Judges-Choral
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Dr. Angela Batey
April 19/20 - 2024
Angela Batey is recognized as a prominent conductor, clinician, adjudicator and teacher whose wide variety of experience encompasses professional, university, high school, community and church choruses. Having recently served as Interim Director of the School of Music, Dr. Batey is currently Associate Director of the School of Music for Graduate Studies, Director of Choral Activities and James Cox Professor of Music. She conducts the Chamber Singers and teaches conducting courses at the graduate levels. Dr. Batey is also Director of Music at Farragut Presbyterian Church.
She is a Past-President of the Tennessee American Choral Directors Association and is currently serving on the Executive Board of Southern Division ACDA. Batey has been Associate Conductor of Schola Cantorum of Florida, a professional chorus and Associate Music Director of the Florida Ambassadors of Music, and Festival Director of the International Cathedral Music Festival.
Dr. Batey has appeared as a clinician for the American Choral Directors Association, South Carolina Music Educators Association, Florida Vocal Association, East Tennessee Vocal Association, West Virginia Vocal Association, Georgia Vocal Association, and is a frequent adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor of choral festivals, honors choirs and educational workshops. Her concern for excellence in education is the focal point of her teaching career.
Dr. Batey holds two degrees from Birmingham-Southern College in Music Education and Musical Theatre, a master's degree from The Florida State University in Music Education and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of South Carolina. In addition, she has studied Conducting with Hugh Thomas, Joseph Flummerfelt, Robert Shaw, Colleen Kirk, Clayton Krehbiel, Andre Thomas, Don V Moses and Larry Wyatt.
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Dr. david brunNer
April 19/20 - 2024
David L. Brunner is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Central Florida and highly regarded for his work with singers of all ages, appearing as a popular honor choir conductor, workshop clinician, conference presenter and composer in thirty-four states and Canada, the U.K, Europe, Australia and Japan.
This year David conducts the Oklahoma All-State Children’s Chorus, the Alabama All-State Middle School Chorus, and the Adventures in Harmony Men’s Choir at Hope College (MI), adjudicates choral festivals in New York, Tennessee and Florida, works with choirs in Illinois and Florida, and teaches at the Choral Music Experience (CME) Institute at Michigan State University. He prepares his own chorus for performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and conducts Bernstein’s MASS at UCF Celebrates the Arts at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. New works premiere in Illinois, Tennessee, New York, Maryland and Oklahoma.
As a composer, he has received annual ASCAP awards for the past twenty years and was named the Raymond W. Brock Commissioned Composer by the American Choral Directors Association, their highest honor for American composers. Dr. Brunner has over 120 works in print with Boosey & Hawkes and Walton Music.
A complete resource of Brunner’s work can be found at www.davidbrunner.com.
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Dr. kenneth fulton
April 12/13 - 2024
Dr. Kenneth Fulton (Stephanie Landry Barineau Professor of Choral Music and Chair of the Division of Ensembles and Conducting). Dr. Fulton has been on the faculty at the LSU School of Music in Baton Rouge since 1986. He chairs graduate choral studies at LSU and conducts the LSU A Cappella Choir, acclaimed as one of the premier collegiate ensembles in the country. He is also Chorusmaster and Assistant Conductor for the Baton Rouge Symphony and Symphony Chorus and has recently been appointed as artistic conductor for the Linz Summer Choral Music Institute in Linz, Austria.
Internationally recognized as a conductor and clinician, Fulton has appeared professionally in 32 different states. Dr. Fulton's choruses have given 18 invitational performances for national audiences of the American Choral Directors Association, and the Music Educators National Conference, the College Music Society, the Sonneck Society, and the American Musicological Society, as well as numerous regional performances for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Louisiana Music Educators Association, the Louisiana ACDA, and the American Society of University Composers. In addition, his choruses have won numerous awards and completed 11 successful European tours with performances in the Netherlands, France, Germany, England, Wales, Scotland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Switzerland.
Dr. Fulton has published articles on the choral music of William Walton, Don Carlo Gesualdo, and William Byrd in the Choral Journal and the AGO Magazine and served for six years on the National Editorial Board for the Choral Journal. His choral music series is published by Alliance Music Company in Houston, Texas. He has held a wide variety of professional offices and is a past President of the Southern Division of the American Choral Directors Association, the Texas Choral Directors Association and the Louisiana ACDA.
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Dr. john orr
April 26/27 - 2024
Dr. Orr studied choral music and percussion at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Music Theory/Composition and Church Music. He received a Master of Music from Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Alabama with research on the effects of aging on the amateur singing voice. Orr has studied choral conducting with Dr. Arnold Epley, Dr. John Dickson, Dr. Sandra Willetts and Dr. John Ratledge.
An active church musician, Orr has also been involved in community music through experiences such as directing a school of fine arts in Montgomery Alabama to conducting a home-school youth choir in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. As a graduate student at Alabama, Orr served as Assistant Director for the Tuscaloosa Community Singers and created a University Chamber Singers ensemble. He has created Fine Arts concert series at three separate churches and currently directs the concert series at the Community Church in Tellico Village where he serves as Pastor of Music and Worship. Dr. Orr has written three units of children’s choir curriculum for Celebrating Grace publishing.
Dr. Orr joined the Knoxville Choral Society as a singer soon after moving to Tellico Village in 2010. In 2013 he was appointed conductor of the Knoxville Chamber Chorale and Assistant Director of the Knoxville Choral Society. He was appointed Artistic Director in 2018.
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Dr. Dee romines
April 12/13 - 2024
Dr. Dee Romines, associate professor of choral music education, earned the Bachelor of Science degree in instrumental music education from the University of Tennessee, the Master of Music in choral conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His principal teachers were Dr. Eph Ehly, Dr. W J Julian, Dr. Donald Neuen, and Dr. Charles Robinson.
At HSU, Romines teaches courses in choral music education, undergraduate and graduate conducting, supervises student teachers, directs the HSU Chorale, and assists with all aspects of the choral program. Prior to his appointment at HSU, Romines held similar music education positions at the University of Georgia and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. From 1987 to 1998, he was the academy choral director at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Additional experience includes teaching elementary, middle, and high school instrumental music in Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri, as well as directing church and community choirs.
Professional affiliations: American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Pi Kappa Lambda.
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Dr. Michael Schwartzkopf
Michael Schwartzkopf is a Professor Emeritus of Choral Music and
Music Education at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
He was a member of the Alliance of Distinguished Rank and
Titled Professors at Indiana University and held the Pam and Jack Burks
Professorship Chair in Music. Before his retirement he became the tenth
recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal of Indiana University
bestowed by President Michael McRobbie. During his 17 years at
Indiana he was the conductor of the Grammy Nominated Singing
Hoosiers and recorded 2 CDs with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra under
the late Erich Kunzel. He served as Chair of the Music Education
Department and Interim Chair of the Choral Conducting Department and
taught choral conducting and music education courses on the
undergraduate and graduate levels.
During his collegiate teaching at Mercer, Illinois State, and Indiana
Universities his choirs presented concerts at ACDA and music education
conferences and toured throughout Europe, Greece, and China.
As a singer and performer, his repertoire spans the entire spectrum of
classical and popular music, oratorio, opera, and musical theatre having
performed in the theaters, on the concert stages, and in the cathedrals of
Europe and the United States with various orchestras and choral
ensembles. During the Viet Nam era he was a principal soloist with the
United States Army Band, the United States Army Chorus, and Army
Blues Jazz Band and a soloist on several occasions in the White House.
In retirement he is the chorus master for the Hilton Head Symphony and
conductor/soloist for the Hilton Head Plantation Jazz Band and soloist
for the Evolution Jazz Band. He continues to be active as an adjudicator,
lecturer, and clinician having conducted numerous state, regional, and
all-state choirs throughout the United States, Canada, and Singapore.
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kirby shaw
April 12/13 - 2024
April 19/20 - 2024
Kirby Shaw has made a major impact in choral music education and has shared his musical expertise in 45 states, Canada, Australia, the Bahamas, China, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, and the Philippines. Kirby has degrees in Music Education and Choral Composition from San Jose State University and a DMA degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington. Dr. Shaw’s teaching is infused with a sense of humor and breadth of knowledge that is transmitted in an exciting and highly contagious manner. Kirby taught in the Mt. Shasta public schools before joining the faculty at College of the Siskiyous in California where he founded and directed the innovative and highly acclaimed COS Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He also pioneered similar groups at Colorado State University and The University of Missouri - Kansas City, and is now directing the Jefferson State Choral Coalition at Southern Oregon University. Kirby has scatted one-on-one with such notables as Bobby McFerrin, Al Jarreau, Jon Hendricks (who once told Kirby . . . “Man, you don’t make mistakes!”), Mark Murphy, Greta Matassa, and Chris Calloway. He has overseen the creation of hundreds of educational recordings, five college and university albums and two solo CDs. Kirby is a member of Just 4 Kicks, a zany 4-man a cappella vocal ensemble specializing in Jazz. A composer/arranger with nearly 3000 choral compositions/arrangements in print, Kirby’s music is sung around the world and has sold over 20 million copies. He has many commissioned pieces to his credit, including one for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This creative and prolific output has resulted in numerous ASCAP awards. Kirby and his wife, Markita have written an original musical based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol entitled SCROOGICAL, soon to be presented at a quality theater near you! Kirby, Markita, and their foofy-newfie/border collie mix, Tux, live in a forest high above Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley.
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Dr. eric thorSon
April 26/27 - 2024
Eric Thorson, is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, TN. He is the conductor of the A Cappella Choir, Men’s Chorus, Oratorio Chorus, and teaches classes in conducting and music education. Dr. Thorson received his Bachelor of Arts from Buena Vista University and both the Master of Music and Doctor of Education degrees from Arizona State University. Dr. Thorson’s music teaching career spans more than three decades and includes teaching at the elementary, secondary, college and university levels. Recognized for his dedication to students, quality of teaching and choral artistry, Dr. Thorson is a frequent clinician and adjudicator, and has received Carson-Newman University’s “Mentoring Award” and most recently the “Distinguished Professor Award”, the college’s highest faculty award. He has also served as Tennessee President of American Choral Directors Association and served on the advisory board for the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. Dr. Thorson just completed his twenty-third year as Artistic Director/Conductor of the Knoxville Choral Society, a professional symphonic choir of 150 singers, and serves as Minister of Music at Knoxville’s West Hills Baptist Church.
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dr. sonja Sepulveda
April 26/27 - 2024
Dr. Sonja Sepúlveda is the Director of Choral Activities and teacher of Theory at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and conducts the Salem College Chamber Choir, Chorale, and SuperTonix. She came to Salem following positions at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Brewton Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia. Graduating from Winthrop University with a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees, Sonja Sepúlveda earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina where she directed the Renaissance Singers and Carolina Alive. In 2006, she founded the Palmetto Voices, a professional choir of alumni students and current students. Her choirs have sung for National American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Southern Division ACDA, National MENC, toured in 12 other countries and performed in most of America’s major concert halls. Sonja Sepúlveda sang with the Robert Shaw Festival Chorus for eight years and is currently the Artistic Director of the Winston-Salem Youth Chorus. In addition, Dr. Sepúlveda is Conductor in Residence with MidAmerica Productions that is partnered with Carnegie Hall.