Christa Tahere began her tenure as upper school choral director at Chattanooga Christian School in the fall of 2019, after having served as the director of the Indiana University Children's Chorus, First Voices. She holds a masters degree in choral conducting from Lee University in Cleveland, TN. She is an active choral scholar, serving as a clinician, adjudicator and presenter for IMEA, ACDA and NafMe. She is active both as a singer and conductor, with choirs performing both nationally and internationally. She and her husband along with their two children currently live in Lookout Mountain, GA.

David J. Cochrane, a native of Scranton, PA, currently serves as the Director of Music at both Cardinal Newman School, a 550 student diocesan Catholic school for grades 7-12, and at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Columbia, South Carolina. Cochrane holds degrees from Dickinson College (Bachelor of Arts), where he studied conducting with Dr. Robert W. Pound and the University of South Carolina (Masters of Music in Choral Conducting) where he studied under the tutelage of Dr. Larry D. Wyatt and Dr. Alicia W. Walker. Cochrane also studied choral conducting in Moscow, Russia, at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow under Professor Alexander Solovyev. While in Moscow he guest conducted the Moscow Conservatory Chamber Choir in concert, and participated in a number of performances and master classes led by conductors of the Moscow Conservatory, including People’s Artist of the USSR and recipient of the State Prize, Vladimir Minin. Additionally, Cochrane directed Voces concordiae, a 10-voice early-music ensemble in sacred music concerts. Cochrane returns to Moscow often to guest conduct the professional chamber choir, Ex oriente Lux in concerts. With Ex oriente Lux he strives to bring solid early music performance practices and the music of American contemporary composers to the Russian audiences.

Cardinal Chorale is the premier choral ensemble at Cardinal Newman School in Columbia, SC. The group is held to the highest standards of choral literature and performance. Cardinal Chorale is an auditioned choir that is made up of a maximum of 32 singers. The repertoire of the ensemble covers all genres from the Renaissance era through contemporary compositions by living composers. The ensemble performs at various concerts/events in the Columbia Community, and is also the primary liturgical choir for all Cardinal Newman Liturgies. In April of 2017, Cardinal Chorale performed in the ensemble's first DCINY concert at Carnegie Hall under Maestro James Meaders. Recent composers performed are Gjeilo, Powell, Palestrina, Mozart, Carter, Haydn, Whitacre, Farrant, Handel, Tavener, Pitoni, and Ticheli. The members of Cardinal Chorale are excited and grateful for the opportunity to return to the DCINY stage.

Joseph Osowski is the Director of Choral Activities at St. Michael – Albertville High School. He holds degrees in Music Education from North Dakota State University. At STMA High School, Osowski directs four curricular ensembles, two co-curricular ensembles, and serves as the vocal director for the annual high school musical. Mr. Osowski is also the conductor of Bring the Sing, a community singing initiative sponsored by Classical Minnesota Public Radio and President of the Board of Directors for The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists. Joseph Osowski received a nomination as a Minnesota Teacher of the Year Candidate in 2016 by Education Minnesota and was selected as a conducting delegate representing the United States for the 2017 International Conductors Exchange Program sponsored by the American Choral Directors Association.

As the flagship organization for the school district, the STMA High School Music Program prides itself on excellence and inclusion for the over 500 students that it serves. The STMA Concert Choir is one of fourteen performing ensembles offered at STMA High School. The eighty one member auditioned ensembles rehearses daily for 62 minutes. Recent performance highlights include invitational performances with American Public Media, the American Choral Directors Association and the Minnesota Music Educators Association. STMA has enjoyed collaborative performances with numerous high schools, collegiate ensembles and professional ensembles, including the Twin Cities based professional men’s ensemble Cantus, The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists and the internationally celebrated vocal ensembles VOCES8, the Aeolians and Chanticleer.

Tisa Lawrence-Krekel, director of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 DC Singers, holds a masters of music in Choral Conducting from University of Nebraska - Lincoln and uses her experience to develop young peoples passion for Music Education. Recently she has been chosen to represent excellent music educators in The Who’s Who of America publication by Marquis Who’s Who. Tisa is honored to sing alongside her high school students as a classically trained Soprano, both for DCINY and the St Martins Chamber Choir in Denver Colorado.

The DC Singers are the premier auditioned ensemble for Denver Christian School in Lakewood, Colorado. The repertoire of DC Singers includes some of the most difficult works performed at Denver Christian School, recently including Faure’s Requiem, arrangements by Philip Stopford, and debut works for local composers including Tisa Krekel (their director), Clark Roush of York University, and Lauren Bydalek.

Tina Bernard has just completed 30 years in choral directing/teaching. She directed many exemplary programs throughout her teaching career, but for the past 9 years she has led her ensembles at Lumberton High School to sweepstakes awards and profound performances, including the sold out DCINY 10th Anniversary Carnegie Hall concert with Eric Whitacre. Her choirs sing the National Anthem for the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets several times a year. Tina resides in Bridge City, Texas with her husband, Mike.

The Lumberton High School Choir is located in Lumberton, Texas. The choir has earned Sweepstakes ratings at state level competitions and has set records for individual competitions throughout the state. The choir has performed for professional MLB and NBA teams annually and continues to provide exemplary community events for the Texas Music Educators Association.

Jennifer Oncken has been Director of Vocal Music for Francis Howell North High School since 2017. Graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2016 from Lindenwood University with a BA Music with K-12 Vocal Certification, she was awarded the Supero Asperum Award, and served as Assistant Director for the Lindenwood Concert Choir and "Legally Blonde" directed by Nikki Snelson. Ms. Oncken serves as the St. Louis Metro Representative for Missouri Choral Directors Association, Co-Vice President for St. Louis Metro District of Missouri Music Educators Association, and co-coordinator for St. Louis Metro All-District Honor Choir. She has performed as a soloist with Saint Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, Alton Symphony Orchestra, and Southwest American Choral Directors Collegiate Honor Choir; various choral groups include the Houston Symphony Chorus. Ms. Oncken is five time North Teacher of the Year nominee, and is five time recipient of The Student's Choice Award. She resides in Saint Charles, Missouri with her three children.

Francis Howell North High School Knight Choir is thrilled to be returning for its second residency with DCINY. North has four performing ensembles including two chamber choirs (Knight Sound and Bella Voces), as well as Knight Concert Choir and Aurora Treble Choir. Since director Jennifer Oncken's arrival in 2017, each of the four ensembles at Francis Howell North have received straight Exemplary ratings at the Missouri State Large Ensemble Contest, over 65 students have been selected for the All-District Honor Ensembles, and twelve have been selected for the Missouri All-State Choir.

Brenna Fitzgerald holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Penn State University and a Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Memphis. Ms. Fitzgerald is currently in her tenth year of teaching and fourth year at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, TN. The choir program at Lebanon currently consists of four choirs and three a cappella groups. In addition to teaching, she regularly performs at public and corporate events in the greater Nashville area.

The Lebanon High School Chamber Choir is a 28 member ensemble, committed to performing at a high level. This choir regularly earns superior ratings at regional and state choral festivals. This year, six students qualified for the Tennessee All-State Choir, with an additional six alternates. This group is so excited to be performing at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Eric Whitacre!

Michelle Uhler is in her fifth year as Director of Choral Activities for the Morris Hills High School Music Department and is in her eighteenth year teaching choir. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from Seton Hall University with a double major in Psychology and Music Performance - Voice and Piano. Additionally, she holds a Masters in teaching from New Jersey City University, as well as her Administrative Supervisor and Principal Certifications from the University of Scranton. She has also been teaching piano lessons privately for the past 25 years. She enjoys spending time with her husband and three children.

The Scarlet Singers are a group of sixteen singers from Rockaway, New Jersey and surrounding towns. They feature students ranging in ages 15-18. These elite singers participate in various choirs around the State of New Jersey including the Morris Area Honor Choir, North Jersey Region Choir, New Jersey All State Choir, ACDA All-Eastern Honor Choir, NAfME All National Honor Ensemble, and the Morris Hills High School concert choir, Madrigal choir, and Knights Templar.

This is Matthew Hanson's 10th year teaching choral music and guitar at Northwood High School. He graduated in 2012 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he received both his Bachelor of Music Performance and Bachelor of Music Education degrees. Hanson is an active member of the National Association for Music Education as well as the American Choral Director’s Association. He serves as the faculty advisor for the Tri-M Music Honor Society and music director/ arranger for Northwood’s award-winning a cappella group, "Pitch Please." His Northwood ensembles have performed with DCINY on three previous occasions with Eric Whitacre and Deke Sharon at both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

The Northwood High School Chamber Singers is an auditioned group of accomplished singers that came to exist in the spring of 2017 with the continued growth of the Northwood choral program. The ensemble participates annually in their Music Performance Assessments held at Meredith College and regularly receives superior ratings in both performance and sight reading. Northwood Chamber Singers have performed under Eric Whitacre first in 2018 at Lincoln Center and then in the fall of 2019 at Carnegie Hall.

Derek Galvicius has been a music teacher for 22 years and has been blessed to perform at Carnegie Hall 3 times before. It has been a lifelong goal to have his students perform with Mr. Whitacre and that dream has finally been realized. He is extremely proud of his students and know that this will be one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences that none of us will ever forget. He also wishes to thank all of his past students, colleagues and especially his family for all of the support they ave shown him during his career.

This ensemble is a combination of our Concert Choir and our Chamber Choir (named Surround Sound) members. This group just finished performing the Faure Requiem with Dr. Eric Johnson of Northern Illinois University and his professional choir Cor Cantiamo. They are extremely excited to be here and look forward to bringing this music to life.