Repertoire & Resources
Lifelong
ALLAN PETKER
Community Choirs
Allan Robert Petker is a composer and arranger with more than 250 published works, including classroom texts on conducting and music literacy. He is the owner of Pavane Publishing, which publishes choral music and college music textbooks. He also serves as the Vice President of Publications for the Fred Bock Music Company which includes such distinguished catalogs as Gentry Publications, National Music, the H.T. FitzSimons Company and Hinshaw Music.
Allan has been the conductor of Consort Chorale, an ensemble of 50 auditioned voices from the San Francisco Bay area, since 1994. In 2004 he became the Conductor and Artistic Director for the Santa Clarita Master Chorale, an ensemble of 80 auditioned voices. In 2015 he added the Los Cancioneros Master Chorale (Torrance, CA) to his conducting portfolio. He has served as conductor at Carnegie Hall more than once. He has led concert tours to Europe, Eastern Europe, the Baltic region and South America. Internationally, he has guest conducted choirs in England, Scotland, Korea, Portugal and France.
Since 1989 Allan has been a coordinator and clinician for two church music conferences at Lake Tahoe, “Summer Sing” and “Tuning @ Tahoe.” He is currently the Community Chorus Representative for the ACDA Western Division. He remains active as an instrumentalist,
primarily on the viola and violin, but also on mandolin and guitar.
Statement:
I am delighted to be on the ACDA Western Board as the Community Choir Representative. I’ve been directing community choirs for more than 30 years, and I believe they hold a special place in the choral world. I am eager to strengthen their position in ACDA. ACDA has wonderful resources to offer community choirs and their directors, and I believe they have much to offer ACDA. Furthermore, the community choir realm is increasing and becoming more and more significant. Community Choirs are frequently the artistic voice of their area. I look forward to being a part of the ACDA Western Board.
GREG HEBERT
Music in Worship
Greg Hebert received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Arizona State University and has been a music director at several churches in the Phoenix area since 1988, currently he is the Director of Music at St. Thomas the Apostle, in Phoenix, where he has served since 2005.
Along with his experience in music ministry, Greg is a retired choral music teacher of thirty-one years in Arizona and was a proud choir director of Corona Del Sol High School, in Tempe, from 1994-2021. In 2008, Corona Del Sol was a performance ensemble in the Western Region ACDA Conference in Anaheim. In 2015, St. Thomas the Apostle and Corona Del Sol High School performed Requiem, Op. 9, by Maurice Duruflé Requiem at the AzACDA Summer Conference in Phoenix.
As a recipient of several awards, Greg has notably received the AzACDA Director of the Year in 2014, and Arizona Choral Educators Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
Greg has served in various capacities with AzACDA as president, various advisory positions, and now as Music and Worship Repertoire and Resources. His secret/most favorite role is the Chairperson for Arizona Diamondbacks ACDA Nights where groups of all ages bring choirs to sing the Star-Spangled Banner for the opening of games; play ball!
Residing in Chandler Arizona, Greg enjoys his time with his wife Nancy, two dogs and is the proud parent of three grown children.
Repertoire Specific
RYAN W. HOLDER
Repertoire Specific Coordinator
Ryan W. Holder is currently the Associate Director of Choral Studies at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ), where he directs the Vox Astra (Women’s Chorale), Northern Voices and High Altitude vocal jazz ensembles, teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting and choral methods, supervises choral student teachers, serves as the adviser for the NAU student chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the three contemporary a cappella groups. In addition, he is the coordinator of the annual Jazz Madrigal festival, which brings in over 120 high schools and 165 choirs every year.
Dr. Holder currently serves as the director of music at The Church of the Red Rocks in Sedona, Arizona where he conducts the Chancel Choir and Handbell Choir. Dr. Holder is also the founding artistic director of the Sedona Academy of Chamber Singers, choir-in-residence at The Church of the Red Rocks.
Ryan has given lectures and presentations at local, state, and regional ACDA and NAfME conventions. His vocal jazz ensembles have been invited to perform throughout the Southwest, including performances at state, regional, and national conferences. In June 2023, Dr. Holder made his Carnegie Hall debut, directing a world premiere of Lionteeth by Swedish composer Anders Edenroth.
Ryan served as the Arizona State ACDA President as well as the ACDA National Committee on Educational Technology. In 2020, Dr. Holder was awarded the Arizona ACDA Choral Director of the Year award.
Dr. Holder received his DMA degree from the University of Miami in addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Oregon University and University of Northern Colorado, respectively.
“Try Not. Do…or do not, there is no try”
Yoda
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
ANGEL VAZQUEZ-RAMOS
World Music & Cultures
Ángel M. Vázquez-Ramos, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico is Director of Choral & Vocal Studies and Professor of Music at California State University, Bakersfield. He teaches undergraduate courses in music education, choral conducting, and conducts the University Singers and Chamber Singers. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos is the co-founder and co-director of the CSUB Kodály Institute, and founding artistic music director of Meridian Voices, a chamber choral ensemble based in Bakersfield. He maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician. In addition, he established La Voz Music Publishing, a music publishing company dedicated to Latin American choral music.
Before completing his doctoral studies at Florida State University, Dr. Vázquez-Ramos taught secondary choral music at Pinellas County Schools in the Tampa Bay Area. Previous music director positions have included congregations in both Florida and California. He has served as a board member on the California Choral Directors Association Board, and the Organization of American Kodály Educators Western Region. Currently, he is serving on the boards of the ACDA Western Region and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos is also a member of the National Association for Music Education, and the International Kodály Society.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education at the University of Puerto Rico. Studying with Judy Bowers, Rodney Eichenberger, Kevin Fenton, Clifford Madsen, and André Thomas, he holds Master of Music Education and Ph.D. in Music Education degrees from Florida State University. Dr. Vázquez-Ramos has presented sessions at state, regional, national and internal conferences. His interests include: teacher preparation, rehearsal techniques, adolescent choirs, and Latin American choral music. He has also published articles on assessment in music education and teacher preparation in the Journal of Research in Music Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing and the Florida Music Director.
JOHN KNUTSON
Vocal Jazz
John Knutson is Director of Choral Studies at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is a former member of the professional vocal jazz ensemble Vocalogy, formed by Phil Mattson in 1998. Before moving to California, John taught at Southwestern Community College in Iowa. While at Southwestern, he performed all over the US and Europe with the award-winning vocal jazz group VoicesIowa. Prior to that John lived in New York City, where he taught vocal music at JHS #263 in Brooklyn, and performed with the acappella cabaret group, the QuintEssentials.
The Cuesta College ensembles John directs have performed at the Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans in 2017, and in Reno in 2019. They have been headliners at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival several times, and also headlined the 2009 California Music Educators Convention. His classical choir received 2nd place at the Vokal Total Festival in Austria against professional choirs from Europe and Asia. Under his direction, the Cuesta Chamber Singers performed at the Festival International Choral en Provence in four times since 2008. Other prestigious performances include the American Choral Directors Association National Convention in Los Angeles, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the International Association for Jazz Education Convention in Toronto. He directed the California All-State Vocal Jazz Choir, and in was named Cuesta College’s Teacher of the Year.
John has served as a clinician at jazz and choral festivals in 18 states, and in five Canadian provinces. John has numerous choral compositions; his vocal jazz arrangements are available through UNC Jazz Press and Anchor Music Publications.
John holds a Masters in Conducting degree from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelors in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota.
“Make your choir a community of care and friendship. The process is the product. The creation of beauty in ourselves is a greater creation than the creation of musical beauty, as lovely as that is.”
~ Phil Mattson
MARYANNE MUGLIA
Contemporary Acappella
MaryAnne Muglia is a singer, arranger, composer, and educator from Mesa, Arizona. Her love for and understanding of harmony, particularly in vocal contexts, blossomed in her childhood and has only deepened over time. MaryAnne’s versatility shines through her adeptness in both contemporary and classical choral genres. With a keen musical ear, diverse taste, and distinctive vocal style, she excels as a singer, arranger, director, and musician.
MaryAnne’s involvement in the contemporary a cappella scene has significantly enriched her artistic journey as an arranger, producer, and vocalist. As a member of the NAU Axecidentals and Northern Arizona Unaccompanied, she and her groups achieved notable success in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, earning the ‘Outstanding Arrangement’ award on three separate occasions, and advancing to semifinals three years in a row.
Since graduating college, she has produced and recorded an EP, and four full length albums for projects she’s involved in: a cappella groups “Red Letter Daze”, “Unaccompanied”, and folk band “Ezekiel”.
Currently, MaryAnne is a valued member of the vocal group, Red Letter Daze, with dedicated following of over 200k on TikTok. Her contributions to the group span vocal performance and arrangements. Red Letter Daze has earned fourteen Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) nominations since its inception.
In the realm of arranging and composing, MaryAnne is highly sought after, catering to singers at high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Her works are published by esteemed platforms such as Alfred, Anchor Music, Graphite Publishing, and self-published through Sheet Music Plus, where she has sold over 15,000 copies of her arrangements and compositions.
As a dedicated educator, MaryAnne directs A Cappella and Vocal Jazz at Chandler Gilbert Community College and leads the VocaSol Community Choir. She also conducts clinics for choirs across the country, both virtually and in person. Additionally, she works at A Cappella Academy, a summer program founded by Ben Bram, Robert Dietz, and Avi Kaplan.
Currently pursuing a Master of Music in Jazz Performance, MaryAnne remains committed to nurturing musical talent and sharing her passion for music education with singers worldwide.
ANDREW HOWDEN
TTBB
Andrew Howden grew up in Payson, Utah and gained a love for choral music under the direction of Melodie Henderson at Payson High School. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Brigham Young University in December 2015, as well as a double minor in French Teaching and Business Management. During his time at BYU, he studied under Jean Applonie, Rosalind Hall, Paul Broomhead, and Ronald Staheli. In May 2024, he graduated with his Master’s in Music Education from the University of Utah where he had the opportunity to work with Emily Mercado and Barlow Bradford.
Andrew began his teaching career at the Utah International Charter School in South Salt Lake in 2016 where he taught choir and general music to students grades 7 to 12. He then began teaching choral music at Herriman High School in 2017 and still currently teaches there. He teaches six various choirs, Music 1010, and serves as the Performing Arts Department Chair. He also co-teaches the Music, Dance, Theatre class with Kaycee DeYoung and acts as the Music Director for all of the musicals at the school.
Andrew has sung in multiple choirs throughout his high school and college years including the BYU Men’s Chorus, BYU Concert Choir, Salt Lake Men’s Choir, and Salt Lake Vocal Artists. He currently sings in Cantorum under the direction of Steve Durtschi. He has also been an active member of ACDA and NAFME/UMEA since 2011 and seeks to build up the choral community in any way he can. In his free time, Andrew enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing board games, going hiking, and being outdoors.
TINA PAULSON
SSAA
Tina Paulson holds a BM in Voice Performance from Washington State University, and Masters degrees in Voice Performance and Choral Conducting from San Jose State University, where she studied with Erie Mills, Dr. Charlene Archibeque, and Dr. Amanda Quist. As a music educator and program builder, she has taught elementary, middle school, high school and community college choirs. She is currently the Director of Music at Notre Dame High School, San Jose where she leads choir, band, strings, and music ministry ensembles. Outside of teaching duties, Ms. Paulson vocal/music directs musicals for Bay Area theater companies, and has served as a section leader for the Santa Clara Chorale since 2017. In between work and gigs, she loves to travel, run long-distance, hang out with her family, and read.
Inspirational Quote….
“If we add up “sense of rightness,” “tranquility,” “balance,” “catharsis,” “expressivity,” we begin to approach the meaning of “fun.” Add to these “participation,” “creativity,” “order,” and “energy release,” and you almost have it. Fun is all the things we find it impossible to say when we hear Beethoven’s Opus 131. Fun is the “x” of the equation that tries to solve the riddle of why art exists at all.” ~Leonard Bernstein
College & University
DR. STEPHANIE COUNCIL
College & University Coordinator
Conductor, educator, and singer Dr. Stephanie Council is Associate Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she conducts the University Chorale, Chamber Choir, and Argenta (the treble voice ensemble). She maintains a private conducting studio of graduates and undergraduates, and teaches Advanced Choral Conducting, Choral Literature, and Choral Methods.
An experienced educator at the middle school through adult community levels, Dr. Council is passionate about choral pedagogy related to the development of individual music literacy, collective sound building, and the cultivation of inclusive and affirming learning environments.
Dr. Council previously led the choral programs at Simpson College and Mount Holyoke College. She is the recipient of multiple awards for her teaching including the Best New Faculty award given by the Mount Holyoke Student Government Association and the Helen DeVitt Jones Excellence in Graduate Teaching award for courses she taught at Texas Tech University.
She is a sought-after lecturer in choral music education and conductor of collegiate, high school, and youth honor choirs around the United States, and she was a graduate finalist in the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting Competition. Her most recent engagements include conducting the 2024 Washoe County Honor Choir, 2023 Nevada Music Educators Association All-State SSA Choir, 2021 Pride of Iowa Honor Choir, 2019 Vermont Northwest District Honor Choir, 2018 New Hampshire All-State Treble Chamber Choir. She previously served on the faculty as a conducting fellow at the Summer Choral Festival at Westminster Choir College. She has conducted clinics and honor choirs in Oklahoma, Texas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa, Nevada, Michigan, and in various European locations.
A strong proponent of new music, Dr. Council is an active commissioner and performer of new choral works, and she has also had the privilege of working on a number of new operas, serving as the chorus master for Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig at Simpson College in 2021 and world premiere performances of Letters to Lily by Emily Clements in 2023 and Paul Fowler’s Behold the Man in 2023 for Opera Las Vegas. Council is the founder and artistic director of Desert Singers Las Vegas, a professional-caliber choral ensemble with the heart and dedication of an amateur chorus. The singers are professional performers and music educators based in and around Las Vegas who apply their musicianship and diverse experiences to each project.
Dr. Council sings professionally with mirabai, a professional women’s ensemble conducted by Dr. Sandra Snow, and the San Antonio Chamber Choir, a professional chamber choir conducted by Richard Bjella. In the past, she has been engaged to sing with the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir and at the Spoleto Festival USA. Dr. Council serves as the College and University Coordinator for Western ACDA, and she is on the board of the Nevada chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the National Board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). She has served on the board of the Massachusetts chapter of ACDA in the past.
Council earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and a graduate certificate in early music performance practice from Texas Tech University. She holds a Master of Music with distinction in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College and Bachelor of Music degrees in music education and vocal music performance from Oklahoma State University.
DR. AARON HUMBLE
4 Year College/University
Described as remarkably virtuosic by the Columbus Republic and transcendent by the Daytona Beach News Journal, tenor and conductor Aaron Humble originally hails from Northeast Ohio. Aaron has enjoyed solo appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Columbus Philharmonic, the Mankato Symphony, and the Boston Pops and chamber music appearances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, Wolf Trap, and The Chautauqua Institute. During his tenure with Cantus, Aaron sang nearly 1000 concerts and recorded 10 albums with one of the nation’s premier vocal ensembles. Aaron has recently sung as a soloist and ensemble singer with the Bach Collegium San Diego, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Tucson’s Grammy-nominated True Concord Voices, and Orchestra, and The Grammy-Nominated South Dakota Chorale while also remaining active regionally and nationally as a soloist. An Assistant Professor of Music, Aaron leads the vocal and choral area at California State University San Marcos and serves as the director of Zimriyah Chorale at Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego and the Director of Music at Foothills United Methodist Church in La Mesa. Before moving west, Aaron served as the Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Minnesota State Mankato and the Principal Conductor of the Apollo Club (Minneapolis).
A Graduate of Millikin University, Aaron holds the Doctor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. As Aaron directs his focus toward teaching, he continues to perform as a recital and concert singer as well as maintaining his work as a clinician in a variety of vocal and choral settings. An avid gardener and home improvement devotee, Aaron and his husband Xu, make their home in New York and San Diego with their two cats, Chopstick and Toothpick.
For more information, please visit www.aaronhumble.com
MICHAEL HUFF
2 Year College
Born in Paris, France to an American military family, Dr. Michael Huff has lived and performed all over the world. Owing to his father being stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany during his youth, he studied piano at Frankfurt’s Hochshule fur Musik. Opportunities were plentiful in Germany, leading to work as a church organist, and Music Directing in musical theatre. There, at age 13 he was “the orchestra” in his first school musical, Oklahoma, followed that summer by community productions of West Side Story and 1776. Since that time he has performed as a keyboardist on countless stages and in travelling Broadway Musical orchestras.
At present, Dr. Huff is Director of Choral Activities at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he leads the Cadence Chamber Choir, Women’s Chorale, A Cappella Choir, and the Central Utah Master Chorale. He also serves as Dean of the Division of Fine Arts, and conducts Opera and Musical Theatre productions. Prior to his appointment at Snow College, Dr. Huff served on music faculties at Utah State University and the University of Utah.
Some interesting side-gigs:
Since 1989 Michael has produced and directed the annually televised AutoZone Liberty Bowl Halftime Finale in Memphis, Tennessee where he has presented shows featuring performers from all eras and genres, including (chronologically) Lee Greenwood, Cybill Shepherd, Little Richard, Sandi Patti, LoneStar, Alabama, B.B. King, Three Dog Night, Clint Black, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Spinners, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Commodores, Craig Morgan, Big & Rich, The Temptations, KC & The Sunshine Band, Diamond Rio, The O’Jays, Sara Evans, LeAnn Rimes, Scotty McCreery, STARSHIP with Mickey Thomas, and most recently The Bar-Kays.
As Artistic Director of WorldStrides’ Festival of Gold™ Series since 1992 he has produced major music festival events in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Orange County CA, and San Francisco, and collaborated with many notable choral conductors, including (alphabetically) Anton Armstrong, Donald Brinegar, Edith Copley, Eph Ehly, Lynne Gackle, Craig Jessop, Weston Noble, Frank Pooler, Jerold Ottley, Elena Sharkova, Maurice Skones, André Thomas, Dale Warland, and Mack Wilberg.
From 1992 to 2003 Dr. Huff was Associate Conductor and Principal Accompanist for the Utah Symphony Chorus. He is Founding Conductor (emeritus) of UTAH VOICES (2009-2015), a critically acclaimed adult community choir with whom he made his Carnegie Hall debut.
He has led All-State choirs in Vermont, Idaho, Utah, and region honor choirs in Nevada, Washington, California, Idaho, and Utah. He is also an engaging speaker, having presented keynotes and interest sessions in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Vermont.
Service in ACDA began when he was appointed President of Utah ACDA in 2002, charged with resuscitating a then-dying organization that now thrives under next-generation leadership. He has served on Organizing Committees for Region and National Conferences since 2006, and now serves as 2-Year College R&R Chair for the Western Region.
Dr. Huff holds music degrees from the University of Utah and Arizona State University. He and his wife, Susan – a member of the Voice Faculty at Snow College – are the parents of six grown children. They make their home at Utah’s center in the beautiful Sanpete Valley.
DR. RACHEL SAMET
Youth and Student Activites
Dr. Rachel Samet has served as the Director of Choirs at Cal Poly Humboldt (formerly called Humboldt State University) since 2015. At Cal Poly Humboldt Rachel directs the University Singers, Humboldt Chorale, and Mad River Transit Singers, and teaches conducting. She has enjoyed seeing the tremendous growth of Humboldt Chorale from fewer than 40 to more than 100 singers as of this past year. Rachel has toured with University Singers throughout Northern California and has engaged in many creative projects at the university, including co-founding a biennial collaborative Music and Poetry project highlighting Latinx creativity.
A frequent clinician and adjudicator for regional and state honor choir festivals, Rachel has worked with dozens of choirs from all over the country. She created her own choral institute, the North Coast Choral Artists, in 2019, and was excited to reinstate the institute in 2024.
Rachel is an advocate of new music and has conducted a number of world premieres. One highlight was conducting the world premiere of Brian Coughlin’s “early music meets rock” Requiem with C4, New York City’s professional new music choir, and the Fireworks Ensemble, an amplified chamber ensemble, at Manhattan’s (le) Poisson Rouge. She is looking forward to returning to New York to conduct Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at Carnegie Hall in June 2025.
Dr. Samet has held faculty positions at Bucknell University and the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, where she served as the Director of Choral Activities for four years. In addition, she has taught high school and middle school and loves to mentor emerging teachers.
Rachel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from Oberlin College, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Boston University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in the Literature and
Performance of Choral Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. In addition, she became a certified meditation teacher after completing a yearlong training at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center in 2022. She loves to see how mindfulness practice can intensify the art of choral singing and deepen the sense of community among choral singers.
Youth & Student
MARCELA MOLINA
Youth & Student Coordinator
Dr. Molina has been leading the Tucson Girls Chorus since 2006, first serving as Artistic Director and taking the helm as Executive Director in 2011. Under Dr. Molina’s guidance, the Tucson Girls Chorus has grown significantly in programming and community engagement. With her leadership, the TGC has transformed into a vibrant and collaborative organization that creates access to inclusive programming for youth, and provides resources to music educators and support to their classroom all year-round.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Dr. Marcela Molina holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and the University of Arizona. She has contributed articles to Antiphon, and the books Teaching through Performance in Choir, Volume 2 and Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor-Teachers. She was named 2019 Choral Director of the Year by Arizona American Choral Directors Association (AzACDA), and she often serves as a clinician and guest conductor for choral festivals around the country. Dr. Molina has served on the board of the AzACDA, standing committees for ACDA Western Division, and currently serves on the board of Chorus America. In addition to her work with the TGC, Dr. Molina serves as Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
ANDREW HOWDEN
High School Co-Chair
Andrew Howden grew up in Payson, Utah and gained a love for choral music under the direction of Melodie Henderson at Payson High School. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Brigham Young University in December 2015, as well as a double minor in French Teaching and Business Management. During his time at BYU, he studied under Jean Applonie, Rosalind Hall, Paul Broomhead, and Ronald Staheli. In May 2024, he graduated with his Master’s in Music Education from the University of Utah where he had the opportunity to work with Emily Mercado and Barlow Bradford.
Andrew began his teaching career at the Utah International Charter School in South Salt Lake in 2016 where he taught choir and general music to students grades 7 to 12. He then began teaching choral music at Herriman High School in 2017 and still currently teaches there. He teaches six various choirs, Music 1010, and serves as the Performing Arts Department Chair. He also co-teaches the Music, Dance, Theatre class with Kaycee DeYoung and acts as the Music Director for all of the musicals at the school.
Andrew has sung in multiple choirs throughout his high school and college years including the BYU Men’s Chorus, BYU Concert Choir, Salt Lake Men’s Choir, and Salt Lake Vocal Artists. He currently sings in Cantorum under the direction of Steve Durtschi. He has also been an active member of ACDA and NAFME/UMEA since 2011 and seeks to build up the choral community in any way he can. In his free time, Andrew enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing board games, going hiking, and being outdoors.
LAURA RAMIREZ
High School Co-Chair
Laura Ramirez has been teaching in Sanger Unified School District for two years. She grew up in the music programs of Sanger and has been actively trying to build choral programs in the
district. As Co-Director of choirs at Sanger High School, Laura is passionate and aims to cultivate a love of the choral arts to young singers and the community. Beyond the classroom, Laura is committed to her own growth and actively seeks out opportunities to build her knowledge and skills in music education and the choral arts. She prides herself on continuing to build community between choral educators in the central valley.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Music Education from San Jose State University where she studied
under the direction of Dr. Jeffery Benson.
JOANNA HABERMANN
Jr. High/Middle School Co-Chair
Joanna Takagi Habermann teaches Middle School Choir and Music at Punahou School and directs the Cantilena ensemble of the Hawaiʻi Youth Opera Chorus. She has a passion for children’s choirs and has worked with nationally recognized groups such as the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Indianapolis Children’s Choir and Miami Children’s Chorus. Joanna’s breadth of experience includes teaching choir and general music at K-12 schools in Hawaiʻi, California, Florida, Texas and Indiana, working as a Kindermusik® and early childhood music educator, and directing adult ensembles in a variety of settings. She holds a BA in Music from Pomona College, a MM in Choral Conducting from Butler University, and a Kodály Certificate from Texas State University. Joanna lives in Honolulu with her husband Josh, who is also a choral
musician, and their two children.
JENNIFER LOWRY
Jr. High/Middle School Co-Chair
Jennifer Lowry is a choir director in the Clark County School District. She has taught middle school choir for 17 years, 14 of which have been at Del Webb Middle School. She attended Western Washington University where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Education. She is honored to serve as the Nevada ACDA President. Mrs. Lowry’s choirs have performed at Regional and National ACDA Conferences (2014, 2019). She is committed to helping her students learn to express their emotions through music in a safe and respectful environment. Mrs. Lowry knows and understands how important music is and hopes to instill that same passion in her students. She wishes that each student will continue their love of music into high school and beyond. Mrs. Lowry has been a guest conductor and adjudicator in several states. She lives in Henderson, Nevada with her husband, daughter, and dog.
CYNTHIA SALOMONSON
Elementary School
Cynthia Salomonson has taught music in public schools and private organizations throughout California’s Central Valley for 32 years. She is currently an elementary music specialist with Clovis Unified School District and serves as one of the VAPA Elementary Choral and Classroom Music Resource Teachers. Previously, she was the Associate Director and later the Artistic Director of both the Central California Children’s Choir and Bach Children’s Choir spanning 22 years.
Cynthia’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Music from California State University, Fresno in vocal performance with an emphasis in choral conducting, where she studied voice with Helene Joseph-Weil and conducting with Dr. Gary Unruh. In addition to further training in the Kodály method, she is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, California Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, American Orff-Schulwerk Association and Organization of American Kodály Educators.
Cynthia loves making music with young musicians and desires to instill in them a joy and passion for music and the arts.
LESLIE WALKER
Children & Community Youth
Leslie Walker received her Masters of Music in Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University in 2004, and her bachelor’s equivalency in Choral Education from BYU in 2001. She graduated with her first bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1980. In college, she sang with the BYU A Cappella Choir and Oratorio Choir in the late 70’s, and with BYU Singers in the late 90’s.
Leslie’s teaching career has spanned over 40 years, and has included directing children’s choirs for the past 40 years, and junior high school choirs for 11 years. She served her last 11 years in the public schools as Director of Choral Activities at Springville High School, retiring in 2023.
An active member of ACDA, she served as Children’s Choir R&R Chair on the board of ACDA Utah for several years. She has attended numerous ACDA Conferences, including the Children’s Choir and Community Youth Choral Director’s Retreat this past January.
Leslie sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for 16 years. Since retiring from the choir, she has sung with Cantorum Chamber Choir, Utah Baroque Ensemble, and Intermountain Choral Artists. She is the director of her church choir, and co-director with her friend, Leanna Crockett of both Hobble Creek Singers (a children’s choir) and Intermountain Young Artists.
She and her husband, Mark have five children and 13 grandchildren (11 of whom are boys!). They reside in Springville, Utah.