Octavo Series

Dr. Mark Stover is the Director of Choral Activities at Calvin University where he proudly serves as a part of a dynamic team of faculty, conductors, and artist-teachers. He shares his passion for people and building community through pursuing the highest levels of choral artistry. He came to Grand Rapids in 2024 from Ann Arbor, Michigan where he previously served for six years as the Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Michigan, conducting the University Choir, Michigan Youth Chamber Singers, teaching conducting, and holding the role as music director of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. Prior to his time in Ann Arbor, Stover was in Northfield, Minnesota, home of Saint Olaf College, where he served on the music faculty as conductor of the St. Olaf Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus while teaching conducting and a course he designed titled, Music and Social Justice.

https://calvin.edu/people/mark-stover

Dr. John Wilson is Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities in the School of Fine & Performing Arts at SUNY New Paltz and the Artistic Director of the Riverside Choral Society. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Wilson served as the choral director at Bridgewater-Raritan High School for seventeen years. His choirs developed a reputation for excellence. The BRHS Symphonic Choir was notably featured as a performing choir at the 2020 ACDA Eastern Division Conference in Rochester, NY. Dr. Wilson’s ensembles have performed at major venues in the New York/New Jersey area under the direction of Ryan Brandau, James Jordan, Amanda Quist, Alan Raines, Lee Nelson, and Andrew Megill, a notable example being a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in March of 2018 at Princeton University Chapel. John served as an Associate Director at the Princeton Girlchoir organization between 2015-2018, where he conducted the Cantores ensemble. This ensemble was featured in a recording of Steven Sametz’s A Child’s Requiem in 2015 which was led by the composer. From 2014-2019, Dr. Wilson served as a faculty member at the Summer High School Vocal Institute faculty at Westminster Choir College, where he conducted the Men’s Ensemble and taught a primer in conducting. John conducted the New Jersey All-State Junior High SATB chorus in 2024, Georgia All-State Middle Treble chorus in 2023, the Virginia All-State Middle School Treble chorus in 2018, and the CJMEA Region Treble Chorus in 2019, and is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor. John was the conductor of the Choral Art Society of New Jersey in the fall of 2024, and of the Westminster Community Chorus between 2014-2017. Dr. Wilson has taught undergraduate courses in conducting and music education at Rutgers University, where he earned his masters and doctorate degrees in choral conducting under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Gardner. During 2020-2021, Dr. Wilson had the privilege of leading the Rutgers University Choir. He is the most recent past-president of the New Jersey chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and coordinated the summer conference in 2023. He lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife Clara and two children, Elliot and Henry.

Timothy Peter is a professor of music at Stetson University. He is a native of Minnesota, received his undergraduate degree from Luther College and completed his doctorate of musical arts degree at the University of Arizona. Before coming to Stetson University, he was professor of music at Luther College and served as the head of the music department. He has been a high school choral director and church musician in Minnesota, Iowa, Arizona and Florida. Having joined the faculty of the Stetson University School of Music in the fall of 2012, Peter conducts the Stetson Concert Choir, which is the university’s touring SATB ensemble, comprised of select upper-class singers.

Peter is involved in the American Choral Directors Association, having held positions as the divisional chair for repertoire and standards for college and universities and the state and divisional chair for men’s choirs. His choirs have been selected to perform at the 2017 National ACDA Conference in Minneapolis and the 2011 National ACDA Conference in Chicago and at four Divisional NC-ACDA conventions held in Minneapolis, Minn., Sioux Falls, S.D. and Madison, Wis. He was a presenter at the 2015 National ACDA Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. His off-campus teaching, adjudicating and conducting includes numerous appearances as an all-state conductor and festival clinician in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Peter has prepared choirs and orchestras for performances at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, Singapore SAS Concert Hall, Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Orchestra Hall and Rockefeller Chapel in Chicago, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the Holland Center in Omaha, the TWA Center in St. Louis, the Overture Center in Madison, the Alamodome in San Antonio and the Seoul Foreign School Center for the Performing Arts. He has also conducted in Singapore, Germany, England, Namibia, Oman, South Africa and South Korea.

Dr. Brandon A. Boyd enjoys a versatile career as a conductor, in addition to appearing regularly as a composer-in-residence, collaborative pianist, and presenter for conferences, conventions, collegiate choirs, church choirs, choral symposiums, and festivals. He is the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Missouri, where he conducts MU University Singers and Choral Union. In addition to his conducting duties at the university, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral conducting and choral music education. He holds two degrees from Florida State University (Ph.D. in choral music education and M.M. in choral conducting) and earned a B.S. in music education (emphasis in piano) from Tennessee State University.

Jefferson Johnson is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Kentucky where he conducts the University Chorale and Men’s Chorus. He also teaches advanced choral conducting, choral methods and literature, and directs the graduate program (MM and DMA degrees) in choral music. A native of Atlanta, Johnson received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Georgia (magna cum laude, 1978), the Master of Music from the University of Tennessee (1981), and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado (1992), where in 2017 he was the third recipient of the “Distinguished Choral Alumnus Award.” While living in Atlanta, Johnson was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus conducted by Robert Shaw.

University of Kentucky choirs under Johnson’s direction have performed at more than twenty conventions of choral music educators, including national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), and Intercollegiate Male Choruses (IMC). In March of 2017 Johnson’s graduate student, Cameron Weatherford, won first place in the ACDA National Conducting Competition. In December of 2013 the acoUstiKats, a select ensemble from the UK Men’s Chorus, were chosen as finalists on NBC’s a cappella competition “The Sing Off.”

Johnson is presently Music Director of the Lexington Singers. The 180-voice multi-generational community chorus annually performs major works with orchestras. The Singers have toured internationally, most recently to South Africa, Spain, Brazil, France, Italy, and Austria. In 2000 the chorus performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Vienna Mozart Orchestra in the famous Hofburg Palace and sang the evening mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. In 2003 the chorus performed in St. Marks Cathedral in Venice and sang mass at St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City. In 1999 the Lexington Singers celebrated its 40th anniversary with a performance in New York City as Johnson made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Singers and orchestra in Faure’s Requiem. The Lexington Singers returned to Carnegie Hall in 2014 for an acclaimed performance with bluegrass super group “Dailey and Vincent.”

His instructional video “Ready…Set…Sing!” is published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing and has been featured at music educators’ conventions from Ohio to Hawaii. Johnson has an editorial series with Hinshaw Music and National Music Publishers. The University of Kentucky choral program is featured in a book called “Rehearsing the Choir.” His article The What, Why, and How of Young Adult Male Choirs appeared in the Choral Journal in 2012. Johnson maintains an active schedule as an adjudicator and guest conductor for high school and collegiate choirs throughout the United States. He has conducted honor choruses in 33 states and has appeared as a featured clinician at ACDA or NAfME conventions in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Dr. Andrea Ramsey enjoys an international presence as a composer, conductor, scholar, and music educator. Her teaching experiences range from work with adolescent and children’s voices to high school and collegiate voices. She enjoys regular opportunities to conduct all-state and divisional level honor choirs, festival events at Carnegie Hall, and served as a principal conductor for the Pacific International Young Women’s Choral Festival in Eugene, Oregon and conducted the National ACDA Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir in 2023. An award-winning composer with nearly 200 works to date, Andrea previously held positions in music education and conducting at The Ohio State University and the University of Colorado, respectively. She believes strongly in the creation of new works, and her compositions are available with traditional publishers and through MusicSpoke, a digital sheetmusic marketplace. She regularly enjoys residencies and collaborations with ensembles and festival choirs across North America and abroad.

As a scholar, she has presented for state, divisional, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the 6th Annual Symposium on Sociology in Music Education, as well as The Phenomenon Singing Symposium in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. Additionally, she has co-authored articles published in the Choral Journal, as well as the Journal of Research in Music Education.

A product of public education and the first in her family to attend college, Andrea grew up in rural Arkansas where she experienced firsthand the power of music to provide opportunities, a sense of community, and better understanding of our humanity. It is through the generosity of her many teachers and the state and federal funding of scholarships and fellowships that she is able to have the career and successes she enjoys today.

Dr. Rosephanye Powell is celebrated as one of America’s foremost women composers of choral music, earning widespread acclaim for her exceptional contributions to the art form. With a remarkable catalogue of works published by leading publishers like Hal Leonard Corporation, Gentry Publications, Oxford University Press, Alliance Music Publications, and Shawnee Press, her compositions have been performed, recorded, and premiered by world-renowned conductors and ensembles. From the grandeur of Carnegie Hall to the iconic Lincoln Center and Spivey Hall, her music has captivated audiences in some of the nation’s most prestigious venues. Among the many distinguished ensembles to bring her works to life are Cantus and the Grammy award-winning men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer.

In addition to her celebrated compositions, Dr. Powell is a dynamic educator, serving as Coordinator of Voice Studies and conductor of the Women’s Chorus, and co-conductor of the Concert and Gospel choirs at Auburn University. Her expertise and passion have made her a sought-after presenter, conductor, adjudicator, and clinician at premier conferences and festivals worldwide. She has conducted all-state and honor choirs across the United States in states such as California, Colorado, Florida, and New York, and has brought her talents to international stages in Italy, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

René Clausen is an American composer and conductor. Described as ‘eloquent,’ ‘subtle and thought-provoking,’ Clausen’s music is known for its dramatic, emotional sweep and highly sensitive approach to text setting.

Clausen’s catalogue includes dozens of commissioned works for chorus, orchestra, chorus with orchestra, wind band and the stage. Notable large format works include the 9/11 tribute MEMORIAL and the evening-length oratorio The Passion of Jesus Christ. Notable a cappella works include Mass for double choir (featured on the Kansas City Chorale’s Grammy-winning Life and Breath: Choral Works by René Clausen), and the choral cantata A New Creation, which includes ‘Set Me as a Seal,’ performed widely by choirs of all ability levels of across the country.

In addition to composition, Clausen is increasingly well known as a guest conductor of the major literature for choir and orchestra. At Carnegie Hall he has guest conducted the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Mozart Requiem and Mass in C Minor, together with the New York premiere of three of his own works, Gloria, Whispers of Heavenly Death, and Communion. Other major choral/orchestral works he has conducted include the Poulenc Gloria, Vaughan Williams Hodie, Beethoven Mass in C Major and Choral Fantasy, and Fauré Requiem.

Clausen was conductor of the internationally renowned Concordia Choir from 1986-2020. Prior to his appointment as conductor of The Concordia Choir, Clausen was director of choral activities at West Texas State University, Canyon, and assistant professor of choral music at Wichita (Kan.) State University. He also served as senior editor of Mark Foster Music Company and as interim conductor of the National Lutheran Choir of Minneapolis.

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. 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.