Emily Williams Burch
Dr. Emily Williams Burch began teaching in 2007, including directing community choirs, teaching in public schools, training in professional development settings, and as an instructor at the university level. Currently, Dr. Burch teaches a variety of classes in Performing Arts and Sound Design at The Savannah College of Art and Design.
Prior to SCAD, Burch served as the Coordinator of Music Education and Professor at the University of South Carolina, Aiken. Dr. Burch has a passion for creating and building business as well. Established 2016, Dr. Burch served as Founder/Artistic Director of RISE Chorales (LLC) and RISE Outreach (a 501(c)(3)). Both RISE organizations provided community choirs and music programs to the city of Savannah, GA. On the side, Dr. Burch is an active clinician, adjunct music faculty at Savannah Technical College, choral content creator for QuaverEd, and serves as chair for the ACDA National Standing Committee for Advocacy and Collaboration. A published author, Burch co-wrote “The Business of Choir” in 2022. Catch Dr. Burch on her podcast “Music (ed) Matters” or co-hosting the “Illuminate” podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, or follow her adventures running and pacing marathons at @elevatedrunningandpacing.
Burch holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with doctoral minors in music theory and music history from the University of South Carolina, where she directed the University Women’s Chorus, taught Introduction to Music, and developed a course on the history of rock and roll. With a background in education, including a bachelors in music education from Louisiana State University and a masters in music education from Florida State University, combined with business classes from HBX, Harvard’s online business school, Burch has a passion for exploring and sharing innovative and effective teaching techniques and strategies and making music with choirs of all ages, as heard on her podcast “Music (ed) Matters.”
Dr. Burch has served in various service positions for the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) at the state, regional, national level in a variety of roles, including co-programming chair and honor choir coordinator for the Southern Region ACDA Conferences since 2014. Additionally, she has served as the Southern Region Children’s and Youth Repertoire & Resources Chair and as Youth Coordinator. Currently, Dr. Burch is the chair of the ACDA National Standing Committee for Advocacy and Collaboration.
Choirs under Dr. Burch’s direction have performed regionally, nationally, and internationally including appearances at the Georgia Music Educator’s In-service Conference and the 23rd Anal Concors Internazionale Di Canto Corale, an international choir competition in Verona, Italy, where they received a gold award. That event sparked a passion for travel and the value in cultural exchangesin Dr. Burch which resulted in her being selected to travel to Sweden as part of the International Conductors Exchange Program in 2015.
Dawn-Marie Schafer
Dawn-Marie Schafer is Associate Director of the Austin Children’s Choir in Austin, Texas as well as the Region 18 Texas Music Educators Association’s Middle School Vocal Chair. She is the Choir Director at Sycamore Springs Middle School in Dripping Springs, Texas. Her choirs have a long history of Sweepstakes awards at the University Interscholastic League’s Choral Contest. In 2023, her choirs presented the World Premiere of What If? by Kara Stacy Bedwell. In June 2024, members of her choirs will be performing at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Greg Gilpin.
Schafer taught middle and high school choir for 9 years in New Jersey before moving to Georgia, where her choirs consistently received Superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluations. She has conducted several District Honor Choirs in Georgia. Throughout her 25-year career, many of her singers have been selected to regional and state honor choirs. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from The Hartt School of Music, and her Master’s Degree in Music Education from Boston University. In 2020, Schafer self-published a three book children’s series, The Valiant Quests of the Knights of Musical Acres, which promotes music making with young children. Inspiring middle school singers to change their lives and others through music is her life’s passion.