Conductors & Clinicians

Dr. Anton Armstrong, Tosdal Professor of Music at St. Olaf College and conductor of the St. Olaf Choir since 1990, is a nationally and internationally active guest conductor and lecturer. Dr. Armstrong is also a graduate of St. Olaf College and earned advanced degrees at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Boychoir School and the Board of Chorus America.

In the summer of 2001, Dr. Armstrong conducted the World Youth Choir with concerts in Venezuela and the United States, and in June 2003 he served as the first Peter Godfrey Visiting Professor of Choral Music at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Other recent international engagements include serving as a guest conductor at the 2010 Zimriya-The World Assembly of Choirs and in March 2011, and returning to guest conduct the Formosa Singers of Taipei, Taiwan. In the summer of 2011 he was a guest conductor of the Prague Proms International Music Festival sponsored by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and led a conducting master class at the Ninth World Symposium of Choral Music in Puerto Madryn, Argentina (2011). He also served as the Co-Chair of the Artistic Committee for the 10th World Symposium of Choral Music in Seoul, Korea (2014).

BA, Music Education, St. Olaf College
MS, Choral Music Education, University of Illinois
DMA, Choral and Orchestral Conducting, Eastman School of Music
Additional study, Business, Pace University
Current residence: Point Pleasant, NJ

Celebrated conductor and entrepreneur Craig Arnold is the Founder, Artistic Director, and President of Manhattan Concert Productions and conductor of Manhattan Chorale and Chamber Orchestra.  He has music ministry and teaching experience at all levels, including Professor and  Director of Choral Activities positions at Luther College (2008 Emmy Award), Western Michigan University, and Capital University.  Arnold has served as guest conductor of concert performances, music festivals, and all-state choirs in most of the United States and a dozen countries abroad.  He also has been featured guest lecturer on topics of music, business, and leadership on college campuses, conferences, and seminars.  Arnold is from Brainerd, MN where he was recently inducted into the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. He is the father of two, grandfather of two, husband of one.  Not so guilty pleasure:  he is a water nut.

PET: Cooper (third Sheltie).

Daniel Baldwin recently retired after 28 years as Director of Orchestral Activities at Luther College (Decorah, IA). Baldwin earned the Bachelor of Music from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from University of Texas at Austin and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from University of Texas at Austin. Prior to his tenure at Luther, Dr. Baldwin serves as Director of Orchestras at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.

He received his formal training in string pedagogy as a teacher in the University of Texas String Project, perhaps the most comprehensive program of its kind in North America. Phyllis Young, director of the String Project for 35 years, was Baldwin’s cello teacher during his studies at the University of Texas. He studied conducting with Henry Charles Smith, Cornelius Eberhardt, Sung Kwak, Walter Ducloux, and Fiora Contino.

Daniel Baldwin has served as music director of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and the Transylvania Youth Orchestra of the Brevard (North Carolina) Music Center, the largest summer music festival in the South. A 1991 conducting fellow of the Conductor’s Institute of the University of South Carolina and formerly a cellist with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, Dr. Baldwin maintains an active schedule as a clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor. Since 2007 he has served as musical and artistic director for the Lake Chelan Bach Fest in North Central Washington state.

Frequently Daniel Baldwin traveled to Europe with the Luther College Symphony Orchestra, enjoying month-long January residencies in Vienna, Austria, and performing in such venues as the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and the Vienna Konzerthaus. The ensemble returned to Vienna in 2019 and performed at the Musikverein. The Luther College Symphony Orchestra also tours annually in the USA. During his tenure, Baldwin and the Luther College Symphony Orchestra completed sixteen American tours, performing in at least 20 states.

Daniel Bara is the John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music and the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia where oversees seven university choral ensembles as well as the graduate choral conducting program. His university choirs have performed by juried invitation for state, regional, and national conventions of ACDA, MENC, and IMC. In spring of 2014 The UGA Hodgson Singers won the Grand Prix at the International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria and performed at the ACDA Southern Division Convention in Jacksonville, FL. His former MM and DMA conducting students now hold collegiate conducting appointments at Susquehanna University, New England Conservatory, Miami University of Ohio, University of Idaho, William Jewell College, as well as heads of church and school choral music programs throughout the country.
Prior to his appointment at UGA, Dr. Bara was the Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University, where he received the UNC Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award and the Robert L. Jones Award for Outstanding Teaching, and released two internationally distributed choral recordings, Greater Love (2007) and Eternal Light (2010) with Gothic Records. In 2001was a winner of the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize given at the Eastman School of Music, and the ACDA National Student Conducting Competition (Graduate Division) awarded at the National Convention in San Antonio, TX.

Dr. Bara is a past-president of NC-ACDA, has held the Artistic Directorship of the New York State Summer School of the Arts – School of Choral Studies (2007-2009), and has served as conductor of the World Youth Honor Choir at Interlochen Arts Camp (2004-2006). He is in regular demand as a guest conductor and clinician, having conducted all-state and honor choirs in 17 states and Carnegie Hall, and has served as clinician for conferences sponsored by ACDA, AGO, and other school and church musical organizations.

Dr. Bara holds the DMA degree in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, organ and conducting degrees from the University of Michigan, and is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy. He is the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Youth and Student Activities for the Southern Division Chapter of ACDA and has served on conference planning committees for the 2012 and 2016 Southern Division conferences. At UGA, Dr. Bara conducts the UGA Hodgson Singers, the University Chorus, and oversees the graduate conducting student recital choir, The Repertory Singers.

Called one of the most exciting and exhilarating voices in music education today, Peter Loel Boonshaft has been invited to speak and conduct in every state in the nation and around the world. Honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education," Dr. Boonshaft is Director of Education for Jupiter Band Instruments. He is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He is also co-author of Alfred Music’s method book series Sound Innovations. As well, his weekly “Boonshaft’s Blog” for music educators continues to inspire teachers everywhere. He has received official proclamations from the Governors of five states and a Certificate of Appreciation from former President Ronald Reagan, as well as performing for former President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, and for Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His honors also include being selected three times as a National Endowment for the Arts "Artist in Residence,” three times awarded Honorary Life Membership in the Tri-M Music Honor Society, receiving the Al G. Wright Award of Distinction from the Women Band Directors International, and being selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, where he is Professor Emeritus of Music.

Philip Brown is the director of vocal music activities at Liberty High School (MO). Additionally he looks forward to collaborations and projects with the Allegro Youth Choirs of Kansas City. He graduated summa cum laude from Bethany College (KS), majoring in K-12 music education and vocal performance. He later received his M.M. degree in music education from Northern Arizona University. 

Before returning back to Missouri, Philip started his school teaching in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado (Arvada West High School). Then in Minnesota, he taught at 4 different high schools in the twin cities area over the course of twenty years. Additionally, he spent 15 years conducting the high school choirs with the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs organization.

Philip was honored as the 2011 ACDA-MN Young Director of the Year. He was selected as the Director of Note for Minnesota by Choral Director Magazine in 2012. In 2013 he received the VocalEssence/ACDA-MN Creative Programming Award for his repertoire philosophy and programming. Philip was named the Bethany College (KS) Gold Award recipient in 2015 and was the Winner of the Youth Choir Conducting Division for The American Prize 2016, and again in 2020. He was the featured community member in the Eden Prairie Lifestyle Magazine for 2020. He conducted the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs - Treble Singers at the 2019 National ACDA Conference in his hometown of Kansas City, and the Cantanti Singers at the 2025 National ACDA Conference in Dallas.

His choral groups have been selected for performances at state, regional, and national conferences for ACDA, NAfME, and Chorus America. Choirs under his conducting have collaborated with the Minnesota Oratorio Society, Minnesota Choral Artists - The Singers, Great Northern Union, VocalEssence, Northern Lights Chorale, Cantus, National Lutheran Choir, Singers in Accord, and multiple university choirs. His choirs have consistently received superior ratings, best in class awards, and grand sweepstakes awards at various music festivals and competitions. 

Philip has given presentations and clinics on: rehearsal techniques that energize and engage singers, small ensemble singing strengthening the full ensemble, incorporating technology in the music rehearsal, student-driven assessments, and commissioning new choral works. He is an active clinician and guest conductor (philip.brown@lps53.org). He is professionally affiliated with ACDA and NAfME, and is the High School Repertoire & Resource chair for ACDA.

Conductor Douglas Droste is recognized as possessing "obvious joy" for making music and a "sure sense of timing" when on the podium. Those under his baton routinely acknowledge his in-depth interpretations, keen sense of communication and personable ability to empower musicians.

Droste’s guest conducting appearances include the INSO-Lviv Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), and the orchestras of Kansas City, Indianapolis, Columbus, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Midland-Odessa, Fox Valley (IL), Chappaqua (NY), and the Amarillo Virtuosi. Equally at home in the pit, he has conducted over 30 productions of opera, ballet and musical theatre. Droste has also led eclectic shows with artists such as Black Violin, Ben Folds, The Flaming Lips, Pink Martini, Michael Cavanaugh, Time for Three, Christian Howes, and Disney’s All-American College Orchestra Alumni, among others. He previously served as artistic director of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, where he was praised for dynamic performances, innovative programming and his rapport with musicians and community.

A dedicated teacher, Droste is director of orchestral studies at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts, where he conducts the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra and teaches conducting. He regularly programs traditional repertoire, works by underrepresented composers, as well as new music by the composers of today. He also seeks unique collaborations and projects, such as Ron McCurdy’s Langston Hughes Project, sensory friendly concerts for children with special needs, and a recording with Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, "Take Me to the World," on the Ghostlight label.

As an advocate of music education, Droste has conducted numerous all-state orchestras, as well as the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House, Let Music Live Festival at the Vienna Musikverein and Rodolfinum in Prague, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. He is also active as a clinician and adjudicator, including Festival Disney, ASTA’s National Orchestra Festival, MCP at Carnegie Hall and the Music for All National Festival. Droste is a Yamaha Artist and Master Educator.

A talented violinist, Droste has performed with the orchestras of Canton, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Nashville, and the Lancaster Festival, among others. He is also skilled on viola, trumpet, and as a tenor. Droste holds degrees from The Ohio State University and Texas Tech University.

Interlacing lived experiences with innate passion, Henry Dorn is a nationally recognized music composer/conductor renowned for his energizing rhythm, syntax versatility, and passion for creating storytelling sounds with larger picture meanings. Dr. Dorn’s compositions encompass intimate narratives often told from the lens of being a musician and African American. He is passionate about developing immersive experiences while setting an example of his life signature – the path may not always be smooth or clear, but it will always be worth it. His works have earned him recognition and performances by distinguished ensembles across the country, including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Music from Copland House, JACK Quartet, the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet, Aizuri Quartet, Argento Ensemble, and the Dallas Wind Symphony.

Dr. Dorn is Assistant Professor of Conducting and Composition at St. Olaf College and is conductor of the award-winning St. Olaf Band. Prior to St. Olaf College, Dr. Dorn worked as an Assistant Director of the Memphis Area Youth Wind Ensemble and formerly served as Director to the Nu Chamber Collective. He has also worked with musicians of the United States Army Field Band, the United States Air Force Band, and has guest conducted the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.”

As a composer, Dr. Dorn has earned several accolades. He was an Inaugural Future of Music Faculty Fellow with the Cleveland Institute of Music and an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award recipient. He is a past participant in The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, American Composers Orchestra EarShot, JACK Quartet’s JACK Studio, and Copland House CULTIVATE. He was in residence at MacDowell in summer 2023.

Originally from Little Rock, AR, Dr. Dorn’s ardency toward composing sparked at an early age while he was surrounded by blues and the sounds of his father’s vinyl records collection. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from The University of Memphis, a Master of Music in Composition and Wind Conducting from Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Conducting and a DMA in Composition from Michigan State University. He his primary conducting teachers have been Kevin L. Sedatole, Harlan D. Parker, and Kraig Alan Williams. He studied composition with David Biedenbender, Ricardo Lorenz, Alexis Bacon, Oscar Bettison, Kamran Ince, and Jack Cooper, among several others.

David Edmonds, D.M.A, has served as Director of Choral Studies at the University of New Mexico since 2018 where he directs the UNM Concert Choir and University Chorus and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting and choral repertoire. Recent UNM choir highlights include Mahler’s Symphony no. 2 in C minor (“Resurrection”) with the New Mexico Philharmonic, the world-premiere of Kile Smith’s Where the Mind Is Without Fear, and the presentation of A Concert of Healing, in which the UNM choirs and UNM Symphony Orchestra gave the world-premiere performance of Andrea Clearfield’s Singing Into Presence. Before coming to UNM, Dr. Edmonds led the choral music program at the University of Montana. During his six years there, the UM Chamber Chorale was invited to perform at both ACDA and NAfME regional conferences.

In addition to his role at UNM, Dr. Edmonds serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of Dolce Canto, a community-based choral ensemble in Missoula, Montana, presenting two regular-season performances in Missoula and the surrounding areas. Dr. Edmonds also recently completed a one-year tenure as the Interim Artistic Director of the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus, guiding the ensemble in their preparations for four choral/orchestral masterworks performances for the 2023-2024 season.

An advocate for music education students and pre-service music teachers, Edmonds served for six years as ACDA National Repertoire & Resources Chair for Student Activities, working on the R&R team to create programming and initiatives supporting the ACDA national student membership. After teaching high school choral music for six years in Iowa and Texas, Dr. Edmonds obtained advanced degrees in conducting from the University of North Texas (D.M.A., ’12) and Westminster Choir College (M.M., ’10). He has received commissions for original compositions and arrangements from both school and church organizations in the United States and Canada. His works are published by Alliance, Colla Voce, and MorningStar Music Publishers.

Dr. Edmonds lives in New Mexico with his incredible wife and their two (often) well-behaved daughters.

Dr. Derrick Fox is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors and a Professor of Choral Conducting at Michigan State University. Prior to MSU, he was the Director of Choral Activities and Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Ithaca College. Dr. Fox has taught at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels. His conducting experiences have included singers from upper elementary choirs through collegiate and community choirs. He was awarded the 2021 Bryan R. Johnson Service Award by the Nebraska Music Educators Association and the 2022 University of Nebraska Omaha Award for Distinguished Research/Creative Activity.

Dr. Fox has conducted all state and regional choirs across the United States, led international, national and regional choral concerts/residencies and presented professional development workshops across the United States and internationally. His professional workshops focus on assessment in the choral classroom, building classroom community, rehearsal strategies, choral conducting techniques and shape note singing in the African American community. Dr. Fox has held teaching residencies at the Latvian Academy of Music and Syracuse University and led performance tours through Lithuania and Estonia. Dr. Fox conducted the 2019 National ACDA Middle School/Junior High Mixed Honor Choir and traveled to South Africa as a 2019 ACDA International Conductor Exchange Fellow where he led choral workshops and rehearsals in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Potchefstroom.

Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (ACDA Choral Journal). Renowned for her ability to seamlessly weave lush harmonic landscapes, captivating melodies, and evocative piano and orchestral accompaniments, she offers a unique blend of artistic sophistication and universal appeal. With notable performances across the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia, her works are frequently featured at regional symposiums, national American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conferences, All-State festivals, as well as performance venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Vatican in Rome, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and the upcoming Église de St-Sulpice in Paris. Elaine’s award-winning compositional style is profoundly influenced by her connection to nature, beauty, and spiritual reflection. Drawing inspiration from the vivid imagery and themes found in poetry, she crafts intricate musical textures that enrich her narratives and “pull at one’s heartstrings” (NY Concert Review), creating immersive experiences that connect listeners to both the complexity and awe of the natural world and the profound depths of shared human emotion. This is evident in her celebrated composition I Am the Wind, which earned first place in the American Choral Directors Association Brock Prize for Professional Composers. In addition to composing full-time, Elaine is a guest artist and clinician, seeking to foster meaningful connections through music and texts. Her recent and upcoming residencies and speaking engagements include ACDA conferences, Carnegie Hall Festivals, the Incanto Mediterraneo International Choral Festival in Milazzo in Italy, the Vox Anima London Choral Festival, and the Galway Choral Festival in Ireland. To learn more about Elaine, please visit: elainehagenberg.com

Jamie Hillman is an American and Canadian musician, active as a conductor, singer, pianist, music educator, and composer. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral programs in Choral Conducting, as well as the annual summer Choral Conducting Symposium. He is also cross listed as an adjunct faculty member in Emmanuel College's Master of Sacred Music program.

In Fall 2022, Hillman began an additional role as Associate Conductor and Director of Community Engagement of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.

Prior to relocating to Toronto in 2021, Hillman served on the faculties of Boston University Metropolitan College/Prison Education Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Gordon College, Kodály Music Institute, and Longy School of Music of Bard College. As a Boston University Prison Arts Scholar, Hillman co-initiated an innovative vocal music program in the Massachusetts prison system.

Dr. Hillman is an examiner for Conservatory Canada and has adjudicated, guest conducted, performed, and presented at conferences throughout the United States and Canada, and in Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Portugal, and Taiwan. He has led All-State, festival, or honor choirs in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, Rhode Island, Taiwan, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. Most recently he conducted two national festival choruses at Carnegie Hall. He returns to Carnegie Hall in 2025 with Manhattan Concert Productions. Hillman has conducted world premieres by Shireen Abu Khader, Matthew Emery, Qiushi Jiang, and Sarah Quartel, among others.

Hillman is the curator and editor of The Jamie Hillman Choral Series published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing. His co-editorial work includes numerous editions of Arabic, Asian, Latin American, and Western choral pieces published by Earthsongs and Hinshaw Music. Choral pedagogical curriculum that he has written with composer Dan Forrest is published by Beckenhorst Press. He is also co-editor of Beckenhorst Press’ Concert Series.

Dr. Hillman earned an associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and degrees from Western University (London, Canada), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Boston University where he studied with Ann Howard Jones. Hillman is the 2012 laureate of the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council.

Dr. Deanna Joseph is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Georgia State University School of Music where she conducts the University Singers and leads the master’s program in choral conducting. In 2015, she was the recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Outstanding Teacher Award at Georgia State, where she was selected out of a pool of over 800 faculty.A recent review of her work states, “the choir sings with great musicality, excellent intonation, clear diction, and a healthy and beautiful pallet of tone colors…” (The Choral Scholar).

Dr. Joseph’s research in the area of 19th-century choral-orchestral performance-practice has led to invited presentations on the topic at several division conferences of the American Choral Director’s Association and at the national convention for the National Collegiate Choral Organization. In October of 2012, she was selected as one of 25 presenters from ten countries to speak at the Lund Choral Festival in Sweden.

Prior to her appointment at Georgia State University, Dr. Joseph served on the faculties at Smith College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Deanna Joseph holds conducting degrees from the Eastman School of Music. She is the founder and co-artistic director of the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute, a conducting master class that draws conductors from across the country.

Dr. Joseph Kemper is a conductor, educator, and composer dedicated to nurturing the next generation of choral artists, servant-leaders, and lifelong musicians who use their gifts for meaningful societal impact. His work spans collegiate, secondary, community, youth, church, prison-outreach, and neurodiverse ensembles across the country.

He is currently Assistant Professor of Music at St. Olaf College, where he conducts the Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus, teaches Choral Conducting, Choral Literature, and Music and Social Justice, directs the Summer Music Academy Choir, and serves on the artistic committee for the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. In addition, he leads the Cantanti Singers and Treble Singers with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs.

From 2023–2025, Kemper was Assistant Professor of Music at Concordia College in Moorhead, where he was nominated for the 2025 Flaat Distinguished Teaching Award and collaborated on the Concordia Christmas Concert. Previous appointments include faculty roles at Whitman College and Winter Park High School, where his advanced treble ensemble was selected to perform at the 2014 Florida ACDA Conference.

An active clinician, Kemper has conducted honor choirs, led workshops, and presented across the country. Recent engagements include the 2024 Florida ACDA High School Honor Choir, the 2022 Montana State University Fall Symposium, and the 2019 Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Honor Choir.

A passionate advocate for music’s role in social transformation, Kemper curates programs that engage with urgent societal themes and often involve partnerships with nonprofit organizations. His concerts have explored topics such as environmental justice, refugee support, school gun violence, and incarceration. He is especially drawn to music that cultivates empathy and understanding across lines of time, belief, and culture—viewing the concert space as a site for transformation.

As a champion of new and diverse choral music, Kemper has led premieres of works by composers including Mari Esabel Valverde, Evelyn Simpson Curenton, Arianne Abela, Stanford Scriven, and Ronja Mokráňová. Recent major works under his direction include Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, Ulysses Kay’s Choral Triptych, Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass, Eriks Ešenvalds’ Passion and Resurrection, Benjamin Britten’s Cantata Misericordium, and historical works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gabriel Fauré, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Giacomo Carissimi, and Marianna von Martines.

Kemper’s scholarship focuses on respectful cross-cultural engagement, performance practice of African-American spirituals, social-issue-centered programming, and student-centered pedagogy. He has presented at Minnesota ACDA, the Michigan Music Conference, and the Society for Music Teacher Education National Conference, and his work has been featured in the Choral Journal.

His commitment to prison arts outreach spans work in correctional facilities across Michigan, Washington, and Minnesota. At Concordia, he created and led “Singing, Incarceration, and Restorative Justice,” a course serving incarcerated residents at Clay County Jail. The program received the 2025 Dave Grant Program of the Year award from Minnesota Jail Programs and Services.

As a composer, Kemper’s original works – including settings of texts by incarcerated poets – have been performed nationwide. Several of his arrangements were featured in the 2024 Concordia Christmas Concert, “Our Eyes, At Last, Shall See Him.”

He holds degrees from the University of Michigan (D.M.A.), Yale University (M.M.), where he received the inaugural Robert Shaw Prize, and St. Olaf College (B.M., with departmental distinction).

He lives in Northfield, Minnesota, with his wife and two daughters, and enjoys baking bread, running, Nordic skiing, swimming, biking, reading, and solving crosswords.

Melissa Trevino Keylock serves as Artistic Director and Program Manager of the San Diego North Coast Singers. She taught eleven years at the Princeton Girlchoir, and previously worked at the American Boychoir School, Rider University, and the Indianapolis Children's Choir. She has taught public and private school, and throughout her career, Melissa has served in state and regional leadership positions with the American Choral Directors Association. She holds an undergraduate degree from Wheaton College and a Master of Music from Butler University, where she studied with Henry Leck, and directed the Butler University Women's Glee Club. Melissa completed her Kodály studies at Capital University and is listed in Who's Who in American Women. She is a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher and group fitness instructor. She and co-writer Jill Friedersdorf have published over thirty compositions with Chorister’s Guild, ECS Publishing Group, Colla Voce, ICC Publishing, and Hal Leonard Publishing.

Mrs. Keylock was honored to guest conduct at the Ohio All-State, Midwest Regional ACDA Children’s Choir, Georgia All-State, North Carolina All-State 6th Grade, ILMEA District 9 Junior High, NY ACDA NYSSMA, PMEA District 7 Song Fest, Kentucky All-State Children’s Chorus, NJ Elementary Honor Choir, CNJ Intermediate Jr High, Youth Creating Harmony, Norman (OK) Children’s Choir Festival, Maryland Young Voices, Piedmont Invitational, Howard County Gifted & Talented Festival, Music in the Parks adjudicator, Bucks County Music Festival, Fellowship of American Baptist Musicians (WI), Let Freedom Sing National Girlchoir Festival, 1st Coast Honors Choir Festival, NC Sings!, Philadelphia Festival of Young Musicians, Appleton Boychoir clinic, Pennsylvania Elementary Song Fest, 7 regions of Circle the State With Song in Indiana, and serve as Artist in Residence at The Peck School. Upcoming engagements include NY-ACDA in August 2025, 1st Coast Honors Choir Festival in January 2026, and Manhattan Concert Productions at Carnegie Hall, March 2026.

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 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.

MacMullen believes that great potential lies in choral performance and creative communication. She strives to guide her students, as they desire to make an impact for good. 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 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 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. 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.

Dr. Sarah McKoin serves as Director of Bands, Professor of Music, and Chair of the Conducting and Ensembles Area at Texas Tech University, where she leads the graduate conducting program and oversees a vibrant and comprehensive band curriculum. Under her direction, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble has been featured at prestigious events including The Midwest Clinic, Texas Music Educators Association, North American Saxophone Alliance, College Music Society, and CBDNA conferences.

Her ensembles are featured on commercial recordings with Naxos, Albany, and Mark Records, including the world premiere recording of Chen Yi's Suite for Cello and Wind Ensemble, a project praised widely for both its artistic merit and execution. One reviewer noted, "The playing of the Texas Tech University Symphonic Wind Ensemble is strikingly good, even in the complexities Chen poses." Additionally, she premiered the recorded version of Narong Prangcharoen's Chakra on his debut commercial release, Phenomenon, a collection featuring works for piano, strings, orchestra, and winds.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music and education, Dr. McKoin has collaborated with some of today's most significant composers and artists, including Viet Cuong, Michael Daugherty, Michael Colgrass, John Mackey, Steven Stucky, Nicole Piunno, Will Healy, David Biedenbender, Steven Bryant, Lindsey Kesselman, Joseph Lulloff, and the Aruna Saxophone Quartet, among others. Recent recordings of Cuong's Deciduous and Second Nature, performed with the Aruna Saxophone Quartet, can be heard on the composer's website as reference performances.

Highly sought as a guest conductor and clinician, Dr. McKoin's work has taken her across the United States and internationally to Australia, Canada, China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Israel, where she served as producer for the world premiere recording of Roberto Sierra's Fantasia Correliana with the Castellani-Andriaccio Guitar Duo and the Israeli Chamber Orchestra. She regularly teaches at the Interlochen Arts Academy and recently joined the faculty for Music in the Marche, a summer opera training program in Mondavio, Italy, where she is launching a new chamber music initiative for instrumentalists.

Prior to her appointment at Texas Tech, Dr. McKoin held positions at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Fredonia, and the Brevard Music Center. She is a Yamaha Master Educator, a past President of the Southwest Division of the College Band Directors National Association, and former President of the Big 12 Band Directors Association. Her professional affiliations include the American Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, Phi Beta Mu, and Pi Kappa Lambda. She also serves as faculty sponsor for the service fraternities Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.

Kevin Noe is the founder of A Heretic’s Guide to Musicianship, a professional development organization dedicated to strengthening the skills, imagination, and courage of musical leaders everywhere. His annual score study, interpretation, leadership and conducting retreats, now held at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, draws musicians from the U.S. and abroad. He is also the founder of Heretical Sound, an audio recording and post-production company dedicated to creating immersive music recordings for the modern world. A passionate promoter of the arts of our time, Noe has commissioned and premiered over 140 new works to date. As Artistic Director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, he serves regularly as writer, stage director, singer, actor, conductor, and filmmaker for a variety of mixed-media productions. As a longtime teacher and orchestra trainer, he has worked with Michigan State University, the University of Texas at Austin, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Duquesne University, the Pittsburgh Opera, the Melbourne Conservatory, the Oberlin Conservatory, SUNY at Stonybrook, and has conducted All-State and Honors orchestras throughout the US and abroad. A devoted conducting teacher, his conducting students hold posts with professional orchestras and collegiate and conservatory programs around the world.

Active as a conductor, string pedagogue, and editor, Chung Park teaches at St. Olaf College, leading the St. Olaf and Philharmonia Orchestras and teaching courses in conducting. He has also led orchestra programs at the University of Central Florida, Appalachian State University, Idaho State University and the University of North Dakota. Dr. Park regularly leads clinics and honor orchestras nationwide, with recent and future engagements in California, Kansas, Florida, New York, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Bärenreiter-verlag has recently published his edition of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites in a transcription for viola, the first such edition for the preeminent international publisher. Park earned his doctorate in instrumental conducting from the University of Miami, and holds M.M. degrees in orchestral conducting (University of Illinois) and viola performance (Western Michigan University), and a B.M. in viola performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

A lifelong learner, he has continued his education through activities that include studying Dalcroze-Eurythmics, staying abreast of the latest cognitive research, working with master pedagogues such as Marianne Ploger and attending seminars on diversifying the repertoire at the Brevard Music Center. Dr. Park also spent a transformative semester in Hannover, Germany as a private student of Hatto Beyerle, founding violist of the Alban Berg Quartet. Dr. Park believes passionately that music and music education can be a powerfully positive force in a young person’s life and has dedicated a significant portion of his career to supporting music in public schools. He has served on advisory committees, has led several hundred clinics during his time in higher education, is a mentor to young teachers and a resource to established teachers.

Jeffery Redding, the 2019 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Recipient, is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. Redding has led his choirs in performances at national, regional, and state conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His choirs have earned first place awards at Heritage Festivals of Gold in California, Chicago, New York and at the Festival of Spirituals in Washington D.C. While participating in the International Music Festival in Verona, Italy, his chorus from West Orange High School received the Gold Award for best choir, with Dr. Redding honored as top director.

Nationally, Dr. Redding is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician. He has conducted the ACDA National High School Honor Choir, the Central Division ACDA Honor Choir, and the North Central Division ACDA Honor Choir, the Eastern Division ACDA Honor Choir and All-State and Honor choirs in approximately forty states. In 2014, Dr. Redding was the only American adjudicator at the International Choral Festival, Verona, Italy. Additionally, he conducted at the TAISM Festival of Choirs in Muscat, Oman. He was the Artistic Director for Limerick Sings International Choral Festival in Limerick, Ireland in 2018. In 2019, he conducted the Alaska All-State Treble Choir, the NAfME Central Regional Elementary Honor Choir, the Morehead State University Honor Choir, and the Honors Young Adults Choir, at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. In 2020, he conducted honor choirs and festivals across the country, including Carnegie Hall. He also held the position of Artistic Director for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary in Vienna, Austria and be an adjudicator for the World Choir Games in Belgium, Germany.

Previously Director of Choral Activities at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida and West Virginia University (WVU), Dr. Redding has been featured as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, and Orchestra Hall on numerous occasions. He was also honored to give the prestigious TEDx Talk. He is also one of the conductors for Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional at Epcot.

Recognized for his achievements and service in the profession, Dr. Redding was awarded the R. Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award for dedicated service, leadership, and excellence by the Florida Chapter of ACDA.

Dr. Redding is founder and Artistic Director of the Garden Community Choir and Voci del Cuore (Voices of the Heart) in Winter Garden, Florida. Dr. Redding is also the Executive & Artistic Director of the Orlando Choral Society, founded in 2019. He also serves as the Director of Worship Arts for the First United Methodist Church of Orlando. Formerly with the Moses Hogan Singers, he remains active as a singer in the professional male singing group, "Brethren." The Jeffery Redding Passion and Purpose Choral Series is a compilation of new choral music by various composers, published by Colla Voce Music, Inc.

Dr. Redding holds a Ph.D. in Choral Conducting/Music Education and a Master of Music Education, both from the Florida State University, and a B.S. in Music Education from Florida A&M University. He is a member of ACDA, NAfME, FVA, NATS, and Chorus America. He has served his profession in numerous capacities, as District 8 Chair for the Florida Vocal Association (FVA), as State R&R Chair for Ethnic Music/Multicultural Affairs, R&R Chair for Youth/Student Activities, and High School Mixed Honor Choir co-chair for Florida ACDA, and as R&R Chair for Community Choirs for Southern Division ACDA. Currently, he is R&R Lifelong Coordinator (Community, Music and Worship) for Florida ACDA.

A sought after conductor and clinician all across the United States and internationally, Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she directs choirs and teaches choral conducting and choral literature. She is also the chorus master (endowed Covenant Chair) of the Grammy-nominated Grand Rapids Symphony. Her performances and preparation of choruses consistently receive outstanding reviews for their combination of precision, artistry and passion. In addition to her Mosaic: the Pearl Shangkuan choral series for earthsongs, she serves as the music editor of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship choral series, published by GIA.

Her choirs have performed at national, division and state conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and other professional music conferences in the United States. Recent conducting engagements took her to Austria, South Africa, Hong Kong, and all across the United States. She has conducted honor choirs for several ACDA divisions and has been a headliner for various ACDA state conferences. She has led performances and given workshops all across the US and in Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines), as well as in Austria, Australia, and Canada.

Dr. Shangkuan has served as guest faculty in prominent professional programs in the US including the Chorus America national conference conducting masterclass and its A Capella Conducting Masterclass, the University of Michigan Choral Conducting Symposium, the Westminster Choir College Summer Session among many others. She has conducted all-state, honor choirs and festivals in numerous states.

She has served on the National Board of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) as the president of the Central Division (2007-09), and as Michigan ACDA state president (2003-05). Prior to her appointment at Calvin College, Dr. Shangkuan taught at Rutgers University and at the Westminster Conservatory of Music of Rider University in New Jersey.

Recipient of the Grand Rapids YWCA's Tribute! Award for outstanding professional women, she is also a past recipient of its Woman of Achievement award. Dr. Shangkuan has also served on the national board of the Choristers Guild and the board of the New Jersey Music Teachers Association and the New Jersey ACDA. She is a member of the ACDA (American Choral Directors Association), Chorus America, IFCM (International Federation for Choral Music), and is a member of the Phi Kappa Lambda and Mu Phi Epsilon Music Honor Societies.

A student of pre-eminent American choral conductor and New York Philharmonic chorusmaster Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, 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.

Dr. Andrea DeRenzis Strauss, originally from Clarence, New York, serves as the Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tara Winds Community Band. With thirty years of experience in teaching at both public and private schools across Georgia, she has instructed students from elementary through college levels. Dr. Strauss holds the distinction of being the first female college band director in Georgia. She formerly served as the Director of Bands at Georgia Tech and as an Associate Professor of Music at Shorter University. Her university ensembles have performed internationally in Australia, China, and Ireland, as well as at conferences for the Southern Division of CBDNA/NBA, Southern Division MENC, and GMEA. She was the Associate Director of the Atlanta Olympic Band for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Dr. Strauss has guest conducted in Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Japan, and has performed or conducted at the Midwest Clinic on four separate occasions. She served as Rehearsal Lab Technician for the 64th Annual Midwest Clinic. She has conducted or adjudicated nationwide, and her international adjudication experience spans Canada and Europe. Dr. Strauss has presented at numerous conferences to include the NAfME National Conference. Dr. Strauss is a charter member of Tara Winds.

Z. Randall Stroope is an internationally recognized composer and conductor, having conducted concerts in 26 countries and published over 200 musical works.  Randall is the Artistic Director of an international summer music festival in Rome, and has directed music for Vatican mass 12 times.  Recent guest conducting engagements include Jakarta (Indonesia), Milan, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Dublin, Stockholm, Berlin, and Tallinn.  In the United States, Randall has directed 41 performances at Carnegie Hall and numerous other conducting workshops, clinics, and performances at universities and festivals.

Randall has his own publishing entity for several of his newest works (w.zrstroope.com) as well as publishing through several other companies, including Oxford, Walton, and Alliance Music Publishing.   The Conversion of Saul,  Lamentations of Jeremiah,  Amor de mi alma, Tarantella, Dei Matris Cantibus, Christi Mutter, We Beheld Once Again the Stars, The Pasture, Revelation, I Am Not Yours, Hodie! (This Day), and the 30-minute choral/orchestral work, In Paradisum, are among his best known works.

Besides maintaining a very active guest conducting schedule throughout his career, Randall was also as a Distinguished Professor of Music at three universities. He holds degrees in music education, voice performance, piano performance, and conducting. He did post graduate conducting/score study with Margaret Hillis, Chorus Master of the Chicago Symphony and over a decade of composition study with Normand Lockwood (Prix de Rome winner) and student of the famous French teacher, Nadia Boulanger (who studied with Gabriel Fauré). Randall has a home/studio near Santa Fe, New Mexico and one on Merritt Island, Florida.