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T. André Faegin, Central Washing University, Ellensburg, Washington |
Dr. T. André Feagin serves as Director of Bands in the Department of Music at Central Washington University. In this position, he guides the educational and artistic vision of a comprehensive band program that includes the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Symphonic Band, Wildcat Marching Band, and Pep Band. He heads the graduate wind band conducting program and serves as the conductor of the Wind Ensemble, the preeminent wind band at CWU. Under his leadership, the Wind Ensemble was a featured ensemble at the 2022 College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Division Conference. In addition, he serves as a Dean Fellow for Student Success within the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH). In this position, he coordinates the Living Learning Community (LLC) within CAH where his programming and mentorship focus on student academic success, community engagement/building, and creating a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. In addition, he serves as a member of the diversity and inclusivity committee within the CAH.
Dr. Feagin has appeared as a guest conductor with numerous All-state, regional honor bands, and professional bands and orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and Southeast Asia. As a clinician/presenter, he has been invited to speak on conducting, diversity and inclusion in music education, and leadership at numerous music educators’ conferences across the United States and around the globe. In 2022 he presented at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles convention in Prague, Czech Republic.
Dr. Feagin holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music where he was a student of the late Gregg I. Hanson. His doctoral research studies Spanish wind composer Bernardo Adam Ferrero and his wind composition Homenaje a Joaquín Sorolla. He holds professional memberships in the National Association for Music Education, College Band Directors National Association, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Washington Music Educators Association, Patron of Mu Phi Epsilon, and honorary memberships in both Tau Beta Sigma and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He currently serves on the Statement of Purpose and Diversity Committees of the College Band Directors National Association and serves on the advisory board of Emergence: Research & Performance Topics in Black Music, the scholarly publication of the National Associations of Negro Musicians, Inc.
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Ellen Rowe, University of Michigan |
Ellen Rowe, jazz pianist and composer, is currently Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan. Prior to her appointment in Michigan, she served as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Connecticut.
Ms. Rowe has performed at jazz clubs and on concert series throughout the U.S., as well as touring in Europe, South Africa and Australia. CDs out under her own name include “Sylvan Way”, “Wishing Well”, “Denali Pass” and “Courage Music.” Her latest project, “Momentum – Portraits of Women In Motion”, featuring Ingrid Jensen, Tia Fuller, Marion Hayden and Allison Miller was released to widespread critical acclaim in January 2019. The “Momentum” band was featured at the 2022 Jazz Education Network Conference. Also active as a clinician, she has given workshops and master classes at the Melbourne Conservatory, Hochshule fur Musik in Cologne, Grieg Academy in Bergen and the Royal Academy of Music in London, in addition to many appearances as a guest artist at festivals and Universities around the country. She was also a guest on two installments of Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” on National Public Radio.
Ms. Rowe's compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by jazz ensembles and orchestras around the world, including the Village Vanguard Orchestra, BBC Jazz Orchestra, U.S. Navy Commodores, Berlin and NDR Radio Jazz Orchestras, London Symphony, DIVA and the Perth Jazz Orchestra. Many of these works can be heard on recordings including “Leave It To DIVA”, “The Perth Jazz Orchestra”, “Bingo” (The Bird of Paradise Orchestra) and “I Believe In You” (DIVA). A recipient of jazz ensemble commissions from the Minnesota Band Directors Association, Illinois Music Educators, Lawrence University’s Fred Sturm Jazz Festival, and the Jazz Education Network, her big band compositions are currently published by Sierra Music Publications, Doug Beach Music and Excelcia (formerly Kendor) Music.
Having been selected to conduct the NAfME All-Eastern and All-Northwest Jazz Ensembles as well as All-State jazz ensembles throughout the country, she has also been an invited clinician at the National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Convention, International Society for Jazz Composition and Arranging Symposium and Jazz Education Network conferences. She is on the Board of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers and also serves as the Coordinator for the JEN Sisters In Jazz Collegiate Combo Competition.
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Kristina Ploeger – Eastern Washington University |
Dr. Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah is a Full Professor serving as Director of Choral Activities at Eastern Washington University. She was also the Artistic Director of the Spokane Area Youth Choirs for 13 years (2002-2015), and the Director of Spokane Symphony’s Chorale and Chamber Singers (2015-2022). Previously in Spokane, Kristina taught Choral Methods at Gonzaga University, observed student teachers for Whitworth College, and taught Middle School Choir at St. George’s School and High School Choir at West Valley High School in the Spokane Valley. Before moving to the Spokane area in 1999, she taught at Everett High School, Ephrata High School, and AC Davis High School.
A member of ACDA, NAfME, EWMEA, and WMEA, Kristina has served on the WA ACDA Board in the multi-cultural, children’s chorus, university, and jazz positions; and is currently serving again in the Jazz R&S position. She has presented numerous times for state and all-northwest MENC/WMEA conventions and eight WA-ACDA Summer Institutes. Directing Honor Groups and All-State Choirs in Washington, Oregon and Kentucky has given her the chance to work with a wonderful array of choristers and directors.
She has earned degrees from EdCC, CWU, EWU and the University of Kentucky. At the University of Kentucky, she was a student of Dr. Jefferson Johnson and Dr. Lori R. Hetzel. In 2005, Kristina Ploeger was awarded the “Arts in Education Award” by the Spokane Arts Commission of the City of Spokane. In 2009, she was awarded Spokane’s “YWCA Woman of Achievement in Arts and Culture Award.” And, in 2010 the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus, directed by Kristina, won the “Arts Organization Award” from the Spokane Arts Commission.
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Victor Johnson - Composer |
Victor C. Johnson, a native of Dallas, Texas, is the School Choral Editor for Sing!, the educational publishing division of Choristers Guild. A prolific composer and arranger, he has over 350 choral works, vocal solo books, and keyboard collections currently in print.
Prior to his position at Choristers Guild, from 2000-2018, Victor was a choral director at Ft. Worth Academy of Fine Arts (FWAFA). At FWAFA, Victor directed the Academy Singers, Academy Men’s Choir and was Artistic Director of the Singing Girls of Texas and Children’s Choir of Texas.
Victor is in demand as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician for music educators and students throughout the United States. He has conducted All-State and Regional Honor choirs in the US and Canada. His own choirs have performed at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in 2011 and 2014 as well as the American Choral Directors Association- Southwest Division conference in March, 2016.
His professional affiliations include: American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, Texas Choral Directors Association, ASCAP, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Inc.
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Daniel Hege – Wichita Symphony, Kansas |
Daniel Hege is widely recognized as one of America’s finest conductors, earning critical acclaim for his fresh interpretations of the standard repertoire and for his commitment to creative programming. He served for eleven seasons as the Music Director of the Syracuse Symphony and in June 2009, was appointed Music Director of the Wichita Symphony. He had the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony from 2015–2021, and in May 2018 was appointed to the position of Music Director of the Binghamton (NY) Philharmonic. Additional positions include a five-year tenure with the Baltimore Symphony where he held the titles of Assistant, Associate and Resident Conductor; Associate Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony; Assistant Conductor of the Pacific Symphony; Music Director of the Encore Chamber Orchestra in Chicago; and Music Director of the Chicago Youth Symphony, where he was twice honored by the League of American Orchestras for innovative programming. In addition to programming and conducting the subscription concerts in Wichita, Mr. Hege has conducted a number of cutting-edge concerts, including Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle with the legendary Samuel Ramey in the title role and sets by the glass sculptor Dale Chihuly, and semi-staged productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and South Pacific in collaboration with the Music Theatre Wichita. He is also active in Wichita as a lecturer and prepares the pre-concert talks for each of his classical programs. Daniel Hege has guest conducted the Detroit, Seattle, Indianapolis, Oregon, Colorado, San Diego, Columbus and Phoenix symphonies, as well as the Calgary Philharmonic, among others. International engagements include performances with the Singapore Symphony and the St. Petersburg Symphony at the Winter Nights Festival. Mr. Hege has also worked with the Syracuse Opera with which he led productions of Madame Butterfly, La Traviata, Tosca and Don Pasquale. Past and upcoming guest conducting engagements include appearances with the Rochester, Buffalo, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Naples Philharmonics; the Louisville, Sarasota and Florida Orchestras; and the Houston, Edmonton, Pacific, Puerto Rico, Hartford, Stamford, Omaha, Madison, Tucson, Spokane and Springfield, MA symphonies. A sought after mentor and educator by many of America’s orchestral training programs for highly talented young musicians, Daniel Hege has conducted at the Texas Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra, Brevard Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Daniel Hege received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1987 from Bethel College, Kansas where he majored in music and history. He continued his studies at the University of Utah, where he received a Master of Music degree in orchestral conducting, founded the University Chamber Orchestra and served as Assistant Conductor of the University Orchestra as well as the Music Director of the Utah Singers. He subsequently studied with Paul Vermel at the Aspen Music Festival and in Los Angeles with noted conductor and pedagogue Daniel Lewis. A native of Colorado, Mr. Hege is proud of his Native America Heritage; he is Nez Perce, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, and his grandfather, Boyd Eagle Piatote, was a jazz musician and composer.
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Beth Holmes, Baylor University, Waco, Texas |
Beth Holmes currently serves on the Baylor University choral staff in Waco, Texas. She conducts the 75-voice Baylor Women’s Choir and teaches undergraduate conducting. In addition to their scheduled concert season the Baylor Women’s Choir joins the Baylor union of choirs for major events such as A Baylor Christmas, televised regionally. Prior to her appointment at Baylor, Beth and her husband Brad completed a 31-year tenure on the choral faculty at Millikin University, where in addition to conducting she taught studio voice. Beth was also the Artistic and Musical director of the Millikin University Children & Youth Choir Program, conducting the premiere ensemble and coordinating a multi-tiered system of choirs.
Beth is an active guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator, having directed District, All-State and ACDA Convention Honor Choirs throughout the Midwest. Recent engagements include the ACDA North Central Division Collegiate Women’s Honor Choir (Minnesota), Next Directions Choral Conference (Wisconsin) and All State choirs in Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama and Wisconsin. In both 2016 and 2017 she conducted the National Festival Chorus in Carnegie Hall, New York City. Clinician opportunities include presenting headliner sessions on vocal techniques, choral methods and repertoire for summer music teacher conferences and at State ACDA Conferences and Music Educator Conventions. Beth was also Treble Choir Repertoire and Standards Chair at state and district levels of ACDA.
Professor Holmes’ clinics on voice building and vocal pedagogy are frequently sought for high school, church and community choirs. Her video series, Voice Building for the Choral Rehearsals, was widely used during the pandemic by high school conductors and their choirs. She is often asked to work with church choir clinics and enjoys opportunities to present and interact with adult singers in church music conferences.
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Dr. Matthew Myers |
Dr. Matthew Myers serves as associate director of choral activities and assistant professor of choral music education at Washington State University. He conducts the University Singers and Treble Choir and teaches courses in music education methods, conducting, and voice. He earned his DMA in choral conducting at Louisiana State University, his master’s degree in choral conducting at Northern Arizona University, and his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and music education at Luther College. After completing his degree at Luther, he taught grades 6-12 choir at The American International School of Muscat in Oman. For the following five years, he worked as director of choirs and musical theatre at Boylan Catholic High School in Rockford, Illinois. In addition to conducting five choirs, he taught AP music theory, class piano, and critical thinking and coordinated a middle school choral program at four of Boylan’s constituent grade schools. He has served as conductor of the NAU Men’s Chorale and Chamber Singers, the LSU Chamber Singers, the Master Chorale of Flagstaff, and the Flagstaff Youth Chorale and has held church music positions in Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, and Alabama. Prior to his time at WSU, Dr. Myers taught at the University of Alabama, where he conducted two choirs and taught courses in music appreciation, choral literature, vocal pedagogy, and diction. He is a frequent choral clinician, guest conductor, presenter, and adjudicator. He serves as Artistic Director of the Palouse Choral Society and co-host of the Choir Fam Podcast.
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Dr. Lynn Brinckmeyer |
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David Thaxton, Reno, Nevada and Ardith Collins, New York City, New York |
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