Matthew Abernathy

Matthew Abernathy is the Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Michigan where he leads the internationally acclaimed Michigan Men’s Glee Club and teaches in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, Abernathy served as Artistic Director of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay (Principal Chorus for The Florida Orchestra) where he led a 140-voice symphonic chorus in major choral-orchestral works, and was Director of Choral Studies at the University of Tampa. From 2016-2022, Abernathy was on staff at Minnesota Opera where he was Music Director of their youth opera program Project Opera, Children’s Chorus Director, and Guest Chorus Master. He holds degrees from the Crane School of Music, University of Michigan, and University of Minnesota.

Maggie Burk

A native of Lawrence, Kansas, Margaret Burk is a conductor, composer, and vocalist dedicated to the transformative power of choral music. Since 2022, she has served as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where she conducts three of the college’s five choirs, teaches coursework in conducting and choral literature, and directs the annual Carthage Christmas Festival. Burk has led Carthage’s flagship ensemble, the Carthage Choir, on tours to Washington, D.C., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Indianapolis, and the United Kingdom. In 2026, the Carthage Choir appeared at the Midwest Conference of the American Choral Directors’ Association as the featured chorus for the Graduate and Undergraduate Conducting Masterclasses. In demand as a clinician throughout the country, Burk has directed All-State and District honor choruses as well as church music festivals in Illinois, Virginia, Delaware, Washington, DC, Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

Burk is also active as a composer and professional choral singer. Her compositions have been heard at churches, concert halls, colleges, and schools across the United States and the United Kingdom and are published by Oxford University Press, Morningstar Music, Hal Leonard, and Selah Music Publishing. Her works for the Episcopal church have been featured on BBC Radio 3’s Evensong broadcasts, and her setting of “Set Me as a Seal” was performed by the National High School Honor Choir at the 2023 National ACDA Convention in Cincinnati, OH, under the direction of Eugene Rogers. As a soprano, Burk has appeared recently with the Yale Choral Artists (New Haven), Audivi (Detroit), Musica Atlantica (Savannah, GA), and the New Earth Ensemble (Chicago). She holds degrees from the University of Michigan (DMA), Yale University (MM), and St. Olaf College (BME).

Robyn Lana

Robyn Lana joined the choral faculty of Miami University in 2022. She is the Founder and Artistic Director Emerita of the Cincinnati Youth Choir (CYC), Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she served as Managing Artistic Director from 1993–2025. Interpreting choral music for diverse audiences in ways that are both relevant to young people and rooted in the highest standards of music education and performance defines her work.

Mrs. Lana has conducted and served as a clinician across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She has held faculty appointments at Xavier University and has been a guest professor in the choral department at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Level III Orff certified, Lana has taught in both public and private school music programs. She is the editor of the Robyn Lana Choral Series with Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and her book Voices in Harmony is a collaborative volume celebrating successful philosophies in choral education. Her writings also appear in The Chorister (Choristers Guild), CMA Matters (Chamber Music America), and Choral Journal (ACDA), for which she served as guest editor of three issues.

Her national leadership includes service as ACDA Children’s Choir and Community Youth Repertoire & Standards Chair, Chair of the ACDA Standing Committee for Advocacy and Collaboration, and three terms on the Chorus America Board of Directors. Currently, she is delighted to return to state-level leadership in Ohio as Southwest Region Chair for OCDA.

Colin Mann

Colin Mann is Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Director of Choral Activities at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia. Mann conducts the Georgia Treble Choir, Glee Club, University Chorus, and Choral Project as well as teaches graduate choral literature and advises graduate conducting students. 

In May of 2025, Mann led the Nazareth Treble Choir in a choral tour to Poland where students performed at national festivals in Kraków and collaborated with choirs at the University of Rzeszów. Mann’s current scholarship focuses on national singing trends and new choral music in the Baltic states. His research has been buoyed by contemporary Lithuanian composers, conductors, and professional vocal ensembles like the Vilnius Municipal Choir Jauna Muzika. 

He has conducted several choral-orchestral works including Poulenc Gloria, Mozart Vesperae solennes de confessore, Duruflé Requiem, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Finzi In terra pax, and he has helped prepare Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem with the Eastman-Rochester Chorus and Eastman Philharmonia. As chorus master and conductor of the Viva Bach Peterborough Festival in New Hampshire since 2022, Mann has conducted over ten cantatas and three motets with instruments. In 2019, Mann traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to perform Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Malaysia Bach Festival. 

As a guest clinician, Mann has been invited to work with singers of all ages. He has conducted workshops and masterclasses with students from California, Massachusetts, and New York and with many student chapters of the American Choral Directors Association. Recently, he conducted the Albany and Saratoga Springs All-County festivals and the Fredonia Collegiate Choral Festival. 

Mann holds the BM degree in music education and voice performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia; the MM degree in conducting with an advanced certificate in community music teaching from the Eastman School of Music; and the DMA degree in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. Prior to his appointment at the University of Georgia, Mann served on the faculties of the University of Rochester, Nazareth University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the Williston Northampton School.

Erika Tazawa

Conductor Erika Tazawa joined Wayne State University in 2025 as Director of Choral Activities, following faculty appointments at Emory University, Kennesaw State University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has prepared choirs for the Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras and regularly performs as a keyboardist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate educator and collaborator, Tazawa has served on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and has worked extensively with The Atlanta Opera’s education and new works initiatives as both pianist and music director. A sought-after guest conductor, she frequently leads high school honor choirs and choral festivals, and recently conducted the 2025 Georgia All-State Reading Chorus.

Dr. Tazawa holds degrees in piano performance from SUNY Potsdam and a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Georgia.

Andrea VanDeusen

Dr. Andrea VanDeusen is an associate professor of choral music education and area coordinator of music education & music therapy at East Carolina University, where she teaches graduate courses in music education, undergraduate choral rehearsal techniques and methods, and supervises student teachers.

VanDeusen is active as a guest conductor and choral clinician, and as a scholar in music education. Her research explores the ways in which sociocultural and political contexts influence music teaching and learning and their intersections with choral music education. She regularly presents at research and practitioner conferences across the United States and internationally.

Her work is published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal for Music Teacher Education, Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, and Arts Education Policy Review. She serves on the editorial board for Arts Education Policy Review. VanDeusen also sings in mirabai, a professional women’s ensemble dedicated to amplifying women’s voices through commissioning, performing, and recording. She was the recipient of East Carolina University’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2021, the College of Fine Arts & Communication Faculty Travel for Study Abroad Development Award in 2022, and the Chancellor’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion in 2023.

Before joining the faculty at ECU, Dr. VanDeusen taught secondary school vocal music, both nationally and internationally, having held teaching positions in Michigan, New Jersey, and Switzerland. She holds a Ph. D. in music education and choral conducting from Michigan State University, and Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in music education from Western Michigan University.

South

Matthew Abernathy

Matthew Abernathy is the Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Michigan where he leads the internationally acclaimed Michigan Men’s Glee Club and teaches in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Prior to his appointment at the University of Michigan, Abernathy served as Artistic Director of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay (Principal Chorus for The Florida Orchestra) where he led a 140-voice symphonic chorus in major choral-orchestral works, and was Director of Choral Studies at the University of Tampa. From 2016-2022, Abernathy was on staff at Minnesota Opera where he was Music Director of their youth opera program Project Opera, Children’s Chorus Director, and Guest Chorus Master. He holds degrees from the Crane School of Music, University of Michigan, and University of Minnesota.

Matthew Coffey

Dr. Matthew Coffey is Assistant Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he conducts two choirs and teaches coursework in conducting and secondary choral methods. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and degrees in Music Education from the University of Houston and Sam Houston State University. Prior to beginning doctoral studies, he taught high school choir in Houston, Texas for 11 years.

An active guest conductor, clinician, and presenter, Dr. Coffey has recently completed professional engagements in Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. He will make his Carnegie Hall debut next spring conducting Corigliano’s Fern Hill and Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region.

When he’s not buried in a score, he can be found on the couch rooting for the Houston Astros with his wife, a grant writer for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and their two children. His non-musical passions include hot wings, Mexican food, and iced coffee.

Julie Ford

Dr. Julie Ford is an internationally honored conductor, educator, and Estill Master Teacher whose work bridges classical tradition, contemporary commercial styles, and cutting-edge vocal science. A tenured professor and Director of Vocal-Choral Activities at Saint Mary’s College of California, Dr. Ford leads award-winning ensembles recognized at state, national, and international levels.

Under her direction, Saint Mary’s College ensembles have earned multiple Gold Medals in Championship Categories at the World Choir Games (Riga, Latvia; New Zealand), as well as top honors at the California Jazz Championships. Her ensembles have received distinguished invitations to perform at Carnegie Hall and at major professional conferences, including the National Collegiate Choral Organization and the American Choral Directors Association.

An active international presenter, Dr. Ford has lectured and served on expert panels at the Estill World Voice Symposium (Vienna), where her work focuses on non-genre-biased, vocal-science-based pedagogy and the integration of artistic tradition with contemporary vocal research. Her peer-reviewed article, “The Choir with Two Names: A Non-Genre Biased Choral Pedagogical Path,” was published in the Voice and Speech Review (Routledge).

Equally at home conducting Bach, Duke Ellington, Beyoncé, or Björk, leading baroque, jazz and pop vocal ensembles, or training singers in advanced vocal physiology, Dr. Ford is recognized for cultivating versatile, stylistically fluent artists. Her work emphasizes technical clarity, expressive authenticity, and collaborative artistry across cultures and genres. She holds a Masters degree in Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a  Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.

Scott Hanoian

Scott Hanoian is the Music Director and Conductor of the University Musical Society Choral Union where he conducts and prepares the Grammy Award winning chorus in performances with the world’s finest orchestras and conductors. Choruses prepared by Mr. Hanoian have sung under the batons of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Leonard Slatkin, Ivan Fischer, Dennis Russell Davies, Osmo Vänskä, Kenneth Kiesler, and Peter Oundjian.

Mr. Hanoian is active as a conductor, organist, lecturer, continuo artist, accompanist, choral adjudicator, and guest clinician. He is the Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church Grosse Pointe, where he directs the church’s four choirs and oversees the yearly concert series. Mr. Hanoian has served on the faculty of Wayne State University and Oakland University and was the artistic director and conductor of the Oakland Choral Society from 2013–2015.

As an organist and conductor, Mr. Hanoian has performed concerts throughout the US and has led choirs on trips to Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, France, and Spain. Most recently, Mr. Hanoian led the Christ Church Choirs during weeklong residencies at York Minster, Durham Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey.

Before moving to Grosse Pointe, Mr. Hanoian was the Assistant Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Washington National Cathedral where he played the organ for many services including the funerals for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.

Mr. Hanoian has recorded the complete organ works of Johannes Brahms for the JAV label.

Eric Johnson

Eric A. Johnson, D.M.A. is the Director of Choral Activities at Northern Illinois University (NIU) and founding Artistic Director of Cor Cantiamo (2009-2025). As a National Endowment for the Arts Artworks grant recipient, he has been recognized for his artistic leadership, whose ensembles represent “choral artistry at its finest.” (Lauridsen). He is a committed champion of contemporary choral music and dedicated to addressing social justice issues through interdisciplinary concert events.

Ensembles under his direction have performed at multiple national and division conventions for the National Collegiate Choral Organization, American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference. He has served as a guest conductor at Avery Fisher Hall and the David Geffen Hall; Lincoln Center, New York.

Johnson is the 2020 the Harold Decker Award recipient, awarded by the Illinois American Choral Director Association. This honor is given “in recognition of the significant contribution made to the lives of innumerable choral singers, conductors, and audiences who have been privileged to experience the finest in choral music as presented under his direction” (IL-ACDA).

Internationally, Johnson was the Artistic Director of Festival of Three, an international choral festival presented in Latvia, Estonia and Finland, and featured a world premiere commission by Estonian composer Pärt Uusberg.  Johnson has served as a guest conductor of the Clare College Chapel Choir (Cambridge, England) and the Asian Pacific Activities Conference Choral Festival (Guangzhou, China); taught at Makumira University (Arusha, Tanzania); the Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (Natal, Brazil); and directed guest choral residencies at Canterbury, Exeter, and Worcester Cathedrals. As the Artistic Director of Cor Cantiamo, Johnson has recorded commercial CDs released on Centaur Records and the Divine Arts record labels. He has collaborated with many leading composers of our time including Dominick DiOrio, Stacey Gibbs, Libby Larsen, Morten Lauridsen, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Timothy C. Takach, Sir John Tavener, Pärt Uusberg, and James Whitbourn. Johnson has published music with Santa Barbara Music Publishing, served as a music editor for Earthsongs Publications and has published articles in the Choral Journal. He is active nationally as a clinician and guest conductor for high school and collegiate honor choirs and regularly conducts choral/orchestral masterworks works with both collegiate and professional ensembles.

Nicole Mattfeld

Dr. Nicole Mattfeld is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Alma College, where she conducts Alma Choir, College Chorale, and Alma Acapella. She also teaches courses in conducting and music education. With a passion for creating lifelong singers and expressing the human condition through singing, Nicole’s varied conducting experiences have included working with university, secondary, community youth, and church ensembles. Prior to Alma College, she served as Assistant Professor of Music at Bethel University, Director of Youth Choirs for Minnesota Chorale, Artistic Director & Conductor of Minnesota Center Chorale, Chorus Director for Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra, and Director of Bella Fiore with Sing Out Loud. Before this, she taught secondary choir and worked as a hospice therapeutic musician.

Dr. Mattfeld is active across the United States as a guest conductor and adjudicator at music festivals and conferences. She has presented choirs at festivals and conferences throughout the United States and her choirs have performed nationally and internationally. She will make her conducting debut at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions in Spring 2027. Her voice students have been awarded state and regional awards and have pursued careers as professional musicians and music educators. As a trained coloratura soprano, Nicole has performed with Opera Fort Collins, Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Kantorei, Fargo-Moorhead Choral Artists, Minnesota Renaissance Choir, BEYOND Choir, and Chant Claire.

Dr. Mattfeld recently served as the clinician for the MSVMA Choral Conducting Symposium at the Michigan Music Conference.

Dr. Mattfeld currently serves on the board of American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) of Michigan. She has previously held positions on the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) and ACDA-MN boards. Nicole is a proud member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, the National Association for Music Education, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Her research is focused on the scientific benefits of music, specifically utilizing HeartMath techniques to enhance heart coherence and physiological entrainment in the choral ensemble. She has studied under the mentorship of Maestro Wes Kenney, Dr. Rebecca Phillips, Dr. James Kim, Dr. Sharon Hansen, and Dr. Valerie Errante.

West

Ryan Beeken

Ryan Beeken serves as Director of Choral Activities and Associate Director for the School of Music at Wichita State University where he conducts the Concert Chorale and Madrigal Singers, teaches graduate and undergraduate choral conducting and literature, oversees the choral area and also serves as associate director for the school of music. He received Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from Drake University and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University.

Dr. Beeken’s choirs have performed at State, Regional, and National Conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and for state and regional NAfME conferences. Beeken is regularly engaged as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. His engagements include nearly one hundred All-States and Honor Choirs in twenty-two states, the Czech Republic, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Oman, Estonia, and Sweden, and many invited presentations for symposia across the United States and in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He just concluded a term on the executive committee of the American Choral Directors Association as the National R&R Chairperson for Student Chapter Development and has previously served at both the regional and state level; Beeken was also the President for the District 3 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.

Prior to his appointment at WSU, Dr. Beeken served as director or choral studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and taught at Michigan State University. While residing in Des Moines, Iowa, Beeken directed the Drake Chorale at Drake University. He also taught elementary, middle school, and high school music for sixteen years, most recently serving as Director of Vocal Music for Waukee Schools in suburban Des Moines where he led a program of over 300 students and twelve ensembles to national distinction.

Mariana Farah

Dr. Mariana Farah is Director of Choral Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mead Witter School of Music, where she conducts the Concert Choir, teaches graduate choral conducting, and oversees a comprehensive choral program. Prior to this appointment, she served as Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Kansas.

Born in Brazil, Dr. Farah earned her Bachelor of Music from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa, and the DMA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Ensembles under her direction have performed at state music educators conventions in Missouri, Kansas, and Wisconsin, as well as regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association. The UW–Madison Concert Choir was selected to perform at the 2025 ACDA National Conference, the 2026 ACDA Midwestern Division Conference, and the 2022 Wisconsin Music Educators Association Convention, and received the 2024 American Prize in Choral Performance (large collegiate choir division).

Dr. Farah’s research centers on Brazilian choral music, with particular emphasis on the a cappella works of Ernani Aguiar. Her scholarly and editorial work seeks to expand access to Brazilian repertoire in the United States through performances, editions, recordings, and publications.

An active clinician and guest conductor throughout the United States and Brazil, Dr. Farah frequently appears at festivals, honor choirs, and professional conferences, including those of the National Association for Music Education and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Recent conducting engagements include the Oregon All-State Choir, the Wisconsin State Honors Choir, and major festival appearances across North America and Europe.

She currently serves on the board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and has held multiple leadership roles within ACDA.

Erin Plisco

Erin Plisco is the Associate Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University, where she conducts multiple choirs and teaches undergraduate and graduate choral conducting and literature. She is a frequent guest clinician across the United States and abroad, and has presented at state, regional, and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association. She currently serves as the ACDA National SA Choirs Repertoire and Resources Chair and was recently a conducting fellow for ACDA’s International Conductor Exchange Program. Choirs under her direction recently performed at the 2022 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference, the 2022 and 2025 Missouri Music Educators Association Conference, the 2023 National ACDA Conference, the 2023 National NCCO conference, and at Carnegie Hall. She was recently awarded the Podium Award and the Outstanding District Director Award by MCDA for outstanding performances at state and regional conferences. Upcoming performances include the 2026 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference.

Dr. Plisco completed the DMA in choral conducting from the University of Arizona, where she studied conducting with Bruce Chamberlain and voice with Elizabeth Futral. She also studied at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where she was a recipient of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship and worked with Grammy-nominated conductor Stephen Layton. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education and Vocal Performance with a minor in Leadership Studies from Christopher Newport University. 

Dr. Plisco has conducted choirs of all ages, most notably serving as Director of Choral Studies at Pinecrest High School (NC). Under her direction, the choirs received numerous awards at national festivals and competitions, and her chamber choir was the winner of The American Prize for high school choral performance. She has also held positions at the University of Arizona, East Carolina University, and Simpson College. Dr. Plisco is a past recipient of the Colleen Kirk Award, given by southern ACDA in recognition of her outstanding achievements as a young conductor, and has spent three summers as a choral fellow with the Yale School of Music -Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut under the direction of Simon Carrington.

Shruthi Rajasekar

Shruthi Rajasekar is a “composer who will enrich your life” (The Guardian). Praised for her “joyful, synapse-busting” music (Bachtrack), Rajasekar creates art that centers identity and celebrates community. She is a 2025 McKnight Composer Fellow with the American Composers Forum, Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, winner of the Global Women in Music Award from the United Nations, and was made an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music (ARNCM) for “exceptional contributions to the music profession.” 

Shruthi Rajasekar’s music is performed across the world, in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and Southbank Centre (London, UK), Teatro Argentina (Rome, Italy), the National Centre for Performing Arts (Mumbai, India), Victoria Hall (Singapore), and Tsuen Wan Town Hall (Hong Kong). Her work has been featured in a variety of forums, ranging from documentaries and art galleries to the Cannes Film Festival and United Nations Climate Change Conference. Rajasekar’s output is broad and diverse. Her music reflects her belief in the importance of belonging, gathering, and civic engagement. Rajasekar is also an award-winning Carnatic vocalist and Western classical soprano. She is an active performer and teacher across musical traditions. In 2026, she will guest present at The King’s Singers Summer School. 

Recent compositional projects include a Wigmore Hall chamber music commission, a featured organ commission at the 2026 American Guild of Organists National Convention, a string quartet for Asia Society Texas, and new choral pieces for Cantus, VOCES8, BBC Singers, The Gesualdo Six, VocalEssence, and the Yale Glee Club. In addition to writing for today’s leading musicians, Rajasekar is passionate about educational music. She has composed numerous works for K-12 choirs, bands, orchestras as well as solo instrument pieces for educational publisher ABRSM.

Rajasekar lives in Minnesota. As a Marshall Scholar, she received her M.Mus in Composition from RNCM and M.Mus in Ethnomusicology from SOAS, University of London. Rajasekar graduated summa cum laude with her B.A. in Music from Princeton University.

Katherine Rohwer

Dr. Katherine Rohwer is the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Arkansas Tech University, where she oversees the choral area, teaches coursework in music education and choral conducting, and conducts multiple ensembles — including the acclaimed ATU Choral Artists. Katherine is dedicated to sharing her passion for the choral arts and the transformative power of music with students and audiences alike. Katherine has served as a guest conductor and presenter at various conferences, workshops, and masterclasses across the United States. Recent engagements include All-Region Choirs in Arkansas, the Michigan SSAA State Honors Choir, and the Illinois All-State Honors Chorus.

Prior to her appointment at Arkansas Tech, Katherine enjoyed the position of Associate Director of Choirs at Eastern Michigan University. She also taught choral music for ten years at Lakeshore High School in Stevensville, MI. Under her direction, the ensembles were honored with the invitation to perform at the American Choral Directors Association State Conference and the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan, as well as a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University.

Beyond academia, she has worked as the assistant conductor of the University Musical Society’s Choral Union, helping prepare choruses for collaborations with renowned orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. An active chorister, Katherine is an alumna of the World Youth Choir, a UNESCO Artist for Peace, with whom she performed throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, including a featured performance at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Awards Ceremony. 

Outside of teaching, Katherine loves spending time with her husband Alex, family and friends; exploring the beauty of Arkansas’ State Parks; the occasional game of ping-pong, and sharing the joy of music.

Brandon Williams

Brandon Williams is an Associate Professor and the Director of Choral Activities at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he conducts the Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir, the Rutgers Glee Club, and leads the Graduate Choral Conducting program. Previously, he conducted the Rutgers Voorhees Choir, which was selected to perform at Carnegie Hall (2019) and Eastern ACDA (2020, 2024). A nationally and internationally active guest conductor, clinician, and presenter, Dr. Williams brings a broad and accomplished perspective to the choral profession.

Dr. Williams has received numerous awards, including the 2009 Missouri Choral Directors Association Prelude Award, an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia Honors College, the 2020–21 Rutgers Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovations, the Mason Gross Inclusive Community Faculty Award, and the 2021–22 Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. He earned degrees from Western Illinois University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan State University, along with an Artist Teacher Diploma from the Choral Music Experience Institute.

Dr. Williams’s research and writing have appeared in leading publications, including the Choral Journal, Music Educators Journal, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal and is editor of Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor-Teachers. He also curates two choral series: The Brandon Williams Choral Series with Gentry Publications and the Rutgers Glee Club Choral Series with MusicSpoke. His compositions and arrangements are published by numerous companies including Oxford University Press, Hal Leonard, G. Schirmer, Mark Foster, Colla Voce, MusicSpoke, and MorningStar Music. In addition to his creative and scholarly work, Dr. Williams is an active member of ACDA, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, Chorus America, and ASCAP, and currently serves as the Tenor-Bass Repertoire and Resources Chair for the Eastern Division of ACDA.

Central

Alyssa Cossey

Dr. Alyssa J. Cossey is delighted to be serving as the Interim Director of Choral Activities at Wellesley College for the 2025-2026 academic year.  Before relocating to Boston, she served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Coastal Carolina University and as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music at the University of Arizona.

As a professional conductor, Alyssa has successfully conducted choruses at the secondary and collegiate levels and prepared choirs at the collegiate and professional levels for national conference performances. She also has prepared choirs to perform choral-orchestral masterworks, including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Handel’s Messiah, Britten’s War Requiem, and several works by Bach, including the St. John Passion. However, her true passion has been to expand the choral canon to include music from around the world with a focus on historically excluded composers.

As a Los Angeles native, she sang in the premiere women’s chorus, Vox Femina Los Angeles, under the direction of Dr. Iris Levine, and has sung at venues including the Hollywood Bowl, the Pantages Theatre, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall with renowned conductors and composers, including John Williams, Grant Gershon, and James Conlon. She is also an inaugural member of the professional women's choir mirabai, which sings and tours under the direction of Dr. Sandra Snow and can be heard on their debut CD, Ecstatic Songs, released in March 2018, as well as their sophomore album, Home in Me, released in February 2023.

In addition to conducting and teaching, Dr. Cossey has a passion for research. She has been published in several state and regional music education journals, including the Choral Journal (the US’s premiere peer-reviewed choral research publication), and is a contributing author for a new choral textbook on women composers edited by Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt.

Alyssa holds a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, an M.M. in Conducting from California State University, Fullerton, and a B.A. from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Previously, Dr. Cossey taught middle and high school choir in the L.A. area for nearly a decade. During her tenure, her choirs consistently received Superior ratings at festival, with invitations to perform at the state and national level, and enrollment in her programs more than doubled in size under her leadership.

Stuart Chapman Hill

Stuart Chapman Hill, Ph.D., is a conductor, composer, teacher, and scholar who serves as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at Michigan State University. At MSU, he teaches courses in music education foundations, choral methods, and music education philosophy, and conducts Singing Spartans, the tenor-bass glee club. 

Previously, Hill served for eight years as Director of Music Education and Associate Professor of Music at Webster University in St. Louis, MO, where he taught courses in music education and songwriting and conducted the treble-voice choir Aurelia. In 2022, he won Webster’s William T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching. He also served for seven years as Artistic Director of CHARIS, the St. Louis Women’s Chorus, an ensemble devoted to celebrating and encouraging women and the LGBTQIA+ community. His previous teaching experience includes working with high school singers at the prestigious Governor’s School of North Carolina and teaching middle school chorus in Greensboro, NC.

As a scholar, Hill studies and writes about musicianship and creativity. Recent projects focus on the musicianship and learning practices of professional songwriters in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a co-author, along with Dr. Jill Reese and Dr. Krystal McCoy, of Q&A for MLT: Choral Music Perspectives on Music Learning Theory, which was released in 2023 by GIA. His peer-reviewed articles appear in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Research Studies in Music Education, the Journal of Music, Technology, & Education, the Philosophy of Music Education Review, Choral Journal, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. 

Hill is a choral composer and arranger whose works are published with Hinshaw, G. Schirmer, Galaxy Music, and Gentry Publications. He has been commissioned by school and church choral groups around the United States and is especially passionate about creating high-quality choral works for performance by middle school ensembles. 

Hill earned his Ph.D. at Michigan State University, where he studied music education and choral conducting. His undergraduate and master’s degrees are from Vanderbilt University.

J. Christine Linschoten

J. Christine Linschoten serves as a conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and collaborative pianist throughout the United States. She is currently the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Texas State University, where she teaches Choral Conducting and directs two ensembles: Treble Voice Choir and University Singers.

Before her time in Texas, Dr. Linschoten taught chorus in Florida and Louisiana public schools for nine years. While in Florida, her choirs performed at State, Regional, and National Conferences and were named as Florida Vocal Association (FVA) Choirs of Distinction. Dr. Linschoten holds degrees from Centenary College of Louisiana, Michigan State University, and the University of North Texas.

Gary Seighman

Dr. Gary Seighman is Professor, Director of Choral Activities, and Chair of the Music Department at Trinity University. He is the recipient of the 2025 Guy H. Ranson Award for teaching, research, and service in the School of Arts and Humanities, as well as the 2023 Most Innovative Programming Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association. Under his direction, Trinity’s choirs have garnered accolades with invited conference performances at SWACDA, TMEA, and NCCO, annual touring, and innovative collaborations. In June 2022 he made his debut at Carnegie Hall conducting Mozart’s Requiem and has since returned in 2023, 2025, and 2026 to guest conduct the National High School and Middle School choirs for the Honors Performance Series. In addition to serving as chorusmaster for the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt and Vienna, he was artist-in-residence at University College-Dublin with nearby engagements in London, Cambridge, and Liverpool. In 2024, he conducted Faure’s Requiem at Eglise de La Madeleine in Paris and led a choral evensong broadcast live from Winchester Cathedral. Seighman has traveled to East Asia six times where he served as conductor for the Peking University Summer Opera Program, led graduate masterclasses in Taiwan, and conducted throughout China and Japan. He recently served as conductor for the 2026 Texas Private School All-State Choir. Seighman will return to Japan in 2026 to conduct the Wakayama Classical Music Festival opening ceremony.

Seighman has over a dozen publications in book chapters and peer-reviewed journals and presented over thirty interest sessions at conferences around the country. His upcoming book, The Choir Playbook: Tools for the Imaginative Conductor, will be published by Meredith Music and GIA this spring 2026. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Maryland. His wife, Dr. Jennifer Seighman, is also a choral conductor, and together they have two children - Justin (11) and Gabrielle (9) - for whom he coaches softball, baseball, and soccer.

Erika Tazawa

Conductor Erika Tazawa joined Wayne State University in 2025 as Director of Choral Activities, following faculty appointments at Emory University, Kennesaw State University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has prepared choirs for the Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras and regularly performs as a keyboardist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate educator and collaborator, Tazawa has served on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and has worked extensively with The Atlanta Opera’s education and new works initiatives as both pianist and music director. A sought-after guest conductor, she frequently leads high school honor choirs and choral festivals, and recently conducted the 2025 Georgia All-State Reading Chorus.

Dr. Tazawa holds degrees in piano performance from SUNY Potsdam and a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Georgia.