Meet the Candidates
It’s time to select a new president elect for Western ACDA 2028-2030! Learn more about our candidates here and be sure to vote via the link sent by National ACDA from Nov 18th-Dec 4th.
Dr. Cari Earnhart
Dr. Cari Earnhart serves as the Director of Choral Activities at California State University, Fresno, where she conducts the university’s premier choral ensembles and teaches graduate courses in conducting. Under her leadership, the Fresno State Choirs have maintained a vibrant and distinguished performance profile. In 2022, the Fresno State Concert Choir was selected to perform at the California All-State Music Educators Conference (CASMEC), and in 2017, the Fresno State Chamber Singers were invited to perform at the Library of Congress in honor of the 21st U.S. Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera.
An active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, Dr. Earnhart has worked extensively with choirs across the United States and internationally. Most recently, in 2024, Dr. Earnhart made her Carnegie Hall conducting debut with National Concerts. She previously served as Director of Choral Activities at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and as Artistic Director of Nassim al Saba, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of Arabic choral repertoire. Her international conducting engagements include collaborations with the Budapesti Vándor Kórus and the Istanbul International Chamber Choir, as well as serving as Maestro of Ensemble Vocale Tempus Floridum and Maestro Collaboratore with Coro dell’Accademia del Diletto and Coro Polifonico del Caricentro in Florence, Italy.
Dr. Earnhart frequently presents lectures and workshops on topics including Arabic choral music, vocal pedagogy, and conducting. She strives for her work to reflect a deep commitment to artistic excellence, cultural exchange, and the unifying power of choral music.
Dr. Earnhart remains deeply engaged with the choral community at the state, regional, and national levels. From 2016 to 2020, she served on the ACDA Western Region Board as the R&R Repertoire-Specific Chair and later as Conference Chair for the Western Region Conferences in 2022, 2024, and 2026. Nationally, she continues her service as the Interest Session Chair for the 2027 ACDA National Conference, having previously served in the same role for the 2025 conference and as co-chair of the Indigenous People’s Immersion Choir for the 2023 National Conference.
In California, Dr. Earnhart serves as the Education and Student Outreach Director for the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA), following her previous role as CCDA Central Region Representative. She is also completing her final year as President of the Fresno Madera Counties Music Educators Association (FMCMEA) Board of Directors and on the CMEA Central Region Board. Through these roles, Dr. Earnhart continues to champion music education, foster community engagement, and support the next generation of choral leaders.
Dr. Earnhart holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from Oklahoma State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of North Texas, where she also completed related field studies in Vocal Pedagogy. Before joining the faculty at Fresno State, she taught in a wide range of educational settings, including Borger Middle School (TX), Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Oklahoma State University, the University of North Texas, BT Müzik Evi in Istanbul, and the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Choral music has always been my home — a place where people come together, listen deeply, and create something meaningful through shared sound. Over the years, I’ve witnessed how our art form continues to evolve, shaped by the changing world around us and the ever-diverse voices within our community.
My vision for the Western Region ACDA is one rooted in community, creativity, and courage. I believe our greatest responsibility as leaders is to meet our members where they are — to listen with empathy, and to support them in their unique contexts. We move forward when we lift one another up, when we create spaces that welcome every voice, and when we embrace innovation while honoring our shared traditions.
Together, we can continue to move our organization and the choral art forward — not just by adapting to change, but by shaping it with intention, compassion, and a deep love for what we do.
Dr. Scot Hanna-Weir
Scot Hanna-Weir is an Associate Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and chair of the Department of Music at Santa Clara University, and Artistic Director of the Santa Clara Chorale. He is recognized for his innovative programming, his fluency with technology in performance, and his engagement with issues of equity and social justice. In addition to regularly commissioning and premiering new works, he is also an active composer and arranger himself.
Scot regularly conducts the combined choirs of Santa Clara University and the Santa Clara Chorale in the performance of masterworks with orchestra. Recent performances include major works by Bach, Fauré, Handel, Haydn, Lauridsen, Mozart, Orff, Rutter, and Shaw, alongside world, US, and regional premieres of works by Henry Dehlinger, Scott Gendel, Jocelyn Hagen, Cecilia McDowall, Andres Solis, and Dale Trumbore.
As a composer and arranger, Scot’s works tend to present innovative fusions of technology in choral performance or highlight issues of injustice or suffering. His composition Sympathy for choir and smartphones (co-created with SCU faculty member and electronic musician Bruno Ruviaro) has been widely performed. Buck v Bell (2017), sets the text of the 1927 Supreme Court decision by Oliver Wendell Holmes that legalized the forced sterilization of the “mentally feeble”. The Wound, was commissioned by the San Diego Pro Arte Voices for their Disarm Hate project and highlights the role gun violence plays in suicide. His most recent projects include a 45-minute score for The Water Project, a collaborative theater and dance piece that examines issues around water and a choral score commissioned by the Washington, DC-based vocal ensemble, Bridge, that serves as the musical underscoring of the short film featuring a spoken-word piece by poet Nina Brewton. His most recent project is a setting of the text of the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision in a multi-movement work for choir and orchestra entitled Four Principles of Marriage, premiered by the SCU Choirs, Santa Clara Chorale, and San José Chamber Choir in May 2023.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Scot’s SCU Chamber Singers were the first university ensemble in the United States to perform a live-remote choral performance. He has presented and published on this topic and issues of pedagogy and practice in virtual choir production for organizations across the country. He has served as an advisor on virtual choirs for ChorAmor and has served in various positions for the Western Region American Choral Directors Association and California Choral Directors Association.
Scot holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from the University of Maryland, a Master of Music in choral conducting from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor of Music in choral music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His major conducting teachers have included Matthew Halls, Helmuth Rilling, Edward Maclary, James Ross, Beverly Taylor, William Carroll, and Welborn Young.
It has been my honor to serve in many roles on Western Region conference planning committees, and as such, I’ve seen the tireless and selfless work that running the Western Region takes. The role of the Western Region president is one of service and as president I would build on the incredible foundations that my colleagues in this region have already laid. While the president shapes their term through visionary leadership, I know that the hard work of running the region is done by a collection of fantastic volunteers, not any one person alone. I would aspire to provide the kind of leadership that empowers all of these busy and talented leaders to bring their best in service of the field.
As president, I would continue to celebrate the diversity of our profession and the inspiring work being done at all levels and in a wide variety of genres. I would work to assemble a conference team from across our region to plan and execute a meaningful and inspiring regional conference that is both representative and inclusive. Through the conference and through the work of other ongoing initiatives, I would seek to encourage meaningful connections with our art and with each other.
I am so lucky to have a home in this profession and to continually be inspired by all of you who make the choral arts come alive in our region. ACDA has been such an important part of my life personally and professionally. I’ve seen so many inspiring performances, met so many life-long friends, and have gotten to work long hard hours alongside a bunch of them. Serving as Western Region ACDA president would be a deep honor – to represent all of you who inspire me so much and continue to teach me and open my mind to the incredible possibilities of our field.