Kristin Claiborne is in her fourth school year as choral director & varsity assistant girls basketball coach at Blythewood High School in Blythewood, South Carolina. She received her bachelors degree in music education from the University of South Carolina, where she is currently pursuing her masters in educational administration. Ms. Claiborne is a active member of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Educators, the A Cappella Education Association, the Contemporary A Cappella Society, & Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

The Blythewood High School Choral Department hails from Richland School District Two in South Carolina. The program is comprised of five vocal ensembles, including four levels of choir & one a cappella group. Made up of nearly 200 students, the levels of ensemble offered range from beginning singers to advanced, prospective music majors. The choirs have performed throughout the southeast in a number of choral festivals & state competitions, receiving superior ratings in both performance & sight-reading. The acaBengals, Blythewood's premiere vocal ensemble, has represented our school in a number of district, state, & regional events!

Erin Philips received a Bachelor of Science degree in Music from Lander University in May 2006. After that, she went on to receive a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 2009, she returned to Lander University and earned her K-12 Certification in Music Education. She is currently a member of the National Association for Music Education, American Choral Directors Association, the Palmetto State Teachers Association, Alpha Chi Honor Society, and the National Music Honor Society of Pi Kappa Lambda.

The choirs of Ridge View High School are known for their committment to the standard of excellence in work ethic, musicianship, and student dedication. We are continuing to grown in numbers and strive to be the best we can be. The mission of the Ridge View High School Choral Program is to provide a positive and nurturing environment where all students can develop their musical and technical skills through teamwork, discipline, concentration, and personal achievement.

Conductor Tom Matrone has been the Artistic Director for the Springfield Mid America Singers since September 2011. A graduate of Northwest College (B.A., Biblical Studies) and Drake University (Master of Music, Choral Conducting), and presently a Doctoral candidate in Choral Conducting at the University of South Carolina. Matrone presently holds the position of Director of Choral Studies at Evangel University where he conducts the Evangel University Chorale, the Evangel University Chorus, and teaches Choral Conducting, Choral Materials, Church Music History, Hymnology and Worship Studies in Leadership.

Since its beginning in 1966, Springfield Mid-America Singers has been one of the region's premier choral organizations. The group has become nationally recognized for its ambitions and versatile programming and outstanding performances.

Alicia W. Walker is Associate Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she directs the University Chorus, the USC Men’s Chorus, teaches undergraduate and graduate Conducting and Choral Methods, and supervises student teachers. An experienced music educator, Dr. Walker taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Florida and Georgia prior to joining the music education faculty at the University of Georgia. She was a 2013 Teaching Fellow in USC’s Center for Teaching Excellence in the area of Service Learning. Currently, she is President of Southern Division ACDA. Walker serves as Director of Music Ministries at Union UMC.

The Union UMC Chancel Choir has a long tradition of excellence in worship leadership. The all-volunteer choir regularly performs major works, and has traveled internationally. The Chancel Choir is committed to its role of leading the congregation in worship through expressive singing of meaningful texts.

Dr. Alicia W. Walker is Associate Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she directs the University Chorus and the USC Men’s Chorus, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Conducting and Music Education. She holds degrees from Florida State University, Southern Seminary, and the University of Georgia. Dr. Walker has recently conducted performances and workshops in South Africa and St. Lucia, and regularly presents at national conferences in the area of Service-Learning. She is currently serving as President of Southern Division ACDA, and maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator.

The University Chorus is the largest choir at the University of South Carolina. The ensemble is open to singers from all majors across campus, and often includes members of the Columbia community. The choir performs diverse choral repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day. They are known for their expressive singing, beautiful tone, and the joy they find in making music. Concerts frequently feature major choral masterworks; recent performances include the Berlioz Requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and the North American premier of Herbert Howells’ Sir Patrick Spens. The group also travels abroad; under Dr. Walker’s direction, they sang the Brahms Requiem in Soweto, South Africa, in 2014.

Wendi Humphries is the director of the Brookland-Cayce High School choir program in Cayce, South Carolina. Her choirs consistently earn Superior ratings at State Festivals. Each year, a number of her students are selected for ACDA Honors choir and SC All-State Choir. A thirty-one year veteran teacher, Mrs. Humphries is a graduate of the University of South Carolina where she received a Bachelor Degree in Choral Music Education and studied under the direction of world renowned Kodaly expert Dr. Arpad Darazs. She holds a Masters of Education degree from Columbia College in Divergent Learning with Fine Arts Emphasis. Mrs. Humphries was named Teacher of the Year 1991-91 at Claude A. Taylor Elementary, 1996-97 at R. H. Fulmer Middle School and 2013-14 at Brookland-Cayce High School. Mrs. Humphries is an active member of NAfME and ACDA.

The Brookland-Cayce Honors Choir is an auditioned choir and the primary performing choral ensemble. The choir has performed and been featured with professional choirs; The Sandlapper Singers (2012), The Palmetto Singers (2013) and The Rivertree Singers (2015). The choir consistently receives Superior ratings at State and Regional Festivals. They received the Gold Trophy Award at the Southern Star Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia and performed at Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Ceremony in 2013. The choir traveled to New York (2015) to participate in “Backstage Broadway.” Under the direction of Mrs. Wendi Humphries, groups and individuals have received various state and national awards including vocal collegiate scholarships, Superior Ratings, State and Regional vocal championship winners. 

Kimo Furumoto, associate professor, is Director of Orchestras at California State University, Fullerton. He is also music director and conductor of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra (West Virginia) and the Rio Hondo Symphony (Whittier, CA). His guest conducting appearances have taken him throughout the United States and Europe with many stellar orchestras. Previous positions include music director of the Concert Orchestra at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music, conducting assistant with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. He has worked with noted conductors such as Leonard Bernstein and Robert Shaw. Furumoto holds degrees in conducting from Chapman University and the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music. 

The University Symphony Orchestra, directed by Kimo Furumoto, is dedicated to the training of outstanding instrumentalists in the performance of a wide range of styles in the orchestral repertoire. They have performed with international artists from Richard Stoltzman to Deborah Voigt, and in addition to the regular concert series, the orchestra collaborates with university choruses, Opera Theatre, CSUF faculty-artists, internationally renowned guest artists and local performing arts groups. Students are regularly presented with numerous opportunities to study orchestral repertoire in master class settings with faculty artists, regional professional orchestra musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra as well as internationally acclaimed performers and teachers including Yo-yo Ma, Fredell Lack, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Talich Quartet and many others.

The Long Beach Camerata Singers was founded in 1966 by Frank Allen as the Vocal Arts Ensemble, and served as the resident chorus for the Long Beach Bach Festival, which he founded in 1973. In 1983 Dr. David Wilson, a professor of choral music at USC, succeeded Frank Allen and led the choir for over twenty years. Under his baton, the Camerata Singers first toured Europe in 1999. In 2005, CSULB choral director Dr. Jonathan Talberg was appointed artistic director. He added a core of professional singers to the ranks and led a second European tour in 2006. In 2009 Dr. Robert Istad, director of choral studies at CSU Fullerton and associate director of the Pacific Chorale, was appointed artistic director. The choir performs a fall concert, a holiday performance of Messiah, and a June concert of Broadway classics, as well as the Long Beach Bach Festival, which is in its 42nd season. Camerata also performs with other arts organizations, including the Pacific Symphony, The Long Beach Symphony, the Long Beach Opera and the South Bay Children’s Chorale. Their education program, the Camerata Kinder Konzerts, provides interactive learning experiences focused on the vocal arts.

California State University, Fullerton's University Singers, directed by Robert Istad, rank among the nation's premiere collegiate choral ensembles. The University Singers perform all over world and regularly collaborate with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra led by Carl St.Clair, John Mauceri, John Williams, and Keith Lockhart. The University Singers performed at the 2013 National Collegiate Choral Organization Conference, the 2013 ACDA National Conference, and the 2012 ACDA Western Division Conference. The ensemble’s recent concert tours have included stops in Austria, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe, Spain, and Australia.