GRAMMY-nominated conductor James Jordan is recognized and praised throughout the musical world as one of America’s pre-eminent conductors, writers and innovators in choral music. He was described as a “visionary” by The Choral Journal, which cited his book Evoking Sound as a “must read.” His more than 60 books explore both the philosophical and spiritual basis of musicianship, as well as aspects of choral rehearsal teaching and learning. His latest book, The Conductor's Triangle, will be released in January 2026. He served as director of the Westminster Conducting Institute for 12 years and is Director of the Choral Institute at Oxford since 2012 to be held this summer at Worcester College Oxford. He is also Conductor and Artistic Director of The Same Stream Choir and conductor of The Nexus Choral Artists.

He is founder of The Choral Academy, an online resource offering courses in Pedagogy, Conducting and Private Conducting Study. He has also created The Evoking Sound Virtual Classroom that houses his lectures and teaching as a resource, with contributions by Simon Carrington, Weston Noble and others. The Virtual Classroom can be accessed on GIA Music’s webpage.

James Jordan holds a BM from Susquehanna University, a MM in choral conducting and a Ph.D in the Psychology of Music from Temple University where he was a student of Edwin Gordon. He is a conducting student of the legendary teacher, Elaine Brown. He holds several conducting certificates from Chorstudio Wilhelm Ehman earned in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He has attended the Laban Institute of Movement Studies in New York. He was a finalist in the Stokowski Conducting Competition sponsored by The Philadelphia Orchestra.

James Jordan’s research beginning in 1980 regarding applications of Laban to rhythm pedagogy and conducting are pioneering. His books regarding the Application of Music Learning Theory to the Choral rehearsal have revolutionized choral teaching and Learning. His most recent book on this subject, Intonational Solfege (GIA) presents an approach for teaching Intonation skills to choirs. Dr. Jordan is exclusively published by GIA Publications.

James Jordan has been the major author regarding the application of vocal technique to the choral rehearsal. He was a student of Frauke Haasemann and has continued and advanced her work. He explores connections into voice science in the book, The Anatomy of Tone and most recently in the extensive text, Essentials of the Choral Warm-Up (GIA).

Dr. Jordan has recorded over 20 CDs with the Westminster Williamson Voices, The Same Stream, and The Westminster Choir. His latest CD collaboration is with The Pittsburgh Symphony under the baton of Manfred Honeck, Requiem: Mozart's Death in Words and Music. James Jordan is also one of the hosts of the nationally syndicated radio programs Sounds Choral on WWFM.org. That program just received the prestigious Deems Taylor/Virgil Thompson ASCAP Award.

Dr. Jordan’s career and publications have been devoted to innovative educational changes in the choral art, which have been embraced around the world. His residencies, master classes and guest conducting have taken him throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and China.

To get in touch with Jim, you can visit thechoralacademy.com, email him at jevoke@mac.com, or find him on Instagram (@wckonductor) or X (@jevoke).

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"Singing in a choir, you're trying to about five things at the same time, and sometimes you're not even doing it in the language you have spoken your entire life. Sometimes I had to just start with rhythm on one pitch and then build that step by step by step. In the process, I was always trying to teach voice. If the voice mechanism shuts down, that's where you get into problems and they stop engaging. You have to let people in rehearsals make mistakes, especially early on. It's so important. If you think rhythm, tone, rhythm-tone-text, rhythm-tone-dynamics, rhythm-tone-articulation, rhythm-tone-expression, that's six times I should have gone through that section. Then I saw that these kids were actually digging it, getting into it, and they felt that they were learning something."

For the past 40 years, Richard Zielinski has taught at five universities, worked as a music director in numerous churches, and has conducted orchestras, choruses and stage productions throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Zielinski recently retired as the Director of Choral Activities, Chair of Graduate Choral Studies at the University of Oklahoma and as Director of Music Ministries at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church in Norman, Oklahoma. Prior to his appointment at the University of Oklahoma, Richard directed choral programs at University of South Florida (Tampa), Indiana State University (Terre Haute), Mercer University, (Macon, Georgia), State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

He has also served as Music Director for the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Elgin Choral Union (IL), Vermilion Festival Chorus (IL), and Terre Haute Masterworks Chorale (IN).

In 2005, Richard founded and serves as conductor of the Zielinski Singers. This 40-voice professional chorus combines the talents of the finest choral singers in the United States producing performances, tours and recordings of choral works by American composers.

Richard currently serves as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the 51st Classical Music Festival and Orchestra located at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. He is also a recipient of the Gold Medal of Achievement for his artistic achievements and musical contributions in Eisenstadt, Austria as principal conductor and artistic director of the Classical Music Festival. In 2025 Zielinski was awarded the honorary badge “Meritorious for Polish Culture” from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland for his 32 years of artistic work in Poland.

In 2012, Zielinski and members of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, founded a professional orchestra, The Norman PHILharmonic. The PHIL’s mission is four-fold: to be an innovative and standard-setting orchestra, to commission new works from American composers, to collaborate with area arts programs, and to excite the youth of America about symphonic music.

Throughout his career Zielinski has collaborated with composers Norman Dello Joio, Libby Larsen, John Mackey, Michael Daugherty, Samuel Adler, Eleanor Daley, Marek Jasinski, Rosephanye Powell, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, James Oliverio, Stephen Paulus, Krzysztof Penderecki and has commissioned numerous works from many of these composers.

To get in touch with Rick, you can find him on Facebook (@richard.zielinski.77) or visit richardzielinski.com.

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“If you have opportunities to have them take over the work, you can engage them in a way with chaos circles. I love doing chaos circles when they’re teaching themselves the music. Sometimes you see students who are usually very shy really step up to the challenge of becoming leaders, You get to see students in a way that they don’t always present themselves if you can get them moving around and engaging the brain that way.”

Dr. Jenny Bent is Professor of Music and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Sonoma State University. With degrees from Boston University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Bent's expertise spans voice performance, choral conducting, and choral literature. Described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “superb” with “excellent diction and well-controlled dynamics,” Dr. Bent’s choirs have earned unanimous superior ratings and command performances at festivals throughout California and have performed under her baton at such venues as Carnegie Hall in New York City and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Her ensemble SonoVoce was recently honored to perform at the CA All-State Music Educators Conference (CASMEC).

Recognized for her achievements as a choral educator, Dr. Bent received the 2019 CMEA Bay Section Outstanding Choral Educator Award and the 2023 CMEA Pearson/Scott Foresman/Silver Burdett Choral Educator Award. She brings over a decade of high school teaching experience, notably at the Marin School of the Arts.

Beyond her academic work, Dr. Bent contributes to the choral music community as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and conference presenter for organizations including CMEA, ACDA, and Golden State. From 2016-2023, she served on the board of the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA), and she currently holds the positions of Repertoire & Resources Collegiate Choirs Coordinator for National ACDA and Western Region Representative for the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). From 2007-2014, Dr. Bent shared her passion for choral music as a host of "The Choir Loft" on KRCB-FM. She is also a proud (and semi-obnoxious) baseball mom whose favorite moments are watching her two sons do what they love.

To get in touch with Jenny, you can email her at bentje@sonoma.edu or find her on Facebook (@jenny.bent.5)

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“Middle school kids really are very concrete learners. Abstract thought isn’t there yet. Give them the ability to see ‘I’m not the only one having problems on page 10. I must be normal because everybody’s having problems on page 10.’ Or, if it is a kid who’s the only one who’s having a problem, let’s figure out what the problem is. Let the kids have some voice in helping problem-solve rehearsal issues. The teacher is the expert, but that doesn’t mean that you know everything. Sometimes a kid knows a lot of stuff, but it is just sounds different or is coming from a different angle.”

Gretchen Harrison, National ACDA Chairperson for Repertoire and Resources, is a Missouri-born, Kansas-educated, veteran choral educator, conductor and clinician.. Proud to come from a strong choral music heritage, Harrison is the middle generation of a 3-generation ACDA family. She follows in her dad’s footsteps as “teacher-mentor” with joy! She loves a rehearsal based on love, excellence, urgency, laughter, respect, high expectations, silliness and, hopefully, dark chocolate! Harrison has served ACDA as State Chair for JHMS Repertoire and Standards (KS), as the National Chair for JHMS Repertoire and Standards, then Resources, as the first Youth Choirs Coordinator and, now, as the National Chair. Harrison earned degrees from Wichita State University (BME) and the University of Missouri–Kansas City (MME) and has 60+ additional hours of study. Professionally, Harrison retired after teaching public school middle school choir for 34 years. She is the 2023 recipient of the “Harry Robert Wilson Award”, an award by the Kansas ACDA chapter to recognize lifelong achievement. She is the administrator in the Allegro Choirs of Kansas City community choir program. Harrison is married to a retired band director and mom to two wonderful humans and “Gigi” to a wonderful grandson–with another on the way. She loves her family, cooking, baking, her dog and reading.

To get in touch with Gretchen, you can email her at nationalrr@acda.org, follow the ACDA Repertoire Collective Facebook page (@RepertoireResources), or find her on Facebook (@gretchen.harrison) or Instagram (@gretchenharrison).

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“Going into high school, I did everything possible to avoid the performing arts. My vice principal called me into the office and said, ‘you can’t have an open period. I’m gonig to put you in choir.’ Within weeks, it became a life-changing experience for me – I discovered a community, a way to express myself. I knew by the end of my junior year in high school that this is what I wanted to do.” - Brandon Elliott

“If you are coming as a conductor to composing, you already have a resource that a lot of composers lack. You know what your singers need. You have already identified a lack in the repertoire that you’re looking for, something that you might fill as a composer. If you can get into that mindset with your own ensemble, you’ll be so ready, so prepared to take that on for other groups.” - Dale Trumbore

Dale Trumbore is a Los Angeles-based composer and writer whose music has been called “devastatingly beautiful” (The Washington Post) and praised for its “soaring melodies and beguiling harmonies deployed with finesse” (The New York Times). Trumbore's compositions have been performed widely in the U.S. and internationally by Atlanta Master Chorale, the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW ensemble, Conspirare and the Miró Quartet, Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Youth Choir of Scotland, Pasadena Symphony, Phoenix Chorale, and Seraphic Fire.

Trumbore is the recipient of ACDA’s inaugural Raymond W. Brock Competition for Professional Composers, an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant. She has written extensively about working through creative blocks and establishing a career in music in essays and in two books, Composing a Living (cowritten with Brandon Elliott) and Staying Composed. Learn more about Trumbore’s music and writing at daletrumbore.com.

Dr. Brandon Elliott is a conductor, educator, and consultant specializing in creative and strategic leadership in the arts and entertainment industry. He is a Professor of Music at Saddleback College and Founder & Artistic Director of Choral Arts Initiative, an award-winning ensemble dedicated to contemporary choral music. A sought-after consultant and Fulbright Specialist, he advises on artist management, organizational change, career development, and the evolving music industry.

To get in touch with Dale, you can visit her website, daletrumbore.com, where you can also sign up for her newsletter. To get in touch with Brandon, visit his website, brandon-elliott.com, which also provides links to his social media accounts.

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“My job is to make people love choral music as much as I do, and that’s a lot. I really love choral music. My job is to say ‘you should care about this.’ You might care about it because it’s ravishingly beautiful or because it has a story to tell you. Even if you’re not a person who relates to choral music, you can relate to stories. We’re going to weave some sort of through-line through this program that tells you something about life that we hope resonates with you whether you’re a musician or not.”

Joshua Habermann is in his seventeenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premiere professional chamber choirs. Since joining the ensemble, he has broadened its repertoire to include choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences ranging from early music to new commissions. Under his leadership, the Desert Chorale has been featured at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and its summer and winter festivals are among America’s largest choral events.

Habermann’s experience with symphonic choruses spans over three decades, encompassing the full range of the choral-orchestral repertoire. From 2011 to 2022 he was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, where highlights included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor, and in 2022-2023 prepared Handel’s Messiah, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem for the San Francisco Symphony.

A passionate advocate for music education, Joshua Habermann is a regular clinician for state and national events and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 2024, he conducted Cantatas 72, 73 and 92 for Bach Santiago (Chile), a concert series dedicated to the first full cycle of Bach Cantatas in South America. He currently teaches choral literature at the University of North Texas.

As a singer (tenor), Habermann has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling and Conspirare under Craig Hella Johnson. Recording credits include Requiem and Threshold of Night, both GRAMMY® nominees for best choral recording. Recordings as a conductor include The Road Home and Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil with the Desert Chorale.

To get in touch with Joshua, you can find him on Facebook (@joshua.habermann) or visit the Santa Fe Desert Chorale website, desertchorale.org.

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“You’re not going to ask a bunch of choir directors to donate to your organization — you’re going to have to go find other people who probably don’t have the type of experience with choir that choral leaders do. It’s about trying to translate not just your own personal love of choir but the reason that your choir exists, what it does for its community and its participants, the impact that your choir has on various spheres of influences. How do you translate your value to intersect with what they value so that they can look at you and say ‘you’re a cause that I want to support’?”

Alex Gartner is an educator, conductor, and composer based in Pensacola, Florida. He serves as the Artistic & Executive Director of the Pensacola Children's Chorus, where he oversees 9 resident choirs and 5 regional choirs comprised of nearly 300 singers. Combined, these programs reach an audience of 25,000 individuals, including 5,000 youth, throughout Northwest Florida.

Gartner is an active clinician, workshop presenter, and guest conductor. He has served in leadership positions with the American Choral Directors Association and Americans for the Arts, and his choirs are active throughout Northwest Florida, the United States, and the world. An accomplished composer, his arrangements are available through Santa Barbara Music Publishing, the Lorenz Corporation, Choristers Guild, Alfred Music Publishing, and MusicSpoke.

To get in touch with Alex, you can visit his website, alexgartner.com, or the Pensacola Children's Chorus website, pensacolasings.org. You can also email him at agartner@acda.org.

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“It's hard to focus on anything educationally if certain basic needs aren't being met, so you're trying to navigate and be proactive as much as possible. I have students who have their own needs and things they're going through that are influencing the classroom. Every year, every group, it's a different dynamic. Every student in this group deserves the opportunity to have a good experience with this. Now, they've got to buy in a little bit. They've got to own their piece of it. You can't do it all for them, but they all deserve the opportunity to succeed in that class."

Philip Brown is the director of vocal music at Liberty High School. Additionally he looks forward to collaborations and projects with the Allegro Youth Choirs of Kansas City. He graduated summa cum laude from Bethany College (KS), majoring in K-12 music education and vocal performance. He later received his M.M. degree in music education from Northern Arizona University.

Before returning back to Missouri, Philip started his school teaching in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado (Arvada West High School). Then in Minnesota, he taught at 4 different high schools in the twin cities area over the course of twenty years. Additionally, he spent 15 years conducting the high school choirs with the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs organization.

Philip was honored as the 2011 ACDA-MN Young Director of the Year. He was selected as the Director of Note for Minnesota by Choral Director Magazine in 2012. In 2013 he received the VocalEssence/ACDA-MN Creative Programming Award for his repertoire philosophy and programming. Philip was named the Bethany College (KS) Gold Award recipient in 2015 and was the Winner of the Youth Choir Conducting Division for The American Prize 2016, and again in 2020. He was the featured community member in the Eden Prairie Lifestyle Magazine for 2020. He conducted the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs - Treble Singers at the 2019 National ACDA Conference in his hometown of Kansas City, and the Cantanti Singers at the 2025 National ACDA Conference in Dallas.

His choral groups have been selected for performances at state, regional, and national conferences for ACDA, NAfME, and Chorus America. Choirs under his conducting have collaborated with the Minnesota Oratorio Society, Minnesota Choral Artists - The Singers, Great Northern Union, VocalEssence, Northern Lights Chorale, Cantus, National Lutheran Choir, Singers in Accord, and multiple university choirs. His choirs have consistently received superior ratings, best in class awards, and grand sweepstakes awards at various music festivals and competitions.

Philip has given presentations and clinics on: rehearsal techniques that energize and engage singers, small ensemble singing strengthening the full ensemble, incorporating technology in the music rehearsal, student-driven assessments, and commissioning new choral works. He is an active clinician and guest conductor, is professionally affiliated with ACDA and NAfME, and is the High School Repertoire & Resource chair for ACDA.

To get in touch with Philip, you can find him on Facebook (@philip.m.brown.79) or email him at philip.m.brown.79@gmail.com. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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