A composer and director, Andrew Jacobson is currently the Director of Choirs at Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Washington. He holds an advanced degree in Music Education from Boston University, in addition to a BM in Music Education from the University of Washington where he studied with Dr. Steven Zopfi, Dr. Giselle Wyers, and Dr. Geoffrey Boers. He is in demand as a Washington State Solo and Ensemble Clinician for the male voice, small vocal ensembles, and large vocal ensembles. In addition to his Solo and Ensemble work, he is active as a choral festival clinician across Washington State. He is also an active proponent and educator in teaching music literacy to junior high and high school choral students.

The Bellevue High School Chamber and Treble Choirs are the premier choral ensembles offered at Bellevue High School. They perform advanced a cappella and accompanied works for choir, and have toured every year for the last five years. They often premier newer works, gaining accolades in the area for their depth and range of repertoire and interpretive skills. The Bellevue High School Choirs are excited to make their New York debut with this exciting project with Dr. Eric Barnum, and are equally thrilled and privileged to be singing with the other choirs on the stage today.

Amy Johnston Blosser is the National Chair for Repertoire and Resources for the American Choral Directors Association. She has been active in planning National Conferences in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis. Under her direction, the Bexley H.S. Vocal Ensemble has performed at state conferences for NAfME and ACDA as well as Central Division conferences in 2012 and 2016. Blosser was named Educator of the Year for Bexley City Schools in 2011. She was selected to serve as one of 14 Conducting Fellows for the 2015 International Conductors Exchange Program to Sweden and is currently a finalist for the American Prize in Conducting, in the Youth and High School Chorus Division.

The Bexley High School Vocal Ensemble travels the U.S. extensively including tours in New York City, Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Their international tours include Venice, Salzburg, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, London, Paris and their June 2015 tour of Ireland. Vocal Ensemble has performed at state conferences for NAfME and ACDA as well as Central Division conferences in 2012 and 2016. Members have worked with conductors including Eric Barnum, David Childs, Rollo Dilworth, Sydney Guillaume, James Mulholland, Tim Takach, and Hilary Apfelstadt. They are currently finalists for the American Prize in Choral Performance, in the Youth and High School Division.

Leah Seitz is an educator from Corvallis, Oregon. She completed her Bachelors of Music Education at the University of Oregon while co-directing the University's Women's Choir (2013). During her undergraduate, she co-directed the Heart of The Valley Children's Choir (2011-2013) in Corvallis, Oregon. She completed her Masters of Arts in Teaching: Music at Oregon State University as a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Steven Zielke. She served as the Tucson Fall Choral Festival Host, and as the Southeast Regional Chair (2015-2017). She has taught at Catalina Foothills High School for three years as Director of Choirs.

The Concert Chorale from Catalina Foothills High School was established in 1998, six years after the high school was built. Since then the ensemble has travelled to San Diego, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and New York City to share their music. In Decemeber of 2015, they performed the Arizona primiere of Timothy Takach's The Longest Nights. This is their second trip to New York City, and first concert appearance with Disitinguished Concerts International: New York.

Kristen Womack-Hayes has been teaching for 20 years, is a National Board Certified Teacher, and holds a Master's Degree in School Administration. Mrs. Hayes teaches Choir, Music Theatre, and History of Rock and Roll. In addition to her teaching duties, Mrs. Hayes is the High School and Middle School Humanities Team Leader. Mrs. Hayes is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, the American Choral Directors Association, the Oklahoma Music Education Association, and the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association. Mrs. Hayes has been married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years and has a 13 year old daughter.

Over the past six years at Glenpool High School, the Warrior Singers have earned nine Superior ratings at O.S.S.A.A. State Choir Contest, including one Sweepstakes award. The choir has grown from 30 members to 70 members and the Vocal Music Department has expanded to include a Music Theatre program. The Department produces three musicals a year, each involving between 40 and 70 students, and sponsors a show choir, The G Sharps. They are the largest club, oraganization, or team on campus. Glenpool is the fastest growing community in Oklahoma and the vocal arts are being embrased and valued.

Eric A. Johnson D.M.A. is the Founding Artistic Director of Cor Cantiamo and Director of Choral Activities at Northern Illinois University. 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 Lincoln Center, tours internationally and prepared choruses for collaborations with professional orchestras.

Internationally, Johnson has served as a guest conductor of the Clare College Chapel Choir (Cambridge, England), taught at Makumira University (Arusha, Tanzania), the Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (Natal, Brazil), and directed guest choral residencies at Canterbury 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 Morten Lauridsen, Libby Larsen, Sir John Tavener, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, James Whitbourn, Timothy Takach, and Stacey Gibbs.

The Northern Illinois University Concert Choir is a large select mixed choir that performs a wide span of choral works from the Western repertory to the rich array of global music traditions.
A demanding performance schedule includes concerts on and off campus. On-campus events include Choral College Concerts, Choir Days, the Annual Holiday Concert and many collaborative performances with NIU's instrumental ensembles. Off-campus events include invited appearances at conventions, high school tours, and the IL-ACDA Collegiate Choral Festival. Concert Choir has twice performed in Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York (2009, 2013). Performances of large-scale choral compositions have included Vaughan Williams's Dona nobis pacem, Dvořák's Stabat Mater, Berlioz's Te Deum and Haydn's Theresienmesse. Concert Choir also advances the choral arts by hosting guest artists and commissioning new compositions.

 

Lynne Danoff is the choir director at Norristown Area High School. Lynne graduated from West Chester University and spent some time teaching for the Arch Diocese of Philadelphia and Wilmington until she secured her dream job here at Norristown. This is Lynne’s tenth year with the district and she has been able to build a successful Concert, Select, Women’s, and Gospel Choirs who support their local community. We are excited to broaden our horizons through performance travel and could not be more thrilled to start that journey at the Lincoln Center with John Conahan and his music.

The Norristown Area High School Select Choir is an auditioned group of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students.  These students work tirelessly on concert music on their own time and come together in class to work on blend, balance, and aesthetics.  All thirty students are referred to as the Ambassadors for the Music Department and for the entire district as they perform for charity groups, churches, and organizations in our local community. The NAHS Select Choir students go above and beyond the school’s expectations with musicianship and citizenship on a daily basis.  They are true musical pioneers.

Teresa Washam has been the Choir Director at Souderton Area High School for 20 years. There she conducts the Advanced Choir, Concert Choir, Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus, advises both male and female a cappella groups and is the Music Director/Co-Producer/Orchestra Conductor of their Musical productions. She is a member of the executive board of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, District 11. She has been a director on the American Music Abroad Bronze Tour for 6 years conducting choirs throughout Europe. Teresa is also a chorus member of Opera Philadelphia.

The Souderton Area High School Advanced Choir is an auditioned group of students in grades 10-12 who rehearse every other day during school. Students in this group receive countless invitations to perform throughout the community at special events and activities. Many are leads, supporting actors and ensemble members of their spring musical “The Music Man” which will be held from March 29-April 2. Many participate in the PMEA Festivals including Districts, Regionals, All-States and All-Easterns. Recent performance venues include Carnegie Hall as a part of the Choirs of America Nationals receiving a superior rating, and St. John the Divine in Manhattan.

Mr. Andrew Puntel received a B.A. in Music from Fordham University in 2004 and Maters in Education from Eastern Universtiy. He conducted Fulbright research and studies in Latvia under the direction of Romans Vanags. Andrew has served as a music teacher and choir director Cathedral High School for Girls in Manhattan, Fordham University, and more recently the School District of Philadelphia. He currently teaches in the School District of Springfield Township and serves as music director at St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Flourtown.

The Springfield Township High School Concert choir is a Mixed Choir of 12-16 singers that meets for one semester per year on an alternating day basis. Singers are nurtured as independent musicians and formed as choral scholars. This is the choir's first performance outside of the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and they look forward to more performance tour and recording opportunities in the future.

William Gokelman, professor of Music and Chair of the UIW Department of Music, directs the Cardinal Chorale, the Cardinal Singers, teaches accompanying , vocal coaching, and diction. William was keyboard artist with the San Antonio Symphony for eight years, and accompanist/assistant director of New Jersey's Pro Arte Chorale, performing with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and for Pope John Paul II while touring in Italy. William is a presenter and performer for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. His "Mass of Renewal," co-composed with David Kauffman, won first place in the new Mass settings national competition in 2010. As a musical theater director, William earned a GLOBE Award for Best Musical Direction for UIW's production of "Cottonpatch Gospel." He and David co-wrote "Moses and the Burning Within," a musical performed regionally throughout the United States and Canada. William's CD of original piano/orchestral compositions, "Steal Away," reached #69 on the Top 100 New Age chart, and continues to be played on satellite radio. William earned the BM in piano, and the MM from Westminster Choir College. In 2006 William received the UIW Presidential Teaching Award, and was voted the 2011-2012 UIW Moody Professor.

The Cardinal Chorale is the primary vocal ensemble of the University of the Incarnate Word Department of Music. It is comprised of students from many different academic disciplines, all across the campus. The Chorale has performed in various festivals, community and school events, in venues such as Carnegie Hall (2000, 2010), San Antonio's Tobin Center for the Performing Arts (2015), San Fernando Cathedral, and on numerous radio and television programs, especially during the Christmas season. The Chorale was invited to sing for the 25th anniversary Mass of San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores in 1995. In 1996, the Chorale was asked to sing the Star-Spangled Banner (arranged by William Gokelman) with Tejano star Emilio Navaira at the NBA All-Star Game, held in the Alamodome. The Cardinal Chorale has performed on two CDs of liturgical choral music, "Behold," and "Mirad," both published and distributed by Good For The Soul Music (available on iTunes and Amazon). A major ensemble in the UIW Department of Music, the Chorale is also the largest student organization on campus. UIW is a Catholic, liberal arts university, that was founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

John Conahan is a Composer, Conductor, Performer, and Educator. As a composer, John’s Choral and Instrumental works have received much acclaim and are performed frequently all over the world. His works have been premiered by an array of artists including Lorin Maazel, Marin Alsop, Denyce Graves, Donald Nally & The Crossing, Deborah Voigt, Antioch Chamber Ensemble, Jeffrey Brillhart & Singing City, Lyric Fest, and Sir James Galway – at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Lincoln Center. John is a frequently featured Guest Conductor and visiting clinician for a number of ensembles, including State Music Education Festivals, Choral Unions, and numerous academic institutions. In addition to his life as a Composer and Conductor, John is an active performer and recording artist, maintaining a number of albums as a singer/songwriter, as well as with an experimental improvisation trio, and as a solo pianist focusing on his spontaneous piano works. His recordings are featured both on television and in film, recently including PBS Great Performances.

Wissahickon Camerata - Ambler, Pennsylvania. The Wissahickon Camerata is an auditioned performance ensemble including some of the most accomplished choral artists of Wissahickon High School. The Camerata practices a wide variety of repertoire from early music to new and avant-garde works, sharing a positive ethic of awareness and love of choral music. The Camerata is also an active service organization, maintaining a regular performance schedule at assisted-living communities, educational institutions, and public events throughout Philadelphia and surrounding areas.

Anne is the Director of Performing Arts at the Western International School of Shanghai, WISS. She has also worked as a freelance composer and musician and her clients have included Weinstein Film and the International Labour Organisation. Anne believes in creating opportunities to allow her students to develop in ways they could not in the classroom. To this end, she has written and produced with her students and they have performed at various venues across Shanghai, London and Hong Kong, including the Pleasance Theatre, London, the Shanghai Rolex ATP Tennis Masters, Shanghai Formula 1 Grand Prix and Hong Kong Disneyland.

The WISS Community Choir celebrates the simple joy of singing across generations. Mothers, fathers, staff members and children aged 8 to 18 - all singing as one! Living in the international setting of Shanghai, China, members have come and gone over the years, but the choir continues to grow from strength to strength. Since starting in 2010 we have performed at the Shanghai Formula One Grand Prix, Hong Kong Disneyland and numerous Christmas and charity events across Shanghai. We are honored and delighted to be a part of this very special event.