Adjudicators

Joshua R. Brown serves as Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Studies, and Chair of Ensembles at Dallas Baptist University, where he conducts choral ensembles and teaches courses in choral music and conducting. Dr. Brown’s students have recently performed at the Meyerson, the Arkansas Gubernatorial Inauguration, Holidays at the Capitol (Little Rock), Carnegie Hall, and the Arkansas All-State Conference. Dr. Brown has been invited to present at conferences in Arkansas, Idaho, Wyoming, Texas and Utah. Additionally, he currently serves as Executive Director of Voces Pacis – a semiprofessional choral organization in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. Previously, Dr. Brown served as the Director of the University of North Texas Men’s Chorus as well as Artistic Director of the Coppell Community Chorale (2016-2019) and was Director of Choirs at Coppell High School (2012-2017), where his choirs were selected to perform at the White House (2014), Texas Music Educators Convention (2017), and Southwestern American Choral Directors Convention (2016). Prior to that, Dr. Brown was Director of Choirs at Abilene High School (2009-2012). Brown holds music degrees from the University of North Texas, Baylor University, and Dallas Baptist University.

Dr. Jeffery Goolsby is Director of Choral Studies at Abilene Christian University, where he leads a program dedicated to artistic excellence, transformational musical experiences, and high-impact community engagement. He conducts the university’s premiere choral ensemble, the A Cappella Chorus, conducts the University Chorale, and oversees three student-led contemporary a cappella groups. The ACU choral music program engages students from diverse academic, social, racial, and economic backgrounds. More than half of the program is comprised of non-music majors. Dr. Goolsby teaches courses in choral conducting and choral methods and supervises the choral music education program. Prior to joining the ACU faculty, he taught for ten years in successful high school choral music programs in the Dallas and Houston areas. Choirs under his direction have performed at notable venues in the United States and abroad. He is in demand as a clinician, consultant, and adjudicator throughout the country and has served in numerous regional and state capacities with TMEA, ACDA, and UIL. He holds degrees in choral conducting and music education from Texas Tech University, Louisiana State University, and Abilene Christian University, where he was named a University Scholar. Professional affiliations include ACDA, NCCO, TMEA, TCDA, TMAA, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

A. Jan Taylor was Associate Professor and Director of Choral Music Activities at Prairie View A&M University. A Houston native, she attended HSPVA and earned a B. M. from the University of Houston, M. A. from Prairie View A&M University, and a D.M.A. from UH. Dr. Taylor taught general music, piano, and choir in elementary, middle, and high schools in Houston ISD. An adjudicator and choral clinician for competitions and festivals throughout the U. S., as an authority she often lectures on the performance practices and preservation of the African American spiritual. Dr. Taylor has traveled in the U. S., Europe, and Asia as a singer and conductor, served as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony Chorus, and conductor of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild Chorus. She conducted the “105 Voices of History” HBCU National Choir in performances at the Grand Ole Opry House, the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, the Kennedy Center, and for the nationally televised MLK50 Commemoration event held by the National Civil Rights Museum. The Prairie View A&M University Concert Chorale and PV Chamber Singers have performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad, including performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and international music festivals in Poland, Germany, and South America.

Clinicians

Kristina Caswell MacMullen serves as the Mary Gibbs Jones Chair of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University. She conducts the Baylor A Cappella Choir, Chamber Singers, and leads the graduate program in choral conducting. Prior to her appointment at BU, MacMullen served on the faculties of the University of North Texas and The Ohio State University. Her interdisciplinary work earned her the Sir William Osler Award at OSU and the President’s Special Recognition Award at UNT. MacMullen has also been recognized by TCDA for her innovation in programming. As an active adjudicator and clinician, MacMullen has conducted All-State and honors choirs throughout the United States. She has presented and co-presented interest sessions at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her teaching and conducting is featured on the recording Conducting-Teaching: Real World Strategies for Success published by GIA (2009). MacMullen has enjoyed a diverse career as a public-school teacher, interacting with students in rural, suburban, and urban settings, elementary through high school. She also sings with the professional ensemble mirabai. Creative projects include interdisciplinary performances addressing human trafficking, the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, play theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, archetype exploration, belonging, American song, civic engagement, and the nature of tears.

As conductor, pedagogue, and scholar, Sandra Snow is widely acknowledged as one who brings singers of all ages and abilities to artful performance through an understanding of the music and its context in the world around them. Dr. Snow is Director of Choral Programs and Area Chair of Conducting at the Michigan State University College of Music where she oversees graduate programs in choral conducting. The Mosaic ensemble has appeared as featured performers at American Choral Directors Association conventions at state, regional, and national levels. As guest conductor, she travels extensively in North America and abroad. In 2017 Snow created mirabai, a project-based professional women’s chorus. mirabai’s recording Ecstatic Songs was the winner of the American Prize in Choral Music, professional choirs’ division, in 2020. Their second recording, Home in Me, was released in fall 2022. The mission of mirabai includes outreach and education programs designed to support the work of women as educators, composers, poets, and conductors. Snow is a recipient of the Michigan State University William J. Beal Award for Outstanding Faculty, the MSU TeacherScholar Award, and the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow award for Excellence in Teaching.

Tony Thornton is Professor of Music and Doug and Nickie Burns Endowed Chair in Choral Music at Oklahoma State University, where he serves as the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies. He is Artistic Director of the Sarteano (Italy)Chamber Choral Conducting Workshop. Thornton received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Voice from Westminster Choir College, his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting and Historical Musicology from the University of Arizona. Thornton has worked with over 400 mixed, treble, and tenor/bass choruses in public and private schools, colleges, churches, community ensembles, and professional organizations in 25 states, Japan, and throughout Europe. As a member of the Westminster Choir, he performed at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the United States, and he has recorded with Leonard Bernstein, Riccardo Muti, Robert Shaw, Claudio Abbado, and Zubin Mehta. He sang for seven years as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. He is Past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and he was Collegiate R&R Chair for the ACDA Eastern Division from 2020-2022.

Adjudicators

Raul Dominguez is the Director of Choral Activities at Regis University in beautiful Denver, CO where he conducts the Concert Choir and University Choir. At Regis, he leads their Music Education program, heads the Voice Area, and teaches a fine arts course, Mexican Music: Purpose and Identity. Additionally, he conducts the Timberline Choir, 130 2nd-5th graders, with the Denver Children’s Choir alongside fabulous musicians. Now back at his alma mater, the University of Colorado Boulder, he conducts the CU Festival Chorus. In 2022, Raul graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts from CU Boulder and served as the Associate Artistic Director for the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus for four years. Prior to that, he earned his Master of Music from Ithaca College in New York in 2019. He taught at Clear Lake High School for four years in his hometown of Houston, TX after graduating from Oklahoma City University with his Bachelor of Music degrees. His ensembles have sung with the Houston Symphony, Houston Chamber Choir, at Carnegie Hall, on the balcony of the Colorado State Capitol for the inauguration of Governor Jared Polis, and alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 winner, Yvie Oddly. Raulconducts.com

Michael Murphy is the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University. Before his appointment to SFASU, Michael was Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor at the University of Idaho for nine years, where he was Founder and Artistic Director of the Idaho Bach Festival and was recognized with the UI Faculty Award for outstanding scholarship, teaching, and engagement. Dr. Murphy is an active clinician, adjudicator, and author. His international conducting and teaching experiences include Austria, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, England, Germany, Norway, Panama, and Sweden. Murphy is the coauthor and editor of Conducting Primer in Practice, has been published several times in Choral Journal, and contributed to volume 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir. As a passionate champion of music for all, Michael has experience teaching all ages and levels and several auditioned and non-auditioned collegiate, community, school, and church choirs. His choirs have been invited to perform for several state and regional ACDA and NafME conferences, and he has held several state and national leadership positions in ACDA, NAfME, and NCCO. Murphy received his degrees in conducting and choral music education from Florida State University and East Carolina University.

Richard W. Robbins serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Conservatory of Shenandoah University. Recognized as a sought-after clinician and adjudicator, Robbins has conducted residencies at several international institutions, including recent engagements at Warsaw’s Chopin Conservatory of Music, the Krakow Academy of Music, and Lebanon’s Fayha National Choir. His choral performances have been featured on television and on nationally syndicated radio programs, including American Public Media’s “Pipedreams.” With a rich background in choral- orchestral repertoire, Robbins has prepared choruses for numerous orchestral organizations, including the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. Robbins’ ensembles have been featured at festivals and conferences, and he has collaborated with diverse artists, from classical performers to Grammy-winning pop groups. Prior to his current academic position, he led the choral programs at the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Wisconsin-Superior, in addition to serving as director of the University of Houston’s Concert Women’s Chorus and University Men’s Chorus. A native Texan, he performed at the Madrigal Festival as a high school student, and proudly directed choirs at the festival while on faculty at South Houston High School and Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Clinicians

Lynne Gackle is Professor Emeritus of Music at Baylor University where she served as the Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Ensemble Division. Dr. Gackle previously taught at the University of South Florida, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Miami (FL). Lynne is an active choral clinician/conductor, nationally and internationally. She has held various positions within the American Choral Directors Association, including National President, President, Southern Region, President, ACDA-Florida, and was VP of College/Community Choirs for TCDA. Gackle is the editor of Choral Artistry for the Singer (Walton Music) and the Lynne Gackle Choral Series (Colla Voce). Internationally recognized for her research on the female adolescent voice, Lynne is the author of Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart. She is a contributing author for other books published by GIA, Oxford, Hal Leonard/McGraw Hill including the Oxford Handbook for Singing (2019), and Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor/Teachers (2022). Gackle was awarded ACDA-FL’s Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award, Baylor’s Outstanding Faculty Award in Research (2012), the Texas Choir Masters Award (2021), the MacPherson Prize (2023) and most recently, the 2023 Frost Centennial Medal from the University of Miami. She holds memberships in ACDA, TMEA, TCDA, and NATS.

Joey M. Martin is Professor of Music at Texas State University where he serves as the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication. He served as the National ACDA Repertoire and Resources Chair for College and University Choirs for seven years and continues his professional service with the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Martin has conducted numerous honor choirs and has presented master classes and clinics in seventeen countries, on six continents and in the majority of the United States. Under his direction, Texas State Chorale has toured internationally including much of Europe, South Africa, and China with performances for prestigious conferences such as TMEA, SWACDA, ACDA, and the International Kodály Festival. For over 35 years, Dr. Martin has been engaged in music ministry and is currently the director of music/organist at New Braunfels Presbyterian Church. He is a graduate of the Harvard University Management Development Program and the Texas Academic Leadership Academy. Honors include appointment to the Fulbright Specialist roster to represent the United States throughout the world and receiving the TCDA Award for Choral Advocacy. In his spare time, he dreams of culinary school.

Dr. Anthony Trecek-King is a highly acclaimed choral conductor, scholar, pedagogue, and media personality with a career spanning over 20 years. He is an active guest conductor and serves as a Resident Conductor (chorus) with the Handel and Haydn Society. Recognized for his ability to create moving performances that exhibit a surprising range of dynamics and depth of expression, Dr. Trecek-King excels at cultivating vocal and instrumental musicians at all levels. Through his collaborative rehearsal style, he bridges the gap between high art and humanity, captivating audiences while maintaining exceptional sonic quality. Dr. Trecek-King’s impactful career includes directing ensembles for Pulitzer Prize and Grammy-winning projects and earning the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. He has collaborated with esteemed artists like Leslie Odom Jr. and Yo Yo Ma and led performances at renowned venues globally. As host of “The Silent Canon” on KNVO 90.7 and a prominent figure on the Emmy-nominated WGBH series, Sing That Thing, he shares his passion for music and community engagement with a broader audience. www.trecekking.com

Adjudicators

Dr. Meg Frazier is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Loyola University New Orleans, where she con-ducts the Loyola Chorale and Chamber Singers and teaches conducting. Dr. Frazier served the College of Music and Fine Arts as Associate Dean and the School of Music and Theatre Professions as Director. A native of Longview, Texas, Dr. Frazier studied with Dr Bev Henson at Sam Houston State University, earning her BMEd and MM in Conducting; she later studied with Dr. Ken Fulton at LSU, where she earned her DMA in Choral Conducting. In addition to her Loyola choirs, Dr. Frazier is the Artistic Director/Conductor of the choirs of NOVA, a community-based choral organization in New Orle-ans. She serves as the choral contractor/conductor for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. A frequent guest conductor/clinician, Dr. Frazier has conducted honor choirs in 14 states, including 9 all-states. She has extensive experience in church and community choirs as both a conductor and chorister and particularly enjoys singing in chamber ensembles.

Joey M. Martin is Professor of Music at Texas State University where he serves as the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication. He directs the internationally acclaimed Texas State Chorale and teaches graduate courses in conducting choral literature, and rehearsal technique. He served as the National ACDA Repertoire and Resources Chair for College and University Choirs for seven years and continues his professional service with the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Martin has conducted numerous honor choirs and has presented master classes and clinics in seventeen countries, on six continents and in twenty-seven of the U.S. states. Under his direction, Texas State Chorale toured internationally including much of Europe, South Africa, and China with performances for numerous conferences such as TMEA, SWACDA, ACDA, and the International Kodály Festival. For over 35 years, Dr. Martin has been engaged in music ministry and is currently the director of music/organist at New Braunfels Presbyterian Church. Additionally, he is the music director for Honor Choir USA (Honolulu). In 2019, he was appointed to the Fulbright Specialist roster to represent the United States throughout the world. In his spare time, he dreams of culinary school.

Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer and clinician who has led performances and workshops across six continents. She is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI, and the Grand Rapids Symphony chorus director. Now Editor of Hinshaw Music, Shangkuan has an earthsongs choral series and is music editor of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship choral series (GIA). A jurist for international choral competi-tions in Europe and Asia, she has led conducting masterclasses for national ACDA and Chorus America conferences. She has conducted numerous All State choirs, ACDA division honor choirs, and choral festivals nationally and internationally, and has headlined several ACDA state and other professional conferences. Upcoming engagements include conducting the SSAA Honor Choir at the ACDA National conference and a fourth residency conducting at Carnegie Hall. Professional ser-vice includes the Chorus America Board of Directors and serving as ACDA Central Division and Michigan ACDA President. She has commissioned and premiered numerous choral works and her choirs have performed at ACDA national, division and state conferences. She received the Calvin University Award for Excellence in Teaching (2020) and Michigan ACDA Maynard Klein Choral Award for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music” (2013).

Clinicians

Richard Bjella, Director of Choral Studies Emeritus, Texas Tech University, has distinguished himself as a conductor, clinician, choral pedagogue, and choral arranger. He was honored to have his choirs appear at the 2009 and 2013 National ACDA Conventions, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall, and TMEA conventions. In addition, Bjella’s graduate conductors received finalist recognition in conducting competitions at two recent National ACDA Conventions and one was awarded the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize. He has conducted and presented master classes throughout the world and at over 400 festivals and workshops in 34 states with workshops at 17 major universities in the last several years. He has also presented workshops and conducted in South Korea, England, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Columbia, Haiti, and Italy. He is also active in the promotion of creative choral programming and is a contributing writer for the book, The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy (2017) Bjella also served as President of the WCDA (Wisconsin) and was awarded the prestigious Lawrence Excellence in Teaching Award (2007) and the Lifetime Achievement Award (2013) from WCDA. Bjella was the recipient of the 2017 Professing Excellence Award at Texas Tech University. He has served as the Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir since 2014.

Gary Packwood is recognized as an inspirational and motivational conductor, pedagogue, and lecturer who has appeared throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Now in his 34th year of teaching, Dr. Packwood has conducted all-state and honor choirs in over 40 states. Dr. Packwood is currently a professor of music and director of choral studies at Mississippi State University, where he oversees and administers all aspects of the undergraduate and graduate degrees. Dr. Packwood has published articles in the “Choral Journal,” “Teaching Music,” “AmeriGrove Dictionary, 2nd Edition” and book chapters in GIA’s publication of “Conducting Men’s Choirs” and Hal Leonard’s publication of “Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor Teachers.” A lifetime member of ACDA, Dr. Packwood is a past president of the Southern Region of ACDA (2017-2019) and a former member of the board for the National Collegiate Choral Organization.

Adjudicators

Dianne Brumley is Director of Choral Music Studies and Professor of Music Education, Emerita at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Brownsville. She was appointed in 2003 and was the first person to hold the position of Director of Choral Studies at the University. Brumley was the founding conductor of the University Master Chorale. During her ten-year tenure at UTRGV, the Master Chorale was selected to perform at the 2011 Texas Music Educators Association Convention and toured internationally. Brumley also served for 20 years as the founding Conductor and Artistic Director of the South Texas Chorale and Orchestra. Brumley is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, motivational speaker, and adjudicator throughout Texas and the United States. Currently, she serves as a choral music education consultant. Before her time with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brumley was a successful choral music educator in public schools. Choirs under her direction were selected for honor performances at Texas Music Educators Association conventions, American Choral Directors Association regional and national conventions, and a featured performance at the Texas Choral Directors Association convention. Active in Texas choral music endeavors for many years, in 2011 Brumley was honored to receive the Texas Choral Excellence Award and in 2018 the Texas Choir Master Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association.

Dr. John Ratledge is Professor Emeritus of the University of Alabama where he was the conductor of University Singers, Area Coordinator of Graduate Choral Conducting, and Director of Choral Activities. Dr. John Ratledge also taught gradu-ate conducting, literature, and pedagogy. Ratledge made his European conducting debut in 1996 with the Filharmonia Sudecka of Walbryzychu, Poland, and since that time, he has conducted orchestras in France, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and South Korea. His choirs have given the premiere of the full orchestral version of the Duruflé Requiem in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Greece, the organ version premiere of same in Bulgaria, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms premiere in Poland, and the St. Petersburg, Russia’s premiere of Handel’s Messiah. Ratledge’s compositions are published by Alliance Music and Carl Fischer Music Publishers

Dr. Gary Seighman is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Trinity University where he also teaches courses in conducting and music education. Under his direction, Trinity’s choral ensembles have garnered regional and national accolades with invited performances at TMEA, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, frequent international touring, and third place for the 2022 American Prize as the smallest university in the nation among the cohort of finalists. Seighman has traveled to East Asia five times where he conducted the Peking University Summer Opera Program, led graduate master-classes in Taiwan, and guest conducted throughout the Henan and Sichuan provinces. In 2019 he was artist-in-residence at University College-Dublin with further engagements in London, Cambridge, and Liverpool. The year prior he was chorus-master for the Classical Music Festival in Austria and more recently a guest faculty artist with Manhattan Concert Productions for whom he conducted Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. Seighman has served on multiple arts organization boards, is a frequent panelist on the webinar series “In the Teacher’s Lounge” through Worldstrides Travel, and a grant evaluator for the Texas Commission on the Arts. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Maryland.

Clinicians

Eduardo García-Novelli was born in Argentina, where he served 8 years as Choir Director at Belgrano Day School in Buenos Aires and as Assistant Conductor
of the National Youth Choir. Former Assistant Director, Houston Symphony Chorus, and Director, Symphony of Southeast Texas Chorus, he received the Faculty Merit Award for distinguished teaching as Director of Choral Activities, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX. Two undergraduate degrees from state conservatories, Argentina. MM: Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ.  DMA: University of Houston. His choirs performed for TMEA, WMEA, WCDA, NCCO National Conference, the International Choral Festival in Panama City, Panama, and on several National, European, and South American tours. He made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011, returning in 2015 and 2017. In 2016 he was in residence at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, Slovenia, lecturing and conducting the award-winning AVE Chamber Choir. Other international engagements include MidAm Festival, conducting Mozart at the historical Peterskirche in Vienna, the Coro Nacional de Jóvenes (in residence), Madryn Canta Festival (clinician), Tous Ensemble (guest conductor) all in Argentina, and leading Carthage Choir to win First Prize at the prestigious Spittal International Choir Competition in Spittal, Austria, in July 2019.

Tony Thornton is Professor of Music and Doug and Nickie Burns Endowed Chair in Choral Music at Oklahoma State University, where he serves as the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies. He is Artistic Director of the Sarteano (Italy) Chamber Choral Conducting Workshop. Thornton received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Voice from Westminster Choir College, his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting and Historical Musicology from the University of Arizona. Thornton has worked with over 400 mixed, treble, and tenor/bass choruses in public and private schools, colleges, churches, community ensembles, and professional organizations in 25 states, Japan, and throughout Europe. As a member of the Westminster Choir, he performed at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and the United States, and he has recorded with Leonard Bernstein, Riccardo Muti, Robert Shaw, Claudio Abbado, and Zubin Mehta. He sang for seven years as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. He is Past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and he was Collegiate R&R Chair for the ACDA Eastern Division from 2020-2022.

2023 MADNT Program 

Adjudicators

Tony Gonzalez is Associate Director of Choral Activities at Oklahoma City University. His University Singers have performed at the 2018 and 2022 OkMEA State Conferences and the SWACDA Conference in 2020. He spent 17 years at Norman North High School where his choirs earned consecutive State Sweepstakes, won festivals in 10 major cities, performed at OkMEA, OCDA, SWACDA and ACDA, and performed on NPR’s From the Top. He has been an adjudicator and guest conductor throughout the Southwest. He has been named Who’s Who Among American High School Teachers. NAfME named him as one of the country’s outstanding music educators. He is the 2007 NFHS National Music Educator of the Year, 2008 OkMEA Exemplary Teacher, and the 2015 OCDA Director of Distinction Award. A native of Brownsville, Texas, Tony attended Del Mar College {Ron Shirey}, has degrees from Texas A&I University at Kingsville and the University of Oklahoma {B.R. Henson}. Tony taught in Alice and Edinburg, Texas, is former DCA at the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma, was conductor of the Norman Community Choral Society and the Oklahoma Vocal Arts Ensemble. Tony has served as president of OCDA and SWACDA.

Karen Kenaston-French is Professor and Director of  Choral  Activities at the  University of Texas Arlington,  where she conducts the A Cappello Choir, teaches conducting, and heads the Vocal Area. Under her direction the UTA A Cappello Choir has per­ formed at the Texas Music Educators Association state convention {2019 and 2014), Southwestern Division of ACDA {2016 and 2022), the national conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization {2019), and served as Ensemble-in-Residence for the National Student Conducting Competition at the American Choral Directors Association conference in Salt Lake City {2015). In addition, the choir has placed in the American Prize for Choral Performance {College/University Division: 3rd place, 2021 and finalist, 2014). Prior to UTA, Dr. Kenaston-French was Director of Choral Activities at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee.

She holds a B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College, M.M. and M.S.M. degrees from Southern Methodist University, and  a

D.M.A. from the University of North Texas. In 2019 she assumed the position of Artistic Director/ Conductor of the Fort Worth Chorale of Schola Cantorum of Texas, only the fifth conductor in the organization’s 57-year history.

Robert Simpson is the Founder and Artistic Director of the  Houston  Chamber Choir. He also serves as  Canon for Music at Houston’s historic Christ Church Cathedral and Lecturer of Church Music at Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Chorus America awarded him the Michael Korn Founders Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art and most recently awarded the Houston Chamber Choir the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 2018. Mr. Simpson is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Choral Conducting. Choirs under his direction have toured the United States, Europe, and Mexico, and performed before national conventions of Chorus America, the American Choral Directors Association, The American Guild of Organists, The Association of Anglican Musicians, and The Hymn Society of America. They have appeared nationally on CBS-TV, ABC-TV, and American Public Radio. Mr. Simpson is married to Marianna Pornos-Simpson, the noted children’s choir conductor.

Clinicians

Lynne Gackle is Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University and holds the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Music Chair. She conducts Baylor Bella Voce Baylor Concert Choir, teaches choral conducting, choral literature, and serves as the Director of the Ensemble Division. Prior to her Baylor appointment, Lynne taught at the University of

South Florida, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Miami {FL). She received her education from LSU {BME) and the University of Miami {MM/Ph.D.). Lynne is an active choral clinician and conductor, nationally and internationally. She has held various positions within the American Choral Directors Association,  including  President, Southern Division, and  ACDA-Florida, and served as the TCDA-VP of Collegiate/Community Choirs. She currently serves as the Past-National President of the American Choral Directors Association. Gackle is the editor of Choral Artistry for the Singer {Walton Music/GIA) and the Lynne Gackle Choral Series {Colla Voce).  Internationally recognized for her research on the female adolescent voice, Lynne is the author of Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart in addition to contributing-author for other books published by GIA, Oxford, and Lead Author for Voices In Concert {Hal Leonard/ McGraw Hill). Gackle was awarded Baylor’s Outstanding  Faculty Award in  Research {2012) and was recent­ ly honored by TCDA with the Texas Choirmaster Award {2021 ).

Anthony Trecek-King has cultivated an international reputation as a conductor,  pedagogue,  and media personality. He is passionate about cultivating artistically excellent ensembles that explore socially relevant issues through  emotional­ ly immersive programs. Trecek-King is the Director of Choral Activities at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, and a Resident Conductor with the  Handel and  Haydn  Society.  Ensembles under his direction were integral to projects that have won a Pulitzer Prize {Madam White Snake, Zhou Long), received a Grammy {Fantastic Mr. Fox, Boston Modern Orchestra Project), and earned the  National Arts and  Humanities Youth  Program  Award from  Presidential Committee on the Arts {Boston Children’s Chorus). He has led performances in world-renowned venues including  Boston  Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie  Hall,  Royal  Albert  Hall, and the Sydney Opera  House.  In addition to his conduct­ ing, he is currently the host of the classical radio show “The Silent Canon” which airs on  KNVO 90.7. He was the host of the WGBH television series Sing That Thing, and two TEDx Boston talks. He holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Florida State University, and a  D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Boston University.

2023 MADSA Program

Adjudicators

David Means is Director of Choral Studies, Professor of Music and Music Department Chair at Victoria College in Victoria, TX. Most recently, he was Director of Choral Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Conductor of the Valley Symphony Chorale, and Founder/Artistic Director of the Valley Choral Artists. Means has also taught on the faculties of the Grammy-winning Westwood High School in Austin, TX, Cuero High School, University of Southern California, and Christopher Newport University in Virginia. In addition to being a regular adjudicator for American Classic Tours and Music Festivals, Dr. Means is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician across Texas, the USA, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Asia, having recently served on the international juries of the Preveza International Choral Festival in Greece (2016) and the International Choir Championships Lege Artis in Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina (2019 and 2022), as well as the New Mexico State Choir Contest in Albuquerque. He has appeared as a headliner for ACDA and TCDA conferences in Hawaii, Texas, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Florida. Means earned degrees from Howard Payne University (BME), Baylor University (MM), and the University of Southern California (DMA) with honors.

Eric Posada currently serves as Director of Choral Activities at Angelo State University. Previous academic appointments for Dr. Posada include Visiting Professor of Choral Music at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Director of Choral Music at Tyler Junior College, and Associate Director of Choral Activities at Texas A&M University. In 2020-2021, Posada presented interest sessions for eleven state and regional conferences. This year, Dr. Posada has professional engagements scheduled with the National Collegiate Choral Organization, Southwestern American Choral Directors Association; Pennsylvania Choral Directors Association; and the state Music Educators Associations of New Hampshire, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, Florida, Indiana, and Texas. Moreover, during the summer of 2022 Posada will travel to the United Kingdom to conduct Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man. A native of McAllen, Texas, Dr. Posada founded the Rio Grande Valley’s first professional chorus, Pasión, and serves as the ensemble’s Artistic Director. The chorus recently won third place in the American Prize for two categories, Choral Performance and the Ernst Bacon Memorial for the Performance of American Music, and was selected as Performing Choir for the Texas Choral Directors Association 66th Annual Summer Conference.

A. Jan Taylor A. Jan Taylor is Associate Professor and Director of Choral Music Activities at Prairie View A&M University. A Houston native, she attended HSPVA and earned a B. M. from the University of Houston, M. A. from Prairie View A&M University, and a D.M.A. from UH. Dr. Taylor taught general music, piano, and choir in elementary, middle, and high schools in Houston ISD. An adjudicator and choral clinician for competitions and festivals throughout the U. S., as an authority she often lectures on the performance practices and preservation of the African American spiritual. Dr. Taylor has traveled in the U. S., Europe, and Asia as a singer and conductor, served as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony Chorus, and conductor of the Houston Ebony Opera Guild Chorus. She conducted the “105 Voices of History” HBCU National Choir in performances at the Grand Ole Opry House, the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, the Kennedy Center, and for the nationally televised MLK50 Commemoration event held by the National Civil Rights Museum. The Prairie View A&M University Concert Chorale and PV Chamber Singers have performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad, including performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and international music festivals in Poland, Germany, and South America.

Clinicians

James C. Franklin is the Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University where he conducts the internationally renowned ECU Chamber Singers, directs the graduate program in choral conducting, and teaches undergraduate conducting. In the fall of 2021, the ECU Chamber Singers released their most recent album, Appear and Inspire, a collaboration with multi-GRAMMY producer, Blanton Alspaugh. Also in the fall of 2021, the ECU Chamber Singers completed a recording project with Oxford University Press for their 2022 release of RVW 150, a two-volume collection of works by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Additional accolades include winning second place in the American Prize in Choral Performance, College/University Division (Summer 2020), and juried invitations to perform at the Southern ACDA Conference (Mobile, AL), National ACDA Conference (Kansas City, MO), and European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Varna, Bulgaria). In addition to being a conductor, Franklin is a GRAMMY-nominated choral singer. He has performed with many professional choirs including the South Dakota Chorale, Taylor Festival Choir, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Bach Society, Houston Bach Society, and Fuma Sacra of New Jersey. He received his BME, vocal emphasis, from Baylor University, his MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College and his DMA degree from the University of North Texas.

Kristina Caswell MacMullen has devoted her career to sharing music and inspiration with students and audiences. Her collaborations with fellow musicians continue to confirm her abiding hope for the future and an unflagging belief in the power of choral music. Currently, MacMullen serves as an Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the University of North Texas where she conducts the University Singers, Kalandra, and instructs both undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to her appointment at UNT, Kristina spent eight years on the faculty of The Ohio State University. While at OSU, her interdisciplinary work earned her the Sir William Osler Award for Humanism in Medicine. As an active adjudicator and clinician, MacMullen has conducted All-State and honors choirs throughout the United States. She has presented and co-presented interest sessions at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her teaching and conducting is featured on the DVD Conducting-Teaching: Real-World Strategies for Success published by GIA (2009). Her editions for the treble choir are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Musicatus Press, and MusicSpoke. MacMullen earned both the Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University. She completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Texas Tech University.

Sandra Snow As conductor, pedagogue, and scholar, Sandra Snow is widely acknowledged as one who brings singers of all ages and abilities to artful performance through an understanding of the music and its context in the world around them. As Professor of Choral Conducting and Music Education at the Michigan State University College of Music, the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble has appeared as featured performers at American Choral Directors Association conventions at state, regional, and national levels. As a guest conductor, she travels extensively in North America and abroad. In 2017 Snow created mirabai, a project-based professional women’s chorus. mirabai features alumna associated with the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble. mirabai was a featured ensemble at the Texas Choral Director’s Association conference in 2018. The inaugural recording, Ecstatic Songs, was released in 2018. Snow is the author of the DVD “Conducting-Teaching: RealWorld Strategies for Success” published by GIA (2009), a resource for conductor-teachers at all levels of teaching. She edits the choral music series In High Voice published by Boosey & Hawkes. Snow is the Artistic Director of the American Institute for Choral Teacher Education produced annually at MSU. Snow is a recipient of the Michigan State University William J. Beal Award for Outstanding Faculty, the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow award for Excellence in Teaching.

Adjudicators

Dianne Brumley is Director of Choral Music Studies and Professor of Music Education, Emerita at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Brownsville. She was appointed in 2003 and was the first person to hold the position of Director of Choral Studies at the University. Brumley was the founding conductor of the University Master Chorale. During her ten-year tenure at UTRGV, the Master Chorale was selected to perform at the 2011 Texas Music Educators Association Convention and toured internationally. Brumley also served for 20 years as the founding Conductor and Artistic Director of the South Texas Chorale and Orchestra. Brumley is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, motivational speaker, and adjudicator throughout Texas and the United States. Currently, she serves as a choral music education consultant. Before her time with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brumley was a successful choral music educator in public schools. Choirs under her direction were selected for honor performances at Texas Music Educators Association conventions, American Choral Directors Association regional and national conventions, and a featured performance at the Texas Choral Directors Association convention. Active in Texas choral music endeavors for many years, 2011 Brumley was honored to receive the Texas Choral Excellence Award and in 2018 the Texas Choir Master Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association.

Conductor-teacher Kristina Caswell MacMullen has devoted her career to sharing music and inspiration with students and audiences. Her collaborations with fellow musicians continue to confirm her abiding hope for the future and an unflagging belief in the power of choral music. Currently, MacMullen serves as an Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the University of North Texas where she conducts the University Singers, Kalandra, and instructs both undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to her appointment at UNT, Kristina spent eight years on the faculty of The Ohio State University. While at OSU, her interdisciplinary work earned her the Sir William Osler Award for Humanism in Medicine. As an active adjudicator and clinician, MacMullen has conducted All-State and honors choirs throughout the United States. She has presented and co-presented interest sessions at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her teaching and conducting is featured on the DVD Conducting-Teaching: Real-World Strategies for Success published by GIA (2009). Her editions for the treble choir are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Musicatus Press, and MusicSpoke. MacMullen earned both the Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from Michigan State University. She completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Texas Tech University.

John Ratledge, Professor Emeritus, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, was the Conductor of University Singers, Area Coordinator of Graduate Choral Conducting, and Director of Choral Activities. Ratledge made his European orchestral conducting debut in 1996 with the Filharmonia Sudecka of Walbrzych and Wroclaw, and Poland, and since then, he has conducted orchestras in France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Spain. During his tenure at Shorter College of Rome, Georgia, the Shorter Chorale distinguished itself nationally and internationally by giving the world premiere of the full orchestral version of the Duruflé Requiem in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Greece and the organ version premiere of the same work in Bulgaria; the world premiere of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms in Poland, and the St. Petersburg, Russia world premieres of Handel’s Messiah in English and Corigliano’s Fern Hill. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Bassi Brugnatelli International Conducting and Singing Symposium held annually in Robbiate, Italy, and he is the editor of the new Javier Busto Choral Series of Carl Fischer Music Publishers.

Clinicians

Michael Murphy is the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University. Before his appointment to SFASU, Michael was Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor at the University of Idaho for nine years, where he was Founder and Artistic Director of the Idaho Bach Festival and was recognized with the UI Faculty Award for outstanding scholarship, teaching, and engagement. Dr. Murphy is an active clinician, adjudicator, author, and composer. His international conducting and teaching experiences include Austria, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Norway, Panama, and Sweden. Murphy is the co-author and editor of Conducting Primer in Practice, has been published several times in Choral Journal, and contributed to volume 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir. As a passionate champion of music for all, Michael has experience teaching all ages and levels and several auditioned and non-auditioned collegiate, community, school, and church choirs. His choirs have been invited to perform for several state and regional ACDA and NafME conferences, and he has held several state and national leadership positions in ACDA, NAfME, and NCCO. Murphy received his degrees in conducting and choral music education from Florida State University and East Carolina University.

Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer, and clinician who has led performances and workshops across six continents. Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Studies, Professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is also chorus director of the Grand Rapids Symphony. Shangkuan has a choral series with earthsongs and edits GIA’s Calvin Choral series.  Dr. Shangkuan has also served on the jury of several international choral competitions in Europe and Asia and has led conducting masterclasses for ACDA, Chorus America, the University of Michigan, and  many institutions and organizations in the US. She has conducted numerous All-State honor choirs, ACDA division honor choirs, and other choir festivals nationally and internationally, and has headlined several ACDA state conferences.  She served as president of ACDA Central Division and Michigan ACDA. Her choirs have performed at ACDA national, division, and state conferences.  Michigan ACDA honored her with the Maynard Klein Choral Award for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music.”  She received a Bachelor of Music in Church Music (summa cum laude) and Master of Music in Choral Conducting (with distinction) from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and a DMA in Choral Conducting from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Betsy Cook Weber is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and is also active internationally as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer. Weber also serves as Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus. In that role, she prepares choral-orchestral masterworks for some of the world’s greatest conductors. Choirs under Weber’s direction have been featured at multiple state (TMEA 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2017) and national conventions (ACDA 2007 and 2017 and NCCO 2017). Internationally, Weber has led choirs in performances with orchestras in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany and to top prizes at prestigious competitions in Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. Weber routinely prepares singers for Houston’s early music orchestras Ars Lyrica and Mercury Houston, as well as preparing singers for touring shows, including Josh Groban, the Eagles, NBC’s Clash of the Choirs, Telemundo’s Latin Grammy’s, Star Wars in Concert, Andreas Bocelli, and Harry Potter. In 2013, Weber became the 1st woman to receive TCDA’s Texas Choirmaster Award. She is editor of the Betsy Cook Weber choral series with Alliance Music Publishing Before coming to the University of Houston, Weber taught vocal music, K-12, in the public schools. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), and the University of Houston.

Adjudicators

Eduardo García-Novelli was born in Argentina, where he served 8 years as Choir Director at Belgrano Day School in Buenos Aires and as Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Choir. Former Assistant Director, Houston Symphony Chorus, and Director, Symphony of Southeast Texas Chorus, he received the Faculty Merit Award for distinguished teaching as Director of Choral Activities, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX. Two undergraduate degrees from state conservatories, Argentina. MM: Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. DMA: University of Houston. His choirs performed for TMEA, WMEA, WCDA, NCCO National Conference, the International Choral Festival in Panama City, Panama, and on several National, European, and South American tours. He made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011, returning in 2015 and 2017. In 2016 he was in residence at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, Slovenia, lecturing and conducting the award-winning AVE Chamber Choir. Other international engagements include MidAm Festival, conducting Mozart at the historical Peterskirche in Vienna, the Coro Nacional de Jóvenes (in residence), Madryn Canta Festival (clinician), Tous Ensemble (guest conductor) all in Argentina, and leading Carthage Choir to win First Prize at the prestigious Spittal International Choir Competition in Spittal, Austria, in July 2019.

Joey M. Martin is a Professor of Music at Texas State University where he serves as the Interim Director for the School of Music.  Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Martin served as the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For twenty years he directed the internationally acclaimed Texas State Chorale and currently teaches graduate courses in conducting choral literature, and rehearsal technique. He served as the National ACDA Repertoire and Resources Chair for College and University Choirs for seven years and continues his professional service with the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Martin has conducted honor choirs and presented master classes and clinics in twenty-seven of the United States and in fifteen countries on six continents. Under his direction, Texas State Chorale toured internationally, including much of Europe, South Africa, and China as well as performances for numerous conferences including TMEA, SWACDA, ACDA, and the International Kodály Festival. In 2019, he was appointed to the Fulbright Specialist roster to represent the United States throughout the world. In his spare time, he dreams of culinary school.

Elisa Fraser Wilson is Director of Choral Activities at The University of Texas at El Paso, where she coordinates the Choral/Voice Area, conducts the Concert Chorale and Chamber Singers, and teaches undergraduate and graduate choral conducting, pedagogy, and literature. Formerly the director of the UTEP Opera Workshop, she was chorusmaster and director of the Young Artist Program for El Paso Opera 2009-2013. She is the director of the UTEP Children’s Choir and a regular chorusmaster for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. She holds degrees in Choral Music Education, Voice Performance, and Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S. and DMA) and Wichita State University (M.M.). Wilson has conducted numerous collegiate, secondary, and community choirs, including children’s, jazz, and show choirs, and is a regular clinician/adjudicator for local, regional, and national educational performance festivals.  Under her direction, the UTEP Concert Chorale has appeared at the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention (2021) and with the UTEP Trombone Choir at the Big 12 Trombone Conference (2019); additionally, members of the Concert Chorale perform in residency biennially with the prestigious Leeds (St. Anne’s) Cathedral choirs in Leeds, England. Wilson holds professional memberships in the ACDA, TCDA, NCCO, TMEA, Sigma Alpha Iota, and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Clinicians

Richard Bjella, Director of Choral Studies Emeritus, Texas Tech University, has distinguished himself as a conductor, clinician, choral pedagogue, and choral arranger. He has been honored to have his choirs appear at the 2009 and 2013 National ACDA Conventions, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall, and TMEA conventions. In addition, Bjella’s graduate conductors also received finalist recognition in conducting competitions at two of the most recent National ACDA Conventions and one was awarded the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize. He has conducted and presented master classes throughout the world and at over 400 festivals and workshops in 32 states. He is also active in the promotion of creative choral programming and is a contributing writer for the book, The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy (2017) with his chapter, The Art of Successful Programming: Study, Selection, and Synthesis. Bjella also served as President of the WCDA (Wisconsin) and was awarded the prestigious Lawrence Excellence in Teaching Award (2007) and the Morris Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award (2013) from WCDA. Most recently, Bjella was the recipient of the 2017 Professing Excellence Award at Texas Tech University.  He has served as the Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir since 2014.

Gary Packwood is recognized as an inspirational and motivational conductor, pedagogue, and lecturer who  has appeared throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Now in his 30th year of teaching, Dr. Packwood has conducted all-state and honor choirs in 35 states. During the 2021-2022 academic year, Dr. Packwood is scheduled to conduct the Texas Music Educators Association TB All-State Choir; Wisconsin Music Educators Association SATB Middle – Level All-State Choir; ACDA Northwestern Regional TB Choir; and the ACDA Midwestern Regional SATB Choir. Dr. Packwood is currently a professor of music and director of choral studies at Mississippi State University, where he oversees and administers all aspects of the undergraduate and graduate choral music education degrees. Dr. Packwood has published articles in the Choral Journal, Teaching Music, the 2nd Edition of the AmeriGrove Dictionary, and a book chapter in GIA’s Publication of Conducting Men’s Choirs. A Lifetime Member of the ACDA, Dr. Packwood is a past president of the Southern Region of ACDA (2017-2019) and is a Southern Representative for the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Packwood earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, the Master of Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and literature from Louisiana State University.

Anthony Trecek-King has cultivated an international reputation as a choral conductor, scholar, pedagogue, and media personality. He is passionate about cultivating artistically excellent ensembles that explore socially relevant issues through emotionally immersive programs. Dr. Trecek-King has recently been appointed as Director of Choral Activities at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, and a Resident Conductor with the Handel and Haydn Society. Ensembles under his direction were integral to projects that have won a Pulitzer Prize, received a Grammy and earned the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from Presidential Committee on the Arts (Boston Children’s Chorus). Dr. Trecek-King has worked with a variety of artists and ensembles including Leslie Odom Jr., Melinda Doolittle, Seraphic Fire, Keith Lockhart, John Williams, Gil Rose, Simon Halsey, Yo-Yo Ma, and Roomful of Teeth. He has led performances in Boston Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. He can be seen on-air and online on the WGBH television series Sing That Thing, and two TEDx Boston talks. He holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the Florida State University, and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the Boston University.

Adjudicators

James Franklin is the Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University where he conducts the internationally renowned ECU Chamber Singers, directs the graduate program in choral conducting, and teaches undergraduate conducting. Recent honors include invitations to perform at the National ACDA Conference (Kansas City, MO), European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Varna, Bulgaria), SW-ACDA Conference (Little Rock, AR), Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), and Duke Chapel (Durham, NC).

Franklin remains active as a guest conductor and clinician with frequent invitations across the United States. In addition to his duties at ECU, Franklin remains active as a singer. He has performed with many professional choirs including the Grammy-nominated
South Dakota Chorale, Taylor Festival Choir, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Bach Society, Houston Bach Society, and Fuma Sacra of New Jersey. Recent recording projects include CDs with Taylor Festival Choir (2018) and South Dakota Chorale (2016 & 2014). Prior to his conducting at the collegiate level, he taught public high school and middle school choir in Texas. An active member of ACDA, IFCM, TMEA, and TCDA, he has often served as a clinician and adjudicator. He received his BME, vocal emphasis, from Baylor University, his MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College and his DMA degree from the University of North Texas.

Dr. Joey M. Martin is a Professor of Music at Texas State University where he serves as the Director of Choral Studies, and Associate Dean for the College of Fine Arts and Communication. He directs the internationally acclaimed Texas State Chorale and teaches graduate courses in conducting choral literature, and rehearsal technique. For seven years he served as the National
ACDA Repertoire and Resources Chair for College and University Choirs and continues his professional service with the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Martin has conducted honor choirs and presented master classes and clinics in twenty-seven of the United States and in fifteen countries on six continents. Under his direction, Texas State Chorale has toured internationally
including much of Europe, South Africa, and China with performances for numerous conferences including TMEA, SWACDA, ACDA, and the International Kodály Festival. In 2019, he was appointed to the Fulbright Specialist roster to represent the United States
throughout the world. In his spare time, he dreams of culinary school.

Richard Robbins is the director of choral activities at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he conducts the University Singers and Chamber Singers and teaches choral conducting and methods. Robbins travels extensively as a conductor for choral festivals and honor choirs across the country, with recent engagements in New York City, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago; he recently completed an international conducting residency at the Krakow Academy of Music. His early music editions are published internationally, and he has presented on a range of topics for organizations, including the American Choral Directors Association and internationally at Warsaw’s Chopin Conservatory of Music and the upcoming 2020 World Symposium of Choral
Music. Robbins has prepared choirs for the Houston Ballet and the Houston Symphony, and he is the chorus master of the Duluth Superior Symphony Chorus. Choral groups under Robbins’ direction have performed for state ACDA conferences and have earned awards at numerous festivals. He taught choral music at South Houston High School and Houston’s High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts, where he was named Teacher of the Year. He works with young tenors and basses as a staff member of the Lake Superior Youth Chorus and is also a festival conductor for the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the Vatican’s youth music organization. He performed at the San Antonio Madrigal Festival as a high school teacher and also conducted SHHS and HSPVA Chamber Choirs at this event.

Clinicians

Brian A. Schmidt is Associate Professor of Choral Music and Director of Graduate Choral Studies at Baylor University, where he conducts the Baylor A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers. He teaches graduate applied lessons, graduate choral conducting and literature courses, and guides graduate conducting recitals. He is also the founder and director of the International Choral Conducting Masterclass and Young Artist Program, a weeklong intensive summer program. Schmidt is founder and Artistic Director of the GRAMMY-nominated South Dakota Chorale, a professional choir based in
Sioux Falls, SD where he has grown the ensemble’s artistic presence through commercial recordings and an international recording contract in 2014 with PENTATONE, a Dutch classical label. Previously Schmidt served at Duke University Chapel where
he conducted the Duke Vespers Ensemble and founded several new ventures including the monthly Bach Cantata Series and Cappella Baroque (a professional period-instrument orchestra) along with publishing recordings on the MSR Classics label.

Z. Randall Stroope is recently retired as a Regents Professor and Doug and Nickie Burns Endowed Chair of Choral Music at the Greenwood School of Music at Oklahoma State University where he served as Director of Choral and Vocal Studies. He remains active as a composer, teacher, and conductor. In the last two years, Randall has had conducting engagements in Salzburg, Dublin, Vienna, Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambridge, and St. John (Canada). Randall has also conducted music for mass at the Vatican every year since 2009, conducted 36 times at Carnegie Hall, 16 times at Chicago Orchestra Hall, and directed his 47th all-state choir this year. Randall has toured 23 countries with ensembles under his direction, including China, South Africa, Japan, Italy, Latvia, Sweden, Norway, Singapore, Estonia, Ukraine, Romania, Germany, France, and England. In 2017, the Oklahoma State University Concert Chorale, under Randall’s direction, performed at the American Choral Directors Association national convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a composer, Randall has published 180 musical works (instrumental, solo voice, and choral). One of his works was performed by the London Symphony on their 2015 holiday series. Randall completed a Master of Music (Voice Performance) degree at The University of Colorado Boulder, and a Doctor of Musical Arts (Choral Conducting) degree at Arizona State University. He did post-graduate work with Margaret Hillis, Chorus Master of the Chicago Symphony.

Dr. Julie Yu is Professor and Co-Director of Choral Studies at Kansas State University where she oversees and conducts the undergraduate choral ensembles and the masters in music choral program. Her choirs have performed in Carnegie Hall, in Hawaii, the National Cathedral in Washington DC, as well as in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, and Italy. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from the University of Central Oklahoma, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Oklahoma State University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of North Texas. Before joining the Kansas State faculty, she taught at Norman North High School in Norman, Oklahoma, and San José State University. She has given presentations, conducted, and/or her choirs have performed for state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and the European Music Educators Association Conferences. She is the president of the Southwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association. She serves as a member of the Kansas State University Faculty Senate. She was selected as an International Conducting Exchange Fellow for the American Choral Directors Association to Kenya.

Adjudicators

Dianne Brumley is Director of Choral Music Studies and Professor of Music Education, Emerita at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – Brownsville. She was appointed in 2003 and was the first person to hold the position of Director of Choral Studies at the University. Brumley was the founding conductor of the University Master Chorale. During her ten-year tenure at UTRGV, the Master Chorale was selected to perform at the 2011 Texas Music Educators Association Convention and toured internationally. Brumley also served for 20 years as the founding Conductor and Artistic Director of the South Texas Chorale and Orchestra.

Brumley is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, motivational speaker, and adjudicator throughout Texas and the United States. Currently, she serves as a choral music education consultant. Before her time with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brumley was a successful choral music educator in public schools. Choirs under her direction were selected for honor
performances at Texas Music Educators Association conventions, American Choral Directors Association regional and national conventions, and a featured performance at the Texas Choral Directors Association convention. Active in Texas choral music endeavors for many years, in 2011 Brumley was honored to receive the Texas Choral Excellence Award and in 2018 the Texas Choir Master Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association.

Karen Kenaston-French is Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas Arlington, where she conducts the A Cappella Choir, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and heads the Vocal Area. Under her direction, the UTA A Cappella Choir performed at the National Collegiate Choral Organization convention in College Park Maryland (2019), gave invited performances at the Texas Music Educators Association state convention (2019 and 2014) and Southwestern Division Conference of ACDA (2016), and served as Ensemble-in-Residence for the National Student Conducting Competition at the American Choral Directors Association conference in Salt Lake City (2015). The choir has made appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Chorale, Texas Ballet Theatre, and the Fort Worth Symphony. Prior to her arrival at UTA, Dr. Kenaston-French served as Director of Choral Activities at Austin Peay State
University in Clarksville, Tennessee, taught conducting at Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas and was director of music ministries at Plymouth Park United Methodist Church in Irving, Texas. She holds a B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College, M.M. and M.S.M. degrees from Southern Methodist University, and a D.M.A. from the University of North Texas. In the 2019-2020 season, Dr. Kenaston French took over as Artistic Director/Conductor of the Ft. Worth Chorale, following Jerry McCoy as only the fifth conductor in the organization’s 56-year history.

Robert Simpson is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir. He also serves as Canon for Music at Houston’s historic Christ Church Cathedral and Lecturer of Church Music at Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Chorus America awarded him the Michael Korn Founders Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art and most recently awarded the Houston Chamber Choir the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 2018. Mr. Simpson is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Choral Conducting. Choirs under his direction have toured the United States, Europe, and Mexico, and performed before national conventions of Chorus America, the American Choral Directors Association, The American Guild of Organists, The Association of Anglican Musicians, and The Hymn Society of America. They have appeared nationally on CBS-TV, ABC-TV, and American Public Radio. Mr. Simpson is married to Marianna Parnas-Simpson, the noted children’s choir conductor.

Clinicians

Lynne Gackle is Director of Choral Activities at Baylor
University and holds the Mary Jane Gibbs Professor of
Music Chair. She conducts Baylor Bella Voce, Baylor Concert Choir, teaches choral conducting, choral literature, and serves as the Director of the Ensemble Division. Prior to her Baylor appointment,
Lynne taught at the University of South Florida, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Miami (FL). She received her education from LSU (BME) and the University of Miami (MM/Ph.D.). Lynne is an active choral clinician and conductor, nationally and internationally. She has held various positions within the American Choral Directors Association, including President, Southern Division, and ACDA-Florida and served as the TCDA-VP of Collegiate/Community Choirs. She currently serves as the National President of the American Choral Directors Association. Gackle is the editor of Choral Artistry for the Singer (Walton Music/GIA) and the Lynne Gackle Choral Series (Colla Voce).

Internationally recognized for her research on the female adolescent voice, Lynne is the author of Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart in addition to contributing-author for other books published by GIA, Oxford, and Lead Author for Voices In Concert (Hal Leonard/McGraw Hill). Gackle was awarded Baylor’s Outstanding Faculty Award in Research (2012).

Allen Hightower is the Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas where he serves as conductor of the A Cappella Choir and the Grand Chorus and oversees a comprehensive choral program that includes eight choral ensembles. Dr. Hightower leads the masters and doctoral programs in choral conducting. As a member of UNT’s Early Music Faculty, he leads the vocal ensemble Vox Aquilae, an artist partner of the UNT Baroque Orchestra. Previously, Dr. Hightower was the first holder of the Weston Noble Endowed Chair in Music at Luther College where he served as conductor of the renowned Nordic Choir and Artistic Director of Christmas at Luther. As Luther’s Director of Choral Activities, he gave leadership to a choral program that included six choirs and over 530 singers. From 2000-2010, Dr. Hightower served as Director of Choral Activities at Sam Houston State University. During his tenure, the SHSU Chorale performed for the 2007 ACDA National Convention, the 2010 ACDA Southwestern Division, and the 2003, 2006, and 2010 conventions of the Texas Music Educators Association. From 1992-1996 he was Director of Choirs at Odessa Permian High School and led the PHS Kantorei and Chamber Orchestra in performance at TMEA in
1996.

Sandra Snow As conductor, pedagogue, and scholar, Sandra Snow is widely acknowledged as one who brings
singers of all ages and abilities to artful performance through an understanding of the music and its context in the world around them. As Professor of Choral Conducting and Music Education at the Michigan State University College of Music, the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble has appeared as featured performers at American Choral Directors Association conventions at state, regional, and national levels. As a guest conductor, she travels extensively in North America and abroad.
In 2017 Snow created Mirabai, a project-based professional women’s chorus. Mirabai features alumna associated with the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble. Mirabai was a featured ensemble at the Texas Choral Director’s Association conference in 2018. The inaugural recording, Ecstatic Songs, was released in 2018. Snow is the author of the DVD “Conducting-Teaching: Real World Strategies for Success” published by GIA (2009), a resource for conductor-teachers at all levels of
teaching. She edits the choral music series In High Voice published by Boosey & Hawkes. Snow is the Artistic Director of the American Institute for Choral Teacher Education produced annually at MSU. Snow is a recipient of the Michigan State University William J. Beal
Award for Outstanding Faculty, the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow award for Excellence in Teaching.

Adjudicators

 David Means is Director of Choral Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, TX, the conductor of the Valley Symphony Chorale, and recently founded Rio Grande Valley’s premier professional chamber choir, the Valley Choral Artists. Dr. Means came to south Texas from Austin where he was Head Choral Director of the Grammy Award-winning Fine Arts Academy of Westwood High School. Means has also taught at the University of Southern California, Christopher Newport University, Hill College and has more than twenty years’ experience successfully teaching public school choirs in Texas and California.
He is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, having taught, judged, and performed across Texas, the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Japan. In addition to TMEA and UIL adjudication, he also regularly leads workshops for music teachers and conducts workshops for singers. Recently he conducted the Durufle’ Requiem in Buffalo, NY, and served on the prestigious jury of the Preveza International Choral Festival in Preveza, Greece. He has presented sessions for the Hawaii and West Virginia ACDA chapters and was a featured clinician for TCDA 2017. In June 2019 he will be part of the jury for the international choir championship, Lege Artis in Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Dr. Means earned degrees from Howard Payne University, Baylor University, and the University of Southern California.

Joshua Oppenheim received his B.M. from Western Michigan University, his M.M. at the University of Mississippi, and his D.M.A. in Choral Conducting at the University of North Texas. His choirs have been selected to perform at state conferences (2009 Concert Choir; 2012 Men’s Choir); regional conferences (2012 Concert Choir; 2016 In A Chord); 2018 Concert Choir) national conferences (2104 Men’s Choir; 2015 In A Chord; 2017 Concert Choir) and international conferences (2018 Concert Choir) He has been engaged as guest conductor and clinician in Carnegie Hall (2014, 2016) ) the National Cathedral (2018) Singapore (2015), and Dubai (2015); and had done additional study at Trinity College Cambridge, England.

He has been engaged as presenter, judge, and conductor in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Western and Southwestern division ACDA conferences.

Trent Patterson conducts the Chamber Singers and Concert Choir and teaches conducting and choral literature, at Webster University in Saint Louis. Under his leadership, Webster’s Chamber Singers have been selected by peer review to perform for state, regional and national conferences. Choirs under Dr. Patterson’s direction have appeared with Josh Groban in Saint Louis, Clearwater, Orlando, Kansas City, and have collaborated with The Boston Camerata and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Patterson has appeared as a clinician in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.
Known for his knowledge of choral, solo vocal, and operatic repertoire, Patterson has appeared as a collaborative pianist throughout the United States and abroad. Patterson has served as an opera répétiteur at the American Institute of Musical Studies (Graz, Austria) where he previously was a Fisher-Tye Fellow studying German Lieder and vocal coaching with noted pianist Harold Heiberg.

Patterson holds a DMA in choral conducting from Michigan State University. He received a MA in choral conducting from San José State University and a BME from Florida State University. Dr. Patterson thanks influential mentors Charlene Archibeque, Judy Bowers, David Rayl, Sandra Snow, André J. Thomas, and others who continue to inspire him today.
Clinicians

Lynn Gackle is the Director of Choral Activities at Baylor University and holds the Mary Jane Gibbs Professor of Music Chair. She conducts Baylor Bella Voce, Baylor Concert Choir, teaches choral conducting, choral literature, and serves as the Director of the Ensemble Division. Prior to her Baylor appointment, Lynne taught at the University of South Florida, University of Mississippi, and the University of Miami (FL). She received her education from LSU (BME) and the University of Miami (MM/Ph.D.). Lynne is an active choral clinician and conductor, nationally and internationally. She has held various positions within the American Choral Directors Association, including President, Southern Division, and ACDA-Florida and served as the TCDA-VP of Collegiate/Community Choirs. She currently serves as the National Vice President for the American Choral Directors Association.
Gackle is the editor of Choral Artistry for the Singer (Walton Music/GIA) and the Lynne Gackle Choral Series (Colla Voce). Internationally recognized for her research on the female adolescent voice, Lynne is the author of Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart in addition to contributing-author for other books published by GIA, Oxford, and Lead Author for Voices In Concert (Hal Leonard/McGraw Hill). Gackle was awarded Baylor’s Outstanding Faculty Award in Research (2012).

Cameron F. LaBarr is director of choral studies at Missouri State University where he leads a comprehensive choral program including over 250 singers in eight choirs. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Missouri State University and he earned a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. He has completed further study in choral music and conducting with Simon Carrington and Alice Parker. Choirs under his direction have been selected for performance at the Tennessee Music Education Association Conference, Tennessee ACDA Conference, Missouri Music Educators Association Conference, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, National Collegiate Choral Organization, National ACDA, Southwest ACDA, Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses National Seminar, the China International Chorus Festival and the IFCM World Voices Conference. Dr. LaBarr has worked as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, most recently presenting at the China International Chorus Festival (2016 and 2018). In 2019, Dr. LaBarr will serve on the jury panel for the 8th Bali International Choir Festival and will guest conduct the Limerick Sings International Choral Festival (Ireland).

Sandra Snow, the conductor, pedagogue, and scholar is widely acknowledged as one who brings singers of all ages and abilities to artful performance through an understanding of the music and its context in the world around them. The MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble has appeared as featured performers at American Choral Directors Association conventions at state, regional, and national levels. As a guest conductor, she travels extensively in North America and abroad. In 2017 Snow created Mirabai, a project-based professional women’s chorus. Mirabai features alumna associated with the MSU Women’s Chamber Ensemble. Mirabai was a featured ensemble at the Texas Choral Director’s Association conference in 2018. The inaugural recording, Ecstatic Songs, was released in 2018.

Snow is the author of the DVD “Conducting-Teaching: Real World Strategies for Success” published by GIA (2009), a resource for conductor-teachers at all levels of teaching. She edits the choral music series In High Voice published by Boosey & Hawkes. Snow is the Artistic Director of the American Institute for Choral Teacher Education produced annually at MSU. Snow is a recipient of the Michigan State University William J. Beal Award for Outstanding Faculty, the MSU Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Dortha J. and John D. Withrow award for Excellence in Teaching.

Adjudicators

James Franklin, Director of Choral Activities, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC where he conducts the ECU Chamber Singers, directs the graduate program in choral conducting and teaches undergraduate conducting. Recent honors include invitations to perform at the National ACDA Conference (Kansas City, MO), European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Varna, Bulgaria), SW-ACDA Conference (Little Rock, AR), Piccolo Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), and Duke Chapel (Durham, NC).  Franklin remains active as a guest conductor and clinician with frequent invitations across the United States.

In addition to his duties at ECU, Franklin remains active as a singer. He has performed with many professional choirs including the Grammy-nominated South Dakota Chorale, Taylor Festival Choir, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Bach Society, Houston Bach Society, and Fuma Sacra of New Jersey.  Recent recording projects include CDs with Taylor Festival Choir (2018) and South Dakota Chorale (2016 & 2014). Prior to his conducting at the collegiate level, he taught public high school and middle school choir in Texas where he has often served as a clinician and adjudicator. He received his BME, vocal emphasis, from Baylor University, his MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College and his DMA degree from the University of North Texas. (picture) Richard Robbins is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he conducts the University Singers and Chamber Singers, and teaches choral conducting and methods. Dr. Robbins travels extensively as a conductor for choral festivals and honor choirs across the country, with recent engagements in Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. His early music editions are published internationally, and he has presented on a range of topics for music education and conducting organizations, including the American Choral Directors Association, and internationally at Warsaw’s Chopin Conservatory of Music (Poland). Dr. Robbins has prepared choirs for the Houston Ballet and for over 50 performances with the Houston Symphony. Currently, he is the Chorus Master for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Choral groups under Dr. Robbins’ direction have earned awards at numerous festivals, and have collaborated with a wide range of classical and pop artists. He previously served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and taught choral music in Texas at South Houston High School and Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he was named Teacher of the Year. He also serves as a festival conductor for the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the Vatican’s youth music organization.

Meg Frazier, Director, School of Music, College of Music and Fine Arts, Rita O. Huntsinger Distinguished, Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA. A native Texan, Dr. Frazier earned her BMEd and MM at Sam Houston State (studying with Bev Henson) and her DMA at LSU (studying with Ken Fulton). She taught in the Texas public schools before teaching at Beloit College in Wisconsin and subsequently moving to Loyola in 1998. At Loyola, Dr. Frazier conducts the Loyola Chorale, Chorale SSA, and Loyola Chamber Singers. Loyola choirs have performed for regional ACDA, MENC, and NAfME conferences. She teaches choral methods, beginning and conducting. The School of Music presents over 250 public performances each concert season as a vibrant part of the cultural life of New Orleans.

A frequent guest clinician and conductor, she has conducted all-state choirs in Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alaska, and Louisiana and honor choirs in 15 states. She adjudicates for multiple music festivals each season, both in New Orleans and regionally. She is the Artistic Director/Conductor for the award-winning choirs of NOVA, a community-based choral organization. NOVA’s Masterworks serves as the symphony chorus for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. NOVA and the Loyola choirs also collaborate with the New Orleans Opera.

Michael Murphy, Director of Choral Activities, Associate Professor of Music, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX. Prior to his appointment to SFA, Michael was Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor at the University of Idaho where he was Founder and Artistic Director of the Idaho Bach Festival and was recognized with the UI Faculty Award for outstanding scholarship, teaching, and engagement.

Dr. Murphy is an active clinician, adjudicator, author, and composer. His international conducting experiences include Austria, China, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany. In 2016, Michael was awarded the Confucius Institute Understanding China Fellowship and served as Visiting Scholar in Choral Music in Guangzhou, China. In the summer and fall of 2019, Michael will travel to South and Central America and give conducting masterclasses in Ecuador and Panama. Murphy has been published several times in Choral Journal and is a contributing author to volume 4 of Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir, published by GIA.  As a passionate champion of music for all, he has experience teaching all ages and levels and several auditioned and non-auditioned collegiate, community, school, and church choirs. Michael has held several states and national leadership positions in ACDA, NAfME, and NCCO.

Clinicians 

Richard Bjella, Director of Choral Studies Emeritus, Texas Tech University, Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir, Appleton, WI, has distinguished himself as a conductor, clinician, choral pedagogue, and choral arranger. He has been honored to have his choirs appear at the 2009 and 2013 National ACDA Conventions, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall, and TMEA conventions. In addition, Bjella’s graduate conductors also received finalist recognition in conducting competitions at two of the most recent National ACDA Conventions and one was awarded the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize.

He has conducted and presented master classes throughout the world and at over 400 festivals and workshops in 32 states. He is also active in the promotion of creative choral programming and is a contributing writer for the book, The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy (2017) with his chapter, The Art of Successful Programming: Study, Selection, and Synthesis. Bjella also served as President of the WCDA (Wisconsin) and was awarded the prestigious Lawrence Excellence in Teaching Award (2007) and the Morris Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award (2013) from WCDA. Most recently, Bjella was the recipient of the 2017 Professing Excellence Award at Texas Tech University. Presently, he is the Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir.

John Dickson, Director of Choral Studies, Edward G. and Catherine M. Galante Chair for Choral Music Education, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. As Director of Choral Studies, he conducts the A Cappella Choir and supervises the masters and doctoral programs in choral conducting. He is also the conductor of Coro Vocati, one of Atlanta’s most accomplished professional chamber choirs.

As a conducting pedagogue, Dr. Dickson has presented master-classes before the Association of British Choral Directors and the Russian State Music Conservatories of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Beginning his 40th year as a collegiate choral conductor, his choirs and workshops have been featured throughout the U. S. and Europe. A Visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge University, Dr. Dickson sang with Sir David Willcocks and The Bach Choir; a second post-doctoral fellowship allowed him to serve as David Hill’s assistant conductor. He is the Founding Director of the Oxbridge C. S. Lewis Choral Institute.

John Ratledge, Professor Emeritus, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, was the Conductor of University Singers, Area Coordinator of Graduate Choral Conducting, and Director of Choral Activities during his twelve-year tenure at The University. Ratledge made his European orchestral conducting debut in 1996 with the Filharmonia Sudecka of Walbrzych and Wroclaw, and Poland, and since then, he has conducted orchestras in France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Spain. During his tenure at Shorter College of Rome, Georgia, the Shorter Chorale distinguished itself nationally and internationally by giving the world premiere of the full orchestral version of the Duruflé Requiem in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Greece and the organ version premiere of the same work in Bulgaria; the world premiere of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms in Poland, and the St. Petersburg, Russia world premieres of Handel’s Messiah in English and Corigliano’s Fern Hill. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Bassi Brugnatelli International Conducting and Singing Symposium held annually in Robbiate, Italy, and he is the editor of the new Javier Busto Choral Series of Carl Fischer Music Publishers. Ratledge currently is the Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa.

Adjudicators

Karen Kenaston-French Director of Choral Activities University of Texas Arlington Arlington, TX. Karen Kenaston-French is the Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas Arlington, where she conducts the A Cappella Choir, teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and heads the Vocal Area. The UTA A Cappella Choir will be performing at the 2019 Texas Music Educators Association state convention, where they also performed in 2014. The choir has made three appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and was named a finalist in the 2014 American Prize for Choral Performance for its CD, “The Road Home.” In February 2015 the choir served as Ensemble-in-Residence for the National Student Conducting Competition at the American Choral Directors Association conference in Salt Lake City, and in March 2016 gave an invited performance at the Southwestern Division Conference of ACDA in Kansas City. Prior to her arrival at UTA, Dr. Kenaston-French served as Director of Choral Activities at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, taught conducting at Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas, and was director of music ministries at Plymouth Park United Methodist Church in Irving, Texas. She holds a B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College, M.M. and M.S.M. degrees from Southern Methodist University, and a D.M.A. from the University of North Texas.

Kenny Sheppard Professor Emeritus Southwestern University Georgetown, TX. Kenny Sheppard is the Professor Emeritus of Music at Southwestern University. In 2016 he received the Texas Choral Directors Association’s Choirmaster Award. He retired in 2018 after a fifty-three-year career in choral music in Texas: Odessa, Big Spring, McAllen, and Georgetown at Southwestern University. He continues to serve as clinician, adjudicator, and consultant to choral conductors in matters of repertoire, manual conducting, and teaching techniques. Sheppard continues to serve as conductor of the Festival Chorus for the Georgetown Festival of the Arts, a position he has held since 2005. His appearances as guest conductor include the Austin Symphony, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, the New England Symphonic Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, the Austin Civic Orchestra, the Austin Youth Orchestra, and numerous choral festivals. He has conducted international concert tours in China, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and France. He served as Conductor of Chorus Austin from 2001 to 2008. Until 2017, he was the Director of the Conductors Institute of Southwestern University, serving conductors at all stages of professional development. A devoted teacher, Dr. Sheppard has mentored many students who now hold positions as conductors and teachers in public schools, churches, and universities.

Robert Simpson Artistic Director Houston Chamber Choir Lecturer of Church Music Shepherd School of Music, Rice University Canon for Music, Christ Church Cathedral Houston, TX

Robert Simpson is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir. He also serves as Canon for Music at Houston’s historic Christ Church Cathedral and Lecturer of Church Music at Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Chorus America awarded him the Michael Korn Founders Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art and most recently awarded the Houston Chamber Choir the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 2018. Mr. Simpson is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Choral Conducting. Choirs under his direction have toured the United States, Europe, and Mexico, and performed before national conventions of Chorus America, the American Choral Directors Association, The American Guild of Organists, The Association of Anglican Musicians, and The Hymn Society of America. They have appeared nationally on CBS-TV, ABC-TV, and American Public Radio. Mr. Simpson is married to Marianna Parnas-Simpson, the noted children’s choir conductor.

Clinicians

Pearl Shangkuan Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music Calvin College Chorus Director, Grand Rapids Symphony Editor, Mosaic: the Pearl Shangkuan choral series, earth songs Editor, The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship music series, GIA Grand Rapids, MI. He is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer, and clinician all across the United States and internationally. Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Choral Music at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is also chorus master of the Grand Rapids Symphony. Her conducting, teaching, and adjudicating engagements have taken her to Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and all over Europe and Asia. Shangkuan has a signature choral series with earthsongs and edits the Calvin Choral series, published by GIA. Michigan ACDA has honored her with their Maynard Klein Choral Award for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music.” Her choirs have performed at American Choral Directors Association national, division, and state conferences and for other professional music organizations. She has conducted numerous All-State choirs, ACDA division honor choirs, and other honor choirs and festivals nationally and internationally, and has headlined several ACDA state conferences. She has also served on the jury of international choral competitions in Europe and Asia and has been a guest faculty for many programs in the U.S. She served as president of ACDA Central Division and Michigan ACDA and has commissioned and premiered numerous choral works by acclaimed composers.

 Craig Jessop Professor of Music Founding Dean, Caine College of the Arts Utah State University Founder and Music Director American Festival Chorus and Orchestra Logan, UT. He is a Professor of Music and the founding Dean of the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University. He is also the founder and Music Director of the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra. His distinguished career includes Music Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Under his direction, the Tabernacle Choir received numerous awards, including the coveted National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony. He has recorded more than 15 CDs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra and has been nominated for a Grammy. At the 2002 Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Salt Lake City, Dr. Jessop conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony, working with artists Sting and Yo-Yo Ma. Dr. Jessop has conducted in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, in¬cluding Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Royal Albert Hall in London and throughout Europe and Asia. He has conducted national American Choral Directors Association conferences on four occasions and is a frequent guest conductor at Massachusetts’ Berkshire Choral Festival. Dr. Jessop has been active as a baritone vocalist as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and with the choirs of Helmuth Rilling, John Rutter, and The Robert Shaw Festival Singers.

Joshua Habermann Conductor, Dallas Symphony Chorus Artistic Director, Santa Fe Desert Chorale Adjunct Professor, University of North Texas Dallas, TX The 2017-2018 season marks Joshua Habermann’s seventh year as conductor of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. Recent projects with the DSC include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, which was reprised for the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association in 2013. Prior to his DSO appointment, Habermann was assistant conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus under Vance George. Other singing credits include the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and three recordings with Austin-based Conspirare. Habermann is the music director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, a 24-voice professional chamber choir based in New Mexico. During his tenure, the ensemble has been recognized for outstanding performances of repertoire ranging from choral-orchestral masterworks to innovative a cappella programs. A passionate advocate for music education, Habermann has served on the faculties at San Francisco State University and the University of Miami and worked with singers and conductors in masterclasses and honor choirs throughout the United States and abroad. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of North Texas. Raised in San Francisco, Habermann is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed doctoral studies in conducting with Craig Hella Johnson.

Adjudicators

Dr. David Means is Director of Choral Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, TX, the conductor of the Valley Symphony Chorale, and recently founded Rio Grande Valley’s premier professional chamber choir, the Valley Choral Artists. Dr. Means came to south Texas from Austin where he was Head Choral Director of the Grammy Award-winning Fine Arts Academy of Westwood High School. Means has also taught at the University of Southern California, Christopher Newport University, Hill College and has more than twenty years of experience successfully teaching public school choirs in Texas and California. He is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician, having taught, judged, and performed across Texas, the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Japan. In addition to TMEA and UIL adjudication, he also regularly leads workshops for music teachers and conducts workshops for singers. Recently he served on the prestigious jury of the Preveza International Choral Festival in Preveza, Greece, and has presented sessions for the Hawaii ACDA chapter and was a featured clinician for TCDA 2017. This is his second opportunity to adjudicate the American Classic Madrigal Festival. Means earned degrees from Howard Payne University, Baylor University, and the University of Southern California.

Richard Robbins is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he conducts the University Singers and Chamber Singers, and teaches choral conducting and methods. Dr. Robbins travels extensively as a conductor for choral festivals and honor choirs across the country, with recent engagements in Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. His early music editions are published internationally, and he has presented on a range of topics for music education and conducting organizations, including the American Choral Directors Association, and internationally at Warsaw’s Chopin Conservatory of Music (Poland). Dr. Robbins has prepared choirs for the Houston Ballet and for over 50 performances with the Houston Symphony. Currently, he is the Chorus Master for the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Choral groups under Dr. Robbins’ direction have earned awards at numerous festivals, and have collaborated with a wide range of classical and pop artists. He previously served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and taught choral music in Texas at South Houston High School and Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where he was named Teacher of the Year. He also serves as a festival conductor for the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the Vatican’s youth music organization.

Brian A. Schmidt is Associate Professor of Choral Music at Baylor University and conductor of the Baylor A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers. He teaches graduate choral conducting and literature courses and guides graduate conducting recitals. Schmidt is also the Grammy® nominated founder and Artistic Director of the South Dakota Chorale, a professional choir based in Sioux Falls, SD, and has grown the ensemble’s artistic presence through commercial recordings and the signing of an international recording contract in 2014 with PENTATONE, a Dutch classical label. Previously, Schmidt served at Duke University Chapel where he conducted the Duke Vespers Ensemble and founded several new ventures including the monthly Bach Cantata Series and Cappella Baroque (a professional period-instrument orchestra) along with publishing recordings on the MSR Classics label. He is a frequent guest conductor and his choirs have appeared on Division and National ACDA Conferences and Boston Early Music Festival. He was selected by ACDA to represent America in the International Conductor Exchange Program with Sweden, resulting in the study and guest conducting opportunities in Sweden during the fall of 2015. Schmidt graduated from the University of North Texas, where he completed MM and DMA degrees under Jerry McCoy and Richard Sparks, along with early music studies under Lyle Nordstrom and Lenora McCroskey.

Clinicians

Richard Bjella, Director of Choral Studies Emeritus, Texas Tech University, Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir, Appleton, WI, has distinguished himself as a conductor, clinician, choral pedagogue, and choral arranger. He has been honored to have his choirs appear at the 2009 and 2013 National ACDA Conventions, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall, and TMEA conventions. In addition, Bjella’s graduate conductors also received finalist recognition in conducting competitions at two of the most recent National ACDA Conventions and one was awarded the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize.

He has conducted and presented masterclasses throughout the world and at over 400 festivals and workshops in 32 states. He is also active in the promotion of creative choral programming and is a contributing writer for the book, The Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy (2017) with his chapter, The Art of Successful Programming: Study, Selection, and Synthesis. Bjella also served as President of the WCDA (Wisconsin) and was awarded the prestigious Lawrence Excellence in Teaching Award (2007) and the Morris Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award (2013) from WCDA. Most recently, Bjella was the recipient of the 2017 Professing Excellence Award at Texas Tech University. Presently, he is the Artistic Director for the San Antonio Chamber Choir.

Dr. Eduardo García-Novelli, is Director of Choral Activities and Chair, Music Department, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI., also Artistic Director of Master Singers of Milwaukee. Born in Argentina, Eduardo served 8 years as Choir Director at Belgrano Day School in Buenos Aires, and as Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Choir. Former Assistant Director, Houston Symphony Chorus, and Director, Symphony of Southeast Texas Chorus. Received the Faculty Merit Award for distinguished teaching as Director of Choral Activities, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX. Two undergraduate degrees from state conservatories in Argentina. MM: Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. DMA: University of Houston, TX. His choirs performed at TMEA, WMEA, WCDA, NCCO National Conference, and the International Choral Festival in Panama City, Panama. Several national, European, and South American tours. In 2016 he was in residence at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, Slovenia, lecturing and conducting the award-winning AVE Chamber Choir. Also in 2016, he conducted Mozart’s Missa Brevis in F K 192 at the historical Peterskirche in Vienna. Last March he returned to Carnegie Hall to conduct Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and festival choir. Last summer he was in residence in Buenos Aires with the National Young People Choir performing an all-American repertoire. He just returned from a highly successful tour through Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy.

Z. Randall Stroope is an American conductor, composer. He is also the Doug and Nickie Burns Chair of Choral Music at Oklahoma State University, where he coordinates the vocal and choral conducting program. In the United States, he has conducted at most of the major concert halls, including Chicago Orchestra Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall (where he has conducted every year since 2001). He has conducted 45 all-state choirs, and numerous festival choirs in the United States. Internationally, Randall has directed in Hong Kong, Barcelona, Nova Scotia, Dublin and and Rome in the past year. He has 165 published musical works, including Four Spanish Sonnets of Garcilaso de la Vega, Conversion of Saul, Amor de mi alma, Christi Mutter (Stabat Mater), and Go Lovely Rose. His composition teachers were Normand Lockwood and Cecil Effinger, both students of Nadia Boulanger, the famous French teacher (and student of Gabriel Fauré.) In the final analysis, Randall loves working with students and making a difference – that is the greatest contribution.

Dr. Betsy Cook Weber is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and is also active internationally as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer. Weber also serves as Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus. In that role, she prepares choral-orchestral masterworks for some of the world’s greatest conductors. HSC recently concluded performances with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Litomysl Festival Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Choirs under Weber’s direction have been featured at multiple states (TMEA 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2017) and national conventions (ACDA 2007 and 2017 and NCCO 2017). Internationally, Weber has led choirs to top prizes at prestigious competitions in Wales, France, and Germany. Weber routinely prepares singers for Houston’s early music orchestras Ars Lyrica and Mercury Houston, as well as preparing singers for touring shows, including Josh Groban, NBC’s Clash of the Choirs, Telemundo’s Latin Grammy’s, Star Wars in Concert, Andreas Bocelli, and Harry Potter. In 2013, Weber became the 1st woman to receive TCDA’s Texas Choirmaster Award. She is editor of the Betsy Cook Weber choral series with Alliance Music Publishing Before coming to the University of Houston, Weber taught vocal music, K-12, in the public schools. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Westminster Choir College (Princeton, NJ), and the University of Houston.

2024 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

2023 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2023 a celebration of fine choral music!

First Place and 2024 Honor Choir
Oak Ridge Rhapsody
Thomas Kang, Director

1st Runner-up
Magnolia Chorale
Jennifer Franz-Melady, Director

2nd Runner-up
Lake Creek Chamber Singers
Cameron Carnley, Director

3rd Runner-up
Clear Creek Chamber Singers
Matthew Taylor and Rachel Smith, Directors

Performances of Distinction
(in alphabetical order)

Chisholm Trail Ranger Vocal Band
Megan Sisk and Shelby Hill, Directors

Coppell Madrigals
Bona Coogle and Aaron Coronado, Directors

Cypress Park Chamber Choir
Kammi Estelle and Kristopher Rodriguez, Directors

Granbury Acappella Choir
Kendra Fisher, Director

Hebron Chamber Singers
Alexander Carr, Director

Houston Memorial Meistersingers
Lawrence Johnson Jr., Director

Magnolia West Mustang Singers
Sylvia Garza, Director

Sachse Mane Attraction
Kristin Poligala, Director

Elite Treble Division

First Place and 2024 Honor Choir, Elite Treble Division
Montgomery A Cappella Women
Heather Orr and Spencer Tripp, Directors

1st Runner-up
Grapevine Treble Voce
Pauline Sexton and Ricardo Garza, Directors

2nd Runner-up
Heritage Choraliers
Christopher Rhodes, Director

3rd Runner-up
Westfield Varsity Women’s Choir
Amanda Losoya-Corbitt, Blake Malone McCleery, and Tiffany Hensley, Directors

Newcomer Division

Standing Ovation Award
Prosper Chamber Choir
Crystal Cunningham and Tate Keen, Directors

Rising Star Award

Braswell Chamber Singers
Derrick Brookins, Director

Brennan Mixed Choir
Jimmy Garrett, Director

Caney Creek Chamber Choir
Ren Robertson, Director

Frenship Madrigals
Amy Moss, Director

Little Elm Madrigals
Bryce Lewis, Director

McCallum First Edition
Dinah Menger and Derrick Brookins, Directors

2022 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2022 a celebration of fine choral music!

First Place and 2023 Honor Choir
Midway Chamber Singers
Jeff Rice, Director

1st Runner-up
Pearland Kantorei
Michael Kessler & Jo Beth Wasicek, Directors

2nd Runner-up
North Mesquite Chamber Singers
Ryan Forkner, Director

3rd Runner-up
Burleson Centennial Chamber Singers
Eric Cooley, Director

Performances of Distinction
(in alphabetical order)

Arlington Chamber Singers
Mason Barlow, Director

Chisholm Trail Ranger Vocal Band
Carla Hardy & Megan Sisk, Directors

Colleyville Heritage Chamber Choir
Kimberly McConnell, Director

Grand Oaks Chamber Singers
J. R. Smith, Director

Hebron Chamber Singers
Alexander Carr, Director

Klein Chamber Choir
Tim Winebrenner & Rebecca Berger, Directors

Klein Collins Tiger Singers
Elizabeth Marks, Director

Magnolia West Mustang Singers
Sylvia Garza, Director

Oak Ridge Rhapsody
Thomas Kang, Director

Rock Hill Blue Note
Joshua McGuire, Director

Sachse Chamber Singers
Westfield Mustang Madrigal Singers

Westfield Mustang Madrigal Singers
Tiffany Hensley, Director

2021 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival Results

A special thank you to the singers and directors of the participating choirs whose dedication and perseverance made the virtual North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2021 a celebration of fine choral music. Congratulations!

First Place and 2022 Co-Honor Choirs
Magnolia Chorale
Jennifer Franz-Melady, Director

Timber Creek Chamber Choir
Adrian Kirtley & Alissa Ruth Suver, Directors

2nd Runner-Up
Klein Oak Chamber Choir
James Kritikos, Director

3rd Runner-Up
North Mesquite Chamber Singers
Ryan Forkner, Director

Performance of Distinction
Chisholm Trail Ranger Vocal Band
Carla Hardy, Director

2020 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2020 a celebration of fine choral music!

First Place and 2021 Honor Choir
Midway Chamber Singers, Jeff Rice, Director

1st Runner-up
Plano Chamber Singers
Clorese Gray-Porter and Reza Azizi, Directors

2nd Runner-up
Heritage Concert Choir
Riley McKay Worthen, Director

3rd Runner-up
Conroe Cantare
Clay West, Director

Performances of Distinction (in alphabetical order)
Arlington Chamber Singers, Mason Barlow, Director
Bridgeland Chamber Choir, Chris Fiorini, Director
Coppell Madrigals, Bona Coogle, Aaron Coronado, Directors
Klein Collins Tiger Singers, Elizabeth Marks, Director
Magnolia Chorale, Jennifer Franz-Melady, Director
North Mesquite Chamber Choir, Ryan Forkner, Director
Oak Ridge Chamber Choir, Elisa West, Thomas Kane, Directors
Sachse Chamber Choir, Joshua McGuire, Director

2019 North Texas Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Congratulations to the singers and directors who made the Inaugural North Texas Madrigal and Chamber Choir Festival a hallmark of quality repertoire and performance. 

First Place and 2020 Honor Choir
Timber Creek Chamber Choir, Adrian Kirtley, Director

1st Runner-up
Kinder HSPVA Madrigal Singers, Shannon Carter, Director

2nd Runner-up
Midway Chamber Singers Jeff Rice, Director

3rd Runner-up
J.J. Pearce Forte, Michael Lysinger & Laura Taylor, Directors

Performances of Distinction, in alphabetical order:

2024 San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Chamber Division

First Place and 2025 Honor Choir

Reagan Chamber Singers

Mary Cowart, Director

1st Runner-Up

Bridgeland Chamber Choir

Christopher Fiorini, Dolores Noel, Aubrey Erickson, Directors

2nd Runner-Up

Tompkins Chamber Choir

Christian de la Cruz, Kristin Killingsworth, Directors

3rd Runner-Up

Kingwood Madrigals

Jason Watt, Penelope Campbell, Directors

Small Ensemble Division

First Place and 2025 Honor Choir (Mini Concert)

James E. Taylor Expressions

Casey Carruth, Director

1st Runner-Up

Lehman Chamber Choir

Leo Garcia, Director

2nd Runner-Up

Jack C. Hays Chamber Singers

Charles M. Flores Jr., Director

3rd Runner-Up

Cypress Lakes Spartan Chamber Choir

Lelah Loftin and Jeanna Balbos, Directors

Performances of Distinction (in alphabetical order)

Barbers Hill Chamber Choir

Nicki Taleno, Chris Truitt, Sarah Cole, Directors

Burleson Centennial Chamber Singers

Cody Duff, Director

Cinco Ranch Bravo

Dorothy Wilson, Director

Cy Woods Chamber Choir

Jason Womack, Jennifer Aguirre, Directors

Cy Fair Singers

Nicholas Likos, Mica Bull, Alessio Nachtergaele, Directors

Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir

Cynthia Douglas, Adam Bishea, Stefanie Stephens, Directors

Deer Park Madrigal Singers

Anita Ladd, Ben Fahnders, Michael Grauvogl, Directors

Grand Oaks Chamber Singers

J. R. Smith, Director

Jersey Village Chamber Choir

Gregory Moore, Travis Carie, Stephanie Kopesky, Directors

Klein Chamber Choir

Sean Stultz, Rebecca Berger, Directors

Lake Creek Chamber Choir

Cameron Carnley, Director

Liberty North Chamber Choir (Missouri)

Brian Hartman, Director

Midway Chamber Singers

Jeff Rice, Conductor

Monterey Madrigals

Tim Algate, Mariann Davidson, Directors

Ridge Point Chamber Choir

Chelsea Berner, Stewart Gaitán, Directors

Round Rock Dragon Chorale

Jamieson McCaffity, Emma deGraaf, Directors

The Woodlands Chamber Choir

Patrick Newcomb, Director

Tomball Memorial The Major Chords

Jed Ragsdale, Jordyn White, Directors

Vandegrift Chamber Choir

Emily Chandler, Emma Lee, Directors

Veterans Memorial Charger Chamber Choir

Travis Baldwin, Iliana Guerrero, Directors

Vista Ridge Ovation

Courtney Kelly, Austin Hart, Directors

2023 San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Congratulations to all participating choirs and directors for your fine performances which exemplified your constant striving for excellence and artistry. The camaraderie displayed on site and in performances at Sacred Heart Chapel at Our Lady of the Lake, Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose and the Chapel at Incarnate Word truly fulfill the 52-year tradition of Mad Fest.

First Place and 2024 Honor Choir
Montgomery Madrigals
Heather Orr and Spencer Tripp, Directors

1st Runner-Up
Bridgeland Chamber Choir
Chris Fiorini, Dolores Noel, & Aubrey Nelson, Directors

2nd Runner-Up
The Woodlands Chamber Choir
Patrick Newcomb, Director

3rd Runner-Up
Reagan Chamber Singers
Mary Cowart, Directo

Performances of Distinction
(in alphabetical order)

Cy Fair Singers
Nicholas Likos, Director

Deer Park Madrigal Singers
Anita Ladd, Ben Fahnders, Megan Montgomery, Tommy Van Sickle, and Michael Grauvogl, Directors

Jersey Village Chamber Choir
Gregory Moore, Director

Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
Julia Hall, Director

Klein Chamber Choir
Sean Stultz & Rebecca Berger, Directors

Klein Oak Chamber Singers
Daryle Freeman & Heather Leal, Directors

McNeil Chamber Singers
Wendi Burwinkel, Director

Monterey Madrigals
Tim Algate & Mariann Davidson, Directors

Pearland Kantorei
Michael Kessler & Jackie Vondette, Directors

Seven Lakes Chamber Singers
Klint Jordan & Elizabeth Tait, Directors

Vandegrift Chamber Choir
Michael Zook & Emily Chandler, Directors

2022 San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made the 51st annual San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2022 a celebration of fine choral music! 

First Place and 2023 Honor Choir
Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir
Cynthia Douglas, Adam Bishea, Stefanie Stephens, Directors

1st Runner-Up
Montgomery Madrigals
Heather Orr & Spencer Tripp, Directors

2nd Runner-Up
Timber Creek Chamber Choir
Adrian Kirtley & Alissa Ruth Suver, Directors

3rd Runner-Up
The Woodlands Chamber Choir
Patrick Newcomb, Director

Performances of Distinction
(in alphabetical order)

Bridgeland Chamber Choir
Christopher Fiorini & Dolores Noel, Directors

Ranch Bravo
Dorothy Wilson, Director

Conroe Cantare
Evan Key & Emily Eisterhold, Directors

Cypress Creek Chamber Choir
Sharon F. Paul & Alexander Bruce, Directors

Cy-Fair Singers
Nicholas Likos, Mica Bull & Alessio Nachtergaele, Directors

Deer Park Madrigal Singers
Anita Ladd, Megan Montgomery, & Thomas Van Sickle, Directors

Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Madrigal Singers
Julia Hall, Director

Klein Oak Chamber Singers
Derrick Brookins & Heather Leal, Directors

Lake Creek Chamber Choir
Cameron Carnley, Director

Monterey Madrigals
Tim Algate, Director

Reagan Chamber Singers
Mary Cowart, Director

Ridge Point Chamber Choir
Chelsea Berner & Stewart Gaitan, Directors

Seven Lakes Chamber Singers
Klint Jordan & Elizabeth Tait, Directors

James E. Taylor Expressions
Kevin Riehle, Director

Tomball Memorial The Major Chords
Jed Ragsdale & Jordyn White, Directors

Travis Chamber Singers
Debra Siebert, Director

Vandegrift Chamber Choir
Michael Zook & Emily Chandler, Directors

Vista Ridge Ovation
Steve White & Becky Azard, Directors

2021 San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made the 50th annual San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2021 a celebration of fine choral music!

First Place and 2022 Honor Choir
Kingwood Madrigals
Jason Watt & Penelope Campbell, Directors

1st Runner-Up
Cy Fair Singers
Nicholas Likos, Director

2nd Runner-Up
Montgomery Madrigals
Heather Orr, Director

3rd Runner-Up
Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir
Cynthia Douglas & Adam Bishea, Directors

Performance of Distinction (in alphabetical order):
Bridgeland Chamber Choir, Christopher Fiorini & Dolores Noel, Directors
Centennial Chamber Singers, Eric Cooley, Director
Cinco Ranch Bravo, Dorothy Wilson & Melanie Miller, Directors
Conroe Cantare, Evan Key & Emily Eisterhold, Directors
Cypress Creek Chamber Choir, Sharon Paul & Alexander Bruce, Directors
Cypress Woods Chamber Choir, Jason Womack, Jenae Aguirre & Aubrey Nelson, Directors
James E. Taylor Expressions, Kevin Riehle, Director
Lake Creek Chamber Choir, Cameron Carnley, Director
Reagan Chamber Singers, Mary Cowart, Director
Seven Lakes Chamber Singers, Klint Jordan & Elizabeth Tait, Directors
The Woodlands Chamber Choir, Patrick Newcomb, Director

2020 San Antonio Madrigal Results

Thank you and congratulations to the singers and directors of the participating choirs who made the San Antonio Madrigal & Chamber Choir Festival 2020 a celebration of fine choral music! 

First Place and 2021 Honor Choir
Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Madrigal Singers, Shannon Carter, Director

1st Runner-up
The Kingwood Madrigals
Jason Watt, Director

2nd Runner-up
Montgomery Madrigals
Heather Orr, Director

3rd Runner-up
Reagan Chamber Singers
Mary Cowart, Director

Performances of Distinction (in alphabetical order)
Anderson Chamber Choir, David Beussman & Meredith Phillips, Directors
Burleson Centennial Chamber Singers, Eric L. Cooley, Director
Cinco Ranch Bravo, Dorothy Wilson, Director
Cypress Creek Chamber Choir, Sharon F. Paul & Alexander Bruce, Directors
Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir, Cynthia Douglas & Adam Bishea, Directors
James E. Taylor Expressions, Kevin Riehle, Director
Jersey Village Chamber Choir, Gregory Moore & Stefanie Stephens, Directors
Klein Oak Chamber Choir, James Kritikos, Director
Langham Creek Chamber Singers, Andrea Loer & Kirstie McCallum, Directors
Pearland Kantorei, Michael Kessler & Jon Marcum, Directors
Round Rock Dragon Chorale, Jamieson McCaffity & Raegan Grantham, Directors
Seven Lakes Chamber Singers, Klint Jordan & Elizabeth Tait, Directors
The Woodlands Chamber Choir, Patrick Newcomb, Director
Tomball Memorial Major Chords, Jed Ragsdale & Kimberly Dillow, Directors
Vandegrift Chamber Choir, Michael Zook, Director
Vista Ridge Ovation, Steve White & Becky Azard, Directors
Westlake Madrigals, Edward Snouffer, Director

2019 San Antonio Madrigal Results

Congratulations to the singers and directors of the 38 participating choirs who made Mad Fest 2019 a celebration of fine choral music! 

First Place and 2020 Honor Choir
Cy-Fair Singers, Nicholas Likos, Director.

1st Runner-up
Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir, Cynthia Douglas/Adam Bishea, Directors

2nd Runner-up
Reagan Chamber Singers, Mary Cowart, Director

3rd Runner-up
Pearland Kantorei, Michael Kessler/Jon Marcum, Directors.

Performances of Distinction, in alphabetical order:
Centennial Chamber Singers, Eric Cooley, Director
Colleyville Heritage Chamber Choir, Thomas Rinn, Director
Conroe Cantare, Clay West, Director
Cypress Creek Chamber Choir, Sharon Paul/Alexander Bruce, Directors
Cypress Woods Chamber Choir, Jason Womack, Director
Garland Celebration Singers, Riley Worthen, Director
Klein Oak Chamber Choir, James Kritikos, Director
Kingwood Madrigals, Jason Watt, Director
Langham Creek Chamber Singers, Chris Fiorini/Andrea Loer, Directors
Montgomery Madrigals, Heather Orr/Andre Trahan, Directors
Seven Lakes Chamber Singers, Emily Chandler, Director
Spring Chamber Choir, Stephanie Hicks/Josh Levine, Directors
Tomball Memorial Major Chords, Jed Ragsdale, Director
Vandegrift Chamber Choir, Michael Zook, Director

2018 San Antonio Madrigal Results

First Place and 2019 Honor Choir The Woodlands Chamber Choir Patrick Newcomb, Director

First Runner Up Midway Chambers Singers Jeff Rice, Director

Second Runner Up Vandergrift Chamber Choir Michael Zook, Director

Third Runner Up Kingwood Madrigals Jason Watt, Director

Performances of Distinction
Arlington Chamber Singers, Mason Barlow, Director
Centennial Chamber Singers, Eric Cooley, Director
Conroe Cantare, Clay West, Director
Cy Fair Singers, Nicholas Likos, Director
Cypress Ranch Chamber Choir, Cynthia Douglas/Adam Bishea, Directors
Cypress Woods Chamber Choir, Jason Womack, Director
Garland Celebration Singers, Cheryl Wilson, Director
Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Madrigal Singers, Shannon Carter, Director
J.J. Pearce Forte, Michael Lysinger, Director
Langham Creek Chamber Singers, Christopher Fiorini, Director
Montgomery Madrigals, Heather Orr, Director
Pearland Kantorei, Michael Kessler, Director
Seven Lakes Chamber Singers, Emily Chandler, Director
Taylor Expressions, Kevin Riehle, Director

Adjudicators Diane Brumley, Emerita, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley – Brownsville Karen Kenaston – French, University of Texas Arlington Joshua Oppenheim, Kansas State University

Clinicians John Dickson, Louisiana State University Allen Hightower, University of North Texas Julie Yu, Kansas State University

2017 San Antonio Madrigal Results

First Place and 2018 Honor Choir Reagan High School Mary Cowart, Director

First Runner Up Midway High School Jeff Rice, Director

Second Runner Up Langham Creek High School Chris Fiorini, Director

Third Runner Up Vandegrift High School Michael Feris, Director

Performances of Distinction
Arlington High School, Mason Barlow, Director
Clear Brook High School, Jon Marcum, Director
Colleyville Heritage High School, Thomas Rinn, Director
Cypress Creek High School, Sharon Paul, Director
Garland High School, Cheryl Wilson, Director
Magnolia High School, Jennifer Franz-Melady, Director
Pearce High School, Michael Lysinger, Director
Pearland High School, Michael Kessler, Director
The Woodlands High School, Patrick Newcomb, Director
Vista Ridge High School, Steve White, Director

Adjudicators Pam Elrod, Southern Methodist University David Means, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley John Silantien, University of Texas at San Antonio

Clinicians Rick Bjella, Texas Tech University Jonathan Reed, Michigan State University School of Music Sandra Snow, Michigan State University

2016 San Antonio Madrigal Results

First Place and 2017 Honor Choir High School for Performing and Visual Arts Shannon Carter, Director

First Runner Up Conroe High School Clay West, Director

Second Runner Up Garland High School Cheryl Wilson, Director

Third Runner Up Reagan High School Mary Cowart, Director

Performances of Distinction
Arlington High School, Mason Barlow, Director
Clear Brook High School, Jon Marcum, Director
Colleyville Heritage High School, Thomas Rinn, Director
Cypress Creek High School, Sharon Paul, Director
Flower Mound High School, Mark Rohwer, Director
Jersey Village High School, Neena Taylor, Director
Langham Creek High School, Christopher Fiorini, Director
Magnolia High School, Jennifer Franz-Melady, Director
Midway High School, Jeff Rice, Director
Taylor High School, Kevin Riehle, Director
The Woodlands High School, Patrick Newcomb, Director
Vandegrift High School, Michael Feris, Director
Vista Ridge High School, Steve White, Director

Adjudicators Randall Hooper, Texas A&M University Cameron LaBarr, Missouri State University Gary Mabry, University of Texas at San Antonio

Clinicians Kenneth Davis, Conductor, Artist, Educator John Ratledge, University of Alabama Betsy Cook Weber, University of Houston Moores School of Music

2015 San Antonio Madrigal Results

First Place and 2016 Honor Choir Pearland Kantorei, Pearland ISD Derrick Bready, Conductor

Adjudicators Dianne Brumley, the University of Texas at Brownsville Karen Kenaston-French, University of Texas Arlington David Rayl, Michigan State University

Clinicians John Dickson, Louisiana State University Lynne Gackle, Baylor University Eduardo Garcia-Novelli, Carthage College

 2014 San Antonio Madrigal Results

First Place and 2015 Honor Choir The Woodlands Chamber Choir, Conroe ISD Bob Horton, Director

Adjudicators Jonathan Reed, Michigan State University John Silantien, the University of Texas at San Antonio James Franklin, Sam Houston State University

Clinicians Richard Bjella, Texas Tech University Z. Randall Stroope, Oklahoma State University Kenneth Davis, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico