o Need to change your contact information?
Click here.
o Want to receive ACDA ED's ChoraLink?
(More info...)
Just click
Subscribe.
The Central Bucks High School-West choirs comprise one
of the most respected choral programs in the nation. They have
presented close to two hundred and fifty world premieres and have
performed at ACDA Regional And National Conferences; the Kennedy Center,
Pentagon, and White House in Washington, D.C.; Carnegie Hall, the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the United Nations in New York;
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France; the Cathedral of Our Lady of the
Angels in Los Angeles; Orchestral Hall in Chicago; and the Toronto
Centre for the Arts. Millions have seen the choirs in annual televised
performances.
Dr. Joseph Ohrt serves as Director of Choral Activities at Central Bucks
High School-West as well as Artistic Director of the American Youth and
Children's Choirs. He is an adjunct professor at Westminster Choir
College in Princeton, New Jersey. He holds degree and certificates from
Westminster Choir College, the University of South Carolina, the Choral
Music Experience Institute, and the Kodály Musical Training Institute.
His choirs have performed for many world leaders including: President
Clinton, Presidents DeKlerk and Mandela of South Africa, President Havel
of the Czech Republic, and Prime Minister Peres of Israel.
Since the days of the Orpheus Glee Club more than one hundred and
twenty-five years ago, the Cornell University Glee Club has been home to
thousands of young men who have traveled from all walks of life, from
music and medicine to agriculture and astronomy. Founded in 1868, it is
one of the oldest groups of its kind in the country. The Glee Club has
performed throughout the United States and in more than twenty
countries, including the People's Republic of China, Germany, the United
Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and Japan. The group has also
performed live on NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, and BBC. Recent tours to Brazil
(2004), California (2005), and the Northeast (2006) have brought the
music of the Glee Club to audiences across the nation and around the
world. Each year the group hosts workshops for young men in New York
high schools to foster awareness of men's music at the collegiate level.
Since 1995, Scott Tucker has been the Priscilla Edwards Browning
Director of Choral Music at Cornell University where he conducts the
Cornell University Chorus, Glee Club, and World Music Choir. He also
oversees the activities of the Cornell Chorale, Chamber Singers, and
Sage Chapel Choir, and teaches courses in music theory and conducting.
An active proponent of new music, Professor Tucker has commissioned and
premiered more than fifteen new choral works in the past ten years. He
serves as Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs in the Eastern
Division of the American Choral Directors Association, and as a board
member of the Intercollegiate Men's Choirs and Musicians for World
Harmony. Prior to coming to Cornell, Tucker was choral director of
Milton Academy, and assistant conductor at Harvard University. He was
also a paid tenor soloist at King's Chapel, Boston under the direction
of Daniel Pinkham. He received a Master of Music degree in choral
conducting from the New England Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of
Music degree in trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory,
and a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts University.
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Choral Ensemble offers
auditioned students, selected from 260 chorus members, an opportunity in
singing challenging, high quality music in a disciplined and demanding
rehearsal environment. The chorus is comprised of treble singers and
frequently participates in adjudication festivals including Music In The
Parks and the Heritage Children's Choir Festival. The ensemble has
consistently earned Excellent and Superior Ratings and Best Overall
Choir Honors at three Music In The Parks Festivals. The Pennsylvania
Music Educators Association honored the group with an invitation to
present a concert at the 2004 State Conference.
Mr. Sheaffer, a music educator for the Eastern Lebanon County Middle
School since 1976, earned his Bachelor of Science and Masters Degree in
Music Education from West Chester University. His choral groups
achieved Excellent and Superior Ratings at the Heritage Children's Choir
Festivals, Best Overall Choir Awards at Music In The Parks, and
presented concerts for three PMEA Conferences. Mr. Scheaffer has served
as guest conductor for several choral festivals. In May, 2006, he was
honored as ELCO School District's Secondary Teacher of the Year. He was
the recipient of the WGAL-TV Teacher Impact Award in April, 2007.
Greece Arcadia High School Select Women's Choir is an extra
curricular ensemble which meets after school for approximately one hour
weekly. All members participate in the Arcadia High School Select Choir
or Girl's Chorus. The Select Women's Choir has received eight
consecutive First Place, Gold and/or Superior ratings at Heritage,
Classic and Festivals of Music Competitions as well as Best Overall
Choral Ensemble. The ensemble was featured at the NYASSMA Winter
Conference in 2001 & 2003 (Rochester, NY), 2003 MENC Eastern Division
Conference (Providence, Rhode Island), 2004 ACDA Eastern Division
Conference (Boston, MA, 2005 ACDA National Conference (Los Angeles, CA)
and the 2006 MENC National Conference (Salt Lake City, UT).
Kristy Kosko currently works for the Greece Central School District in
Rochester, NY. She is in her ninth year as Director of Vocal Music at
Greece Arcadia High School where she directs the Women's Chorus, Select
Choir, Men's Ensemble, Select Women's Choir, and Voice I-IV. Under her
direction, the Select Choir and Select Women's Choir have earned eight
consecutive Gold Medals at Heritage, Classic and Festival of Music
Competitions, as well as Best Overall Vocal Music Program and six
adjudicator awards. She has been recognized by the Greece Central
School District with an Outstanding Achievement Award for her work with
The Greece Arcadia High School Select Women's Choir.
The King Philip Singers are a select ensemble made up of 7th and 8th
grade students from King Philip Middle School who are auditioned each
September. The ensemble was created to give gifted 7th and 8th grade
singers an extraordinary vocal experience. They rehearse after school
with a focus on expanding vocal skills from the elementary choral
program and "Sixth Dimension", King Philip's select sixth grade choral
ensemble. The King Philip Singers have been recognized as the
Connecticut Music Educators Association Middle School Choral Honors
Ensemble and the Middle School Choral Winner of the Student Music Awards
sponsored by Downbeat Magazine. In 2005, they performed at the MENC
Eastern Division Conference in Baltimore, MD, the Connecticut state ACDA
Conference in 2006, and as a demonstration choir at the 2007 ACDA
National Conference in Miami, Florida. They have performed with the
Hartford Symphony, Connecticut Choral Artists, the Hartford Chorale, and
throughout the state of Connecticut.
Marc Kaplan currently teaches middle and high school instrumental and
vocal music throughout the West Hartford public school system. He
received a B.A. in Music and Political Science from The George
Washington University in 2000. Ensembles under his direction have been
selected to perform regionally and nationally at conferences for the
Connecticut Music Education Association, the Music Educators National
Conference, the American Choral Directors Association and have place
first in the Down beat magazine student music awards. Marc made his
professional debut with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in April 2005
and since that time, his choirs have been featured guest performers with
the Orchestra, Connecticut Choral Artists and the Hartford Chorale.
The New Jersey Youth Chorus, founded in 1992, is an auditioned choral
program for children in grades two through twelve, divided into three
ensembles: Advanced (grades 7-12), Intermediate (grades 4-6), and a
Musicianship Class (grades 2-3). The Chorus performs a wide range of
choral literature from music of the classical masters to international
folk music and gospel.
The Advanced Chorus performs frequently with many professional
ensembles, including several appearances with the New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra. They have also sung with Ronan Tynan, Canadian Brass and
appeared on The Today Show. The Advanced Chorus has also participated
in numerous festivals.
Patricia Joyce, Founder and Artistic Director of the New Jersey Youth
Chorus, received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from
Marywood College in Scranton, PA, and her Master of Music degree from
Westminster Choir College. Ms. Joyce has completed certification in
Kodaly Methodology from the Kodaly Musical Training Institute. She has
conducted the Central New Jersey Elementary Honors Choir, the North
Jersey Junior High Women's Honors Choir, and the Vermont Children's
Choir Festival. She is the Repertoire & Standards Chair for the NJ
Division of the American Choral Directors Association.
The Semi-Tones is the intermediate training ensemble of the Princeton Girlchoir
consisting of girls ages nine to twelve. Founded in 1989 by Janet A.
Westrick, the Princeton Girlchoir (PGC), located in Princeton, NJ, was
established to give middle school girls an exceptional choral education
and a positive social experience. Since its inception, Princeton
Girlchoir Choirs have toured such places as Italy, Germany,
Newfoundland, and Hawaii. The Semi-Tones, directed by Rebecca Elpus,
rehearse ninety minutes once a week to prepare for various performing
engagements.
Rebecca Elpus earned her
Bachelor of Music degree from The College of New Jersey where she
studied choral music with noted composer/conductor Michael D. Mendoza.
She recently completed her Master of Music degree at Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois, where she studied choral conducting
and pedagogy with internationally-known children's choir specialist
Judith Willoughby. Ms. Elpus is an active member of the American Choral
Directors Association and was a delegate to the International Federation
for Choral Musics Sixth World Symposium. In addition to her duties with
the Girlchoir, she is the director of choral music at Timberlane Middle
School in Pennington, New Jersey.
Founded in 1899, the Radcliffe Choral Society is the women's choir of
Harvard University. Beginning in 1913, they began a tradition of
collaboration with the Harvard Glee Club and Boston Symphony Orchestra,
lasting more than fifty years. Under Jameson Marvin's leadership since
1995, RCS has undertaken four international tours (Europe, South
America, South Africa, Costa Rica), singing repertoire drawn from seven
centuries, including commissioned works (Stephen Paulus, Carole Barnett,
Hilary Tann). RCS frequently hosts Choral Festivals for high school and
college choirs, with publishers, composers, and speakers including
Ambassador Swanee Hunt, Director, Women and public Policy Program at
Harvard University
In 2007-2008 Jameson Marvin celebrates his 30th year as Director of
Choral Activities at Harvard University. He conducts the Radcliffe
Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, and Harvard Glee
Club. Since 1978, Dr. Marvin has expanded a choral environment rich
enough to attract thousands of students, from the beginning singer to
the advanced musician. His choral ensembles have risen to be among the
premier collegiate choruses in America. Dr. Marvin received a BA in
Music Theory-History from the University of California, Santa Barbara,
and MA in Conducting from Stanford University, and a DMA in Choral Music
from the University of Illinois.
The Temple University Concert Choir has won the praise of critics,
the public and the musical world alike. The Temple University Concert
Choir is committed to the performance of new American choral music and
has presented many Philadelphia premieres including Robert Moran's
Hagoromo, Alfred Schnittke's Requiem, Arvo Pärt's Passio
Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Joannem and music of Temple composers
Jan Krzywicki, Cynthia Folio, Jay Krush, Richard Brodhead, and Maurice
Wright. In recent years, the Concert Choir has performed in major
concert halls in the Republic of China, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Canada and
Puerto Rico.
Laura H. Carnell Professor of Music and chair of Choral Activities, Alan
Harler is in his 25th season as conductor of the Temple University
Concert Choir and his 19th season as music director of the 130-voice
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. A champion of new American choral
music, Mr. Harler has commissioned and premiered 35 works since 1990.
Before coming to Temple University Mr. Harler chaired the choral
departments at the University of Massachusetts and Indiana University.
Mr. Harler has prepared choruses for many leading conductors, including
Riccardo Muti, Klaus Tennstedt, Charles Dutoit, Wolfgang Sawallisch,
Zubin Mehta, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Loren Maazel.
Organized in 2001, the Chamber Singers have quickly established
themselves as one of the premier choral ensembles in the metropolitan
Washington DC area. In recent seasons they have performed the
St. Matthew Passion with Helmuth Rilling and the National
Symphony Orchestra, the Christmas Oratorio under the direction of
Kenneth Slowik and with their music director Edward Maclary, the B
minor Mass. They were also the featured ensemble for the
opening concert of the MENC Conference in Baltimore in 2005 with an all
20th century program of Copland, Britten and Orban. They renewed
their collaboration with the National Symphony in 2007 with performances
of Messiah in December.
Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland School of
Music since 2000, Edward Maclary was named Professor of Music in 2006.
He conducts the Chamber Singers and University Chorale, oversees the
School's seven choral ensembles and directs the graduate program in
conducting. His choirs have performed throughout North America,
appearing in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Severance Hall.
He has conducted ensembles by invitation for the American Choral
Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference.
Edward Maclary has prepared choruses for conductors such as Robert Shaw,
Helmuth Rilling and Ivan Fischer. Recognized as an outstanding
teacher and clinician, he maintains and active schedule as a guest
conductor around the country.
The UD Chorale is quickly becoming one of the most highly regarded
college choirs in the Eastern United States. The choir is composed
of 60 members, a third of which are non-majors representing every
college within the University. In recent years, the choir has made
appearances on both regional (Pittsburgh, 2002) and national (Los
Angeles, 2005) conferences of the American Choral Directors Association.
They have also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and
Verizon Hall in Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Arts.
In April 2007, the Chorale traveled to Sweden, Finland, and Estonia,
where they received the First Place Grand Prix award in the
Estonian International Choral Competition.
In addition to directing the University Chorale and Schola Cantorum,
Paul D. Head also teaches choral methods, literature, and
conducting along with the supervision of vocal/general student teachers
at the secondary level. Dr. Head is a native Californian where he
taught in the public schools for eight years prior to pursuing graduate
study at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. This
year denotes Dr. Heads tenth year at the University of Delaware
as Director of Choral Studies where he is also the recipient of the 2005
Excellence in Teaching Award, a prestigious recognition granted for only
four professors each year.
The Choraliers are a select mixed-vocal ensemble of 18 students
directed by Lorraine Cetto. Their repertoire spans a wide range of
musical styles and includes classical, medieval, jazz, pop, and
barbershop. In the fall they are featured in the Madrigal Dinners and
in the spring perform in the Pops and Jazz Show which travels to Europe
every other year. The Choraliers placed first at the Berklee Jazz
Festival for Vocal Jazz in 2003 and were chosen Best of A Cappella in
2002 CD.
Lorraine Cetto is in her 22nd year as Director of Choral Activities at
Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut where she conducts and
oversees eight choirs. With music degrees from Anna Maria College,
University of Connecticut and the Hartt School of Music, Ms. Cetto has
worked as a guest conductor throughout New England. She is past
President of Connecticut ACDA and currently R&S High School Chair for
Eastern Division. She received the Outstanding School Educator in 2003
from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut and
was named Choral Director of the Year for Connecticut ACDA in 2004.
Last revised
June 26, 2010