the spring of 2002, the Touring Choir component of the Nashville Children's Choir was selected to sing at the biennial national conference of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. Dr. Bridges is also a frequent clinician for choral music festivals and a conference leader in the area of general, choral, and early childhood music.

Bruce Browne

Bruce Browne is Emeritus Professor of Choral Studies and Voice at Portland State University, and Conductor Laureate of the Portland Symphonic Choir. He founded the professional choir Choral Cross Ties, and co-founded Male Enesmble Northwest. Choirs under Browne's direction have performed at five ACDA National Conventions, four MENC Nationals, an ISME Convention, and numerous regional and state Conventions. He has been guest director / clinician in several countries including Spain, Greece, Canada, and England, and has appeared in several states in similar capacities.

Charles Bruffy

Charles Bruffy is one of the most admired choral conductors in the United States, respected and renowned for his fresh and passionate interpretations of standards of the choral repertory and for championing new music. He currently conducts the Kansas City Chorale, the Kansas City Symphony Chorus and the Phoenix Chorale, and is Director of Music at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church.

He is dedicated to commissioning and premiering works by contemporary American composers, and has received ASCAP's Adventurous Programming award. Recent commissions and premieres include works by Jean Belmont, Matthew Harris, Libby Larsen, Zhou Long, Stephen Paulus, Stephen Sametz, Eric Whitacre, Rene Clausen and Chen Yi. The Roger Dean Company, a division of the Lorenz Corporation, publishes a choral series under Bruffy's supervision specializing in music for professional ensembles and sophisticated high school and college choirs.

Philip Brunelle

Philip Brunelle is an internationally renowned conductor, choral scholar and performer. He founded VocalEssence (previously known as the Plymouth Music Series) in 1969 and remains the artistic director today. Brunelle's conducting engagements have taken him across the United States, South America and Europe. Recently, he has conducted the BBC Singers, the Seattle Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. Brunelle has served on the board of directors of Chorus America and the National Council on the Arts and he currently serves on the Board of Regents at St. Olaf College and the Board of Directors of the Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association. In 2001, he was inducted into the Minnesota Musical Hall of Fame and he has won a myriad of awards including the Kodaly Medal from the government of Hungary, the Stig Andersson Award for contributions to Swedish music and the Minneapolis Award presented to him by Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton. In 2002, he was honored with the U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment, recognizing lifetime achievement, contribution and leadership in culture and the arts.

Dr. Scott Buchanan

Scott Buchanan serves as the Director of Choral Activities and coordinator of the voice and choral division at Indiana State University in Terre Haute. Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Buchanan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Bradley University, a Master's Degree in Music Education from the Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Prior to his appointment at ISU, he served on the faculty as Director of Choral Activities at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Georgia. Dr. Buchanan began his career teaching choral music at the high school level in Brevard County, Florida. Dr. Buchanan is in frequent demand as a choral clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. Additionally, he has published articles in the Southeastern Journal of Music Education, the Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, VocalEase magazine, and has written compact disc and choral reviews for Choral Journal.

Daniel Canosa

Hailed as one of the best conductors of his generation, Argentine-born Daniel Canosa has led orchestras in Argentina, the United States, and Europe. He has established a bright reputation for his sensible and inspiring performances of an extensive repertoire of symphonic and choral masterworks from all periods. Currently living in California, he is the music director and conductor of the ECHO Chamber Orchestra, artistic director and conductor of the Apollo Symphony Orchestra, and the music director of the Marin Baroque.

Tom Carter

My name is Tom Carter, and for the past 25 years I've been helping actors and singers create engaging experiences for themselves and their audiences. Lately, I've been doing this type of work with choirs, and the results have been extremely rewarding. When singers connect deeply and specifically to text and music, their faces and bodies are dynamically expressive, their singing is vibrant and nuanced, and -- most significantly -- their connection draws the audience into the heart and soul of the music. This is exciting stuff! In fact, Choral Coaching has become so fulfilling that I retired as Drama teacher and head of a private school's Performing Arts department so that I could work with more choirs and write a book on this subject. The second edition of Choral CHARISMA: Singing with Expression is now available. Since "playing with expression" is a very similar process (witness Gustavo Dudamel & the Los Angeles Philharmonic), I have begun to work with instrumentalists as well. It's an equally rewarding experience.

David Cherwien

David Cherwien, music director of the National Lutheran Choir, is a nationally known conductor, composer and organist. Recognized for his contributions to the field of church music and liturgy, he is in demand as a clinician and hymn festival leader across the country. David serves as editor of the National Lutheran Choir Series of choral music published by Morningstar Music Publishers. He is a founding member of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and has served in its leadership in a variety of capacities, including as National President from 1993 to 1997. He is a member of the American Choral Director's Association, American Guild of Organists, Chorus America and Choristers Guild.

Jenny Chiang

Jenny Chiang was born and raised in Taiwan. She received her early music education from Professor Chuan-Sheng Lu, who is well known as a composer and "Father of Children's Choral Music" in Taiwan. Ms. Chiang co-founded Crystal Children's Choir in 1994 and has served as Artistic Director ever since. In the summer of 2000 and the spring of 2005, she studied choral conducting with Dr. Charlene Archibeque at San Jose State University.

Some notable performances with Crystal Choir include a Grand Champion in the 9th International Youth Choral Festival in Portland, Oregon 1998; three ACDA conventions (Western Division 2002, 2006 and National 2007); three CMEA convention in 2001, 2002, and 2004; OAKE 2004; the Australian International Music Festival 2004, Gold Medal awarded; and MENC 2006.

Harry Christophers

Harry Christophers is known internationally as founder and conductor of The Sixteen as well as a regular guest conductor for many of the major symphony orchestras and opera companies worldwide. He has directed The Sixteen and its orchestra throughout Europe, America and the Far East gaining a distinguished reputation for his work in Renaissance, Baroque and twentieth century music. He has made a significant contribution to the recording catalogue (already comprising some ninety titles) for which he has won numerous awards including a Grand Prix du Disque for Handel's Messiah, numerous Schallplattenkritik, the coveted Gramophone Award for Early Music and most recently, the prestigious Classical Brit Award 2005 for his disc entitled Renaissance. His CD IKON was nominated for a 2007 Grammy. In 2000 he instituted the 'Choral Pilgrimage', a national tour of English cathedrals from York to Canterbury in music from the pre-Reformation, as The Sixteen's contribution to the millennium celebrations. It raised awareness of this historic repertoire so successfully that the Choral Pilgrimage in the UK is now central to the annual artistic programme.

Rene Clausen

Rene Clausen's has served as conductor of The Concordia Choir of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota since 1986. Additionally, he is the artistic director of the award-winning Concordia Christmas Concerts, which are frequently featured by PBS stations throughout the nation.

Rene Clausen is a well-known composer. His compositional style is varied and eclectic, ranging from works appropriate for high school and church choirs to more technically-demanding compositions for college and professional choirs. Interested in composing for various media, Clausen's compositional interests include works for the stage, solo voice, film and video composition, choral/orchestral compositions and arrangements, as well as works for orchestra and wind ensemble. He regularly composes on a commission basis, and is a frequent guest conductor and composer-in-residence on a national basis.

Judith Clurman

Emmy and Grammy nominated conductor, educator, and choral specialist Judith Clurman is driven by a passion for vocal music in all its forms and styles. Equally at home with repertoire from the classical canon to the American Songbook, musical theater and contemporary compositions, Ms. Clurman's performances are marked by dynamic interpretations and effortless panache.

As music director for Essential Voices USA (EVUSA) Ms. Clurman collaborates with the New York Pops on their Carnegie Hall subscription series. With the Symphony Singers, she has worked with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. She served as founding conductor of the New York Concert Singers and Project Youth Chorus, music director of Prism Concerts, the 92nd Street Y's "Music of the Spirit" program, and as artistic director of the Lincoln Center Tree Lighting.

Sue Coffee

Sue Coffee is the founding Artistic Director of Resonance, the 100-voice Women's Chorus of Boulder, which made its debut in 2003, and Sound Circle, a women's a cappella ensemble, currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary season. She directed the Denver Gay Men's Chorus from 1999 to 2005. Sue received a Legacy Award from the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses at the 2004 GALA Festival in Montreal, in recognition of her contributions to the gay and lesbian choral movement. She has served GALA Choruses on the Board of Directors and numerous advisory committees and has presented workshops at GALA Choruses events on topics including long-range artistic planning, mission and relevance, and musical excellence. She directed the women's chorus at the first Singers' Weekend in Toronto in 1997 and co-organized the Voices of Women concert at the 2004 Montreal Festival.

Joel Cohen

Joel Cohen, (born 1942) was the Music Director of the Boston Camerata from 1968 to 2008. He remains connected to the Boston Camerata as Music Director Emeritus. Cohen founded the Camerata Mediterranea in 1990 and incorporated it as a nonprofit research institute in France in 2007. He has collaborated very frequently with French soprano Anne Azema. His professional honors include the Signet Society Medal (Harvard University), the Howard Mayer Brown Award, the Erwin Bodky Award, and the Georges Longy Award. He was a government-appointed artist-in-residence in the Netherlands during the year 2000, and is an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. Cohen studied composition at Harvard University. He was awarded a Danforth Fellowship and spent two years in Paris as a student of Nadia Boulanger. In the 1970s he spent two seasons as a producer of musical radio programs for the French National Radio (France Musique), where he originated the concept of an all-day musical celebration on the days of the solstice. This annual event is currently known as the "Fete de la Musique" also known as "World Music Day".

Joan Conlon

Joan Catoni Conlon recenty retired as the Director of Graduate Choral Research for the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she conducts the University Singers. She received her BA, MA and DMA degrees from the University of Washington where she was Professor of Choral Music and Conducting. She was the conductor of the Northwest Chamber Chorus in Seattle, Washington, and was the chair of the Research and Publications Committee of the American Choral Directors Association. Her scholarship specializes in the choral music of Georg Philipp Telemann and Claudio Monteverdi. She published Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor's Guide (ISBN 0-937276-27-8). She has also studied the Hindustani classical vocal music of India.

Andrew Crane

Andrew Crane joined the BYU faculty in 2015, where his main duties include conducting the Brigham Young University Singers and teaching courses in the graduate conducting curriculum. Previous to this appointment, he served for four years as Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University, and six years in the same position at California State University, San Bernardino.

Choirs under his direction have appeared by invitation at multiple state, regional, and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and National Collegiate Choral Organization. Recent examples include the 2019 ACDA national conference in Kansas City, the 2020 Utah Music Educators Association conference in St. George, and the 2020 Western Division ACDA conference in Salt Lake City.

Joseph Crnko

Joseph Crnko joined Seattle Symphony as the Associate Conductor for Choral Activities in September 2007. He is in his 25th year as Music Director of the Northwest Choirs, the Northwest's premier youth choral organization, which includes both the Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle. In addition to his work with the Northwest Choirs, Crnko regularly conducts professional orchestral and choral recording sessions for movie and video game soundtracks, including those for the films Millions, O, Boondock Saints and The Celestine Prophecy, and video games Halo, Medal of Honor and The Age of Mythology. Crnko served as Music Director for Civic Light Opera in Seattle and for productions with Alaska Light Opera Theatre, Evergreen Theatre Conservatory, Seattle Children's Theatre and the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington.

Emily Crocker

Emily Holt Crocker, founder and artistic director of the Milwaukee Children's Choir is recognized nationally as a leading expert in children's choirs. The Milwaukee Children's Choir has received acclaim for performances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, the American Choral Directors Association, the Chiba People's Festival in Japan and the Canterbury (England) International Children's Choir Festival.

As a composer, Ms. Crocker's works have been performed around the world and she has received ASCAP awards for concert music since 1986. She is well known for her work in developing choral instructional materials and is an author of Experiencing Choral Music, choral textbook series for grades 6-12, published by McGraw-Hill/Glencoe. As a guest conductor, she led the Midwinter Children's Choral Festival in Carnegie Hall in 1999 and 2001 and has conducted the Milwaukee Symphony Pops Orchestra and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra in performances with the Milwaukee Children's Choir. In 2002 she was awarded the Excellence in Youth Music award from the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee.

Matthew Culloton

Matthew Culloton is the Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists. In August 2010, Matthew became Choirmaster at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. He holds degrees from Concordia College, Moorhead (B.M. in Music Education) and the University of Minnesota (M.M. in Choral Conducting, D.M.A. in Conducting). Matthew has studied conducting with Rene Clausen, Kathy Romey, Craig Kirchhoff, Paul Nesheim, Matthew Mehaffey, Mark Russell Smith, and Bruce Houglum.

As a composer, Matthew has been commissioned by The Singers, the Dale Warland Singers, Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester (MN), Ames Chamber Artists, Chanson, the Minnesota MMEA All-State Choir, and numerous high school, collegiate, and church choirs.

Carol Cymbala

Carol Cymbala was born in Chicago, IL. She is the wife of Pastor Jim Cymbala and serves as the director of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and is also the daughter of the church founder, the late Rev. Clair Hutchins. She has three grown children, 2 girls and a boy.

Carol began the choir with a group of 9 people in the early 1980's. Since then, the choir has grown to 250 voices. When she had trouble finding enough appropriate songs, she began writing them. Although she cannot read or write music, the Lord has given her a special gift that helps her to play from her heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Twenty years and many albums later, recordings and live performances continue to carry the choir's sound and the Gospel's message to people all over the world. Carol has written hundreds of songs, 51 of them recorded throughout her 23 album recording history. The choir is a mixture of ethnic and economic backgrounds; there are attorneys and former street people, nurses and ex-crack addicts.

Debbie Daly

Debbie Daly is a yoga and singing teacher based in northern California. She is passionate about making the benefits of yoga and singing available to people of all ability levels.

Debbie is also a professional singer, musician, and dynamic group harmony singing leader. In 2015 she co-founded Sound Orchard, the northern California community music organization that hosts West Marin Choir and other music programs.

In her personal practice Debbie incorporates conscious dance and indulges in playful voice and movement improvisation. She can often be found hiking, biking, swimming or paddling around her home turf the Point Reyes peninsula.

Brazeal W. Dennard

Brazeal Dennard attended Detroit Public Schools as a youngster and began private music study with such notables as the late Johnnie Reid, Professor S. A. Ratliff, Dean Robert Nolan, Lloyd Murphy, and Virginia Persons. He completed his formal education at Wayne State University, earning a Masters Degree in Music Education. Throughout his career, Brazeal has served in many roles, such as guest conductor, clinician, lecturer, and church choirmaster.His numerous professional affiliations include National Endowment of the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs for the city of Detroit, former trustee and member of the Advisory Committee of the Detroit Community Music School, former Chairman of the Music Advisory Committee for the Michigan Council for the Arts, and President of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

Dr. Cedric Dent

Cedric Carl Dent, a native of Detroit, Michigan, was a baritone vocalist, music arranger, and co-producer of the 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocal group, TAKE 6. After 25 years, Dent retired from full-time performing and has been an emeritus member of the group since 2011. Dent is also a 2-time Grammy-nominated music arranger and contributed several arrangements for the Grammy-award winning recording Handel's Messiah A Soulful Celebration (1992). In 2014, Dent rejoined TAKE 6 for their induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN.

David P. DeVenney

David P. DeVenney has established a wide reputation as a conductor and scholar. His choirs have toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, receiving acclaim for their carefully prepared and musically exciting performances from audiences and critics alike. The WCU Concert Choir has sung to sold-out audiences in venues like St. Severin in Paris, and was invited to close the prestigious Viareggio, Italy Choral Festival in 2004. His conducting repertory includes over one hundred major choral works with orchestra and two dozen operas and musicals, and he has commissioned and premiered new choral works by noteworthy composers such as David Conte, Robert Maggio, Jennifer Higdon, Emma Lou Diemer, Marvin Hamlisch, and Robert Page. His choirs appear commercially on the Albany label as well as on several private CDs with his university ensembles, and have appeared at state and regional conferences of the Ohio Choral Directors Association and the College Music Society.

David Dickau

David Dickau (b. 1953) is a choral conductor and composer residing in Mankato, Minnesota where he has been serving as Director of Choral Activities at Minnesota State University, Mankato since 1991. As a part of his duties, Dr. Dickau conducts the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers and teaches conducting and composition. He recently received the Distinguished Faculty Scholar award from his university.

Dr. Dickau holds advanced degrees in Choral Music from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA.) He has taught choral music on both the high school and college levels and has conducted community and church choirs. He also served for thirteen years as music director of Magnum Chorum, a Twin Cities-based chamber choir.

Rodney Eichenberger

Rodney Eichenberger, Florida State University Professor Emeritus, continues to maintain a busy professional schedule elsewhere. He has conducted 80 US All State Choirs and guest conducted or lectured at more than 85 US, Australian and New Zealand Universities. International appearances include guest conducting the Korean National Chorus in Seoul, the Pusan, Korea City Choir, International High School Honor Choirs in Tokyo and Berlin and leading conducting workshops in Argentina, Brazil, France, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, Austria, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. His instructional videos on Choral Conducting," What They See Is What You Get," published by Hinshaw Music and "Enhancing Musicality Through Movement," Santa Barbara Press, are widely used in collegiate conducting classes. A graduate of St. Olaf College with advanced study at the Universities of Denver, Washington and Iowa, he taught at the University of Washington and the University of Southern California prior to his appointment at Florida State University.

Randi Von Ellefson

Randi Von Ellefson has been director of choral activities and professor of music at Oklahoma City University and the artistic director of Canterbury Choral Society in Oklahoma City since the autumn of 2004. He holds a BA in music education and church music from Texas Lutheran University, an MFA in conducting from the University of Minnesota, and a DMA in choral music from Arizona State University.

He has taught choral music in various colleges and universities since 1977 including Bethany Lutheran College (MN), Whitworth College (WA) and the University of Chicago (IL). Ellefson also was artistic director of the Elgin Choral Union (IL), the Spokane Symphony Chorale (WA) and was a founding member of Spokane Opera Company and served that organization as resident conductor from 1989 until 1996. He also served St. Mark's Lutheran Church as director of music and is currently choir director at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church.