Middle school Treble
Philip Silvey
Philip Silvey is Associate Professor of Music Teaching and Learning at the Eastman School of Music where he teaches the Treble Chorus, Choral Arranging, and other courses in music education. He has served as guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in numerous states and directed state honors choruses in Maryland, Virginia, New York and New Jersey. He held the position of president of the Maryland-DC chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) and the role of Repertoire and Resources Chair for SSAA Choirs for the New York state chapter of ACDA. He has presented interest sessions at the International Society for Music Education World Conference and at national, regional, and state ACDA and NAfME (National Association for Music Education) conferences in the United States. He has contributed to two textbook series, Experiencing Choral Music and Teaching Music through Performance in Choir, Volumes II and III. His scholarly writings have been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, the Bulletin for the Council for Research in Music Education, Choral Journal, and the Arts and Learning Research Journal. His choral compositions and arrangements, published by Santa Barbara Music, Carl Fischer, Boosey & Hawkes, E. C. Schirmer Music, and Hal Leonard, have been performed by all-state and national honors choruses in the United States. Learn more at www.philipsilvey.com.
Middle school Mixed
Dr. Brandon Williams
Brandon Williams is an associate professor and the director of Choral Activities at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he conducts the Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir and the Rutgers Glee Club. Previously, he conducted the Rutgers Voorhees Choir, which was selected to perform at Carnegie Hall (2019) and Eastern ACDA (2020, 2024). Dr. Williams also appears internationally as a guest conductor, clinician, and presenter.
Dr. Williams amassed a decade of middle and high school teaching experience in St. Louis, Missouri, where he also served on the voice faculty at Maryville University and as a conductor with the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus and the St. Louis Children’s Choirs. His school ensembles received invitations to perform at the 2010 and 2013 Missouri Music Educators Association conventions, and his middle school ensemble was featured on GIA’s DVD “How to Make a Good Choir Sound Great!” Dr. Williams has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Missouri Choral Directors Association Prelude Award, an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia Honors College, the 2020–21 Rutgers Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovations, the Mason Gross Inclusive Community Faculty Award, and the 2021–22 Rutgers Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr. Williams holds degrees from Western Illinois University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Michigan State University. He also completed an Artist Teacher Diploma from the Choral Music Experience–Institute for Choral Teacher Education. He is the editor of Choral Reflections: Insights from American Choral Conductor-Teachers, and his writing appears in the Choral Journal, Music Educators Journal, and Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Dr. Williams also edits The Brandon Williams Choral Series with Gentry Publications. His choral compositions and arrangements are published with Hal Leonard, G. Schirmer, Mark Foster, Colla Voce, Morningstar Publications, and MusicSpoke.
Middle School Tenor/Bass
jason alexander holmes
Jason Alexander Holmes is a music educator and performer from Ridgeway, VA and serves as the Associate Director of Choruses and Director of the Youth Chorus for the Cincinnati May Festival, after having served as Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Boychoir. Before coming to Cincinnati, he was Director of Educational Programming at the Boston Children’s Chorus. Prior to his time in Boston, Jason taught music at the elementary and secondary levels in Rochester, NY. He also led the University of Rochester Gospel Choir and the Eastman Young Children’s Chorus. Jason holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Ithaca College.
Choirs under Jason’s direction are consistently praised for their energetic, unified tone and engaging performance. He is known for innovative programming which celebrates the cultural context while encouraging singers and audiences alike to stretch their awareness by living in many different musical worlds. Pedagogically, Jason is committed to implementing culturally responsive practices in music education. He has given workshops and conferences sessions on this topic at professional development seminars, schools, and conferences.
At the core of Jason’s teaching and performing is the belief that we are all expressive and musical beings who deserve to witness and participate regularly in moments of truth and beauty.
9th & 10th grade Mixed
Dr. jabarie glass
Jabarie Glass is the Associate Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina, where he conducts the University Chorus and Gamecock Chorale and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting and choral pedagogy. His varied conducting experiences include work with university, secondary, community, festival, and church ensembles. Choral organizations under his leadership have been selected to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Southern Region Conference, the Mississippi-ACDA Conference, and the South Carolina Music Educators Association Conference.
Glass is a conductor and collaborator driven by a commitment to excellence in the choral arts. In addition to his passion for works of the choral-orchestral repertory, he is a fervent advocate for new music, dedicated to enriching the choral canon by commissioning and premiering works that embrace diverse artistic perspectives. His scholarship focuses on conducting pedagogy, choral pedagogy, and culturally responsive pedagogy. He has presented sessions on these topics at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, led conducting masterclasses, and published in The Choral Journal. Glass also serves in leadership positions within professional choral organizations, currently serving a second term as the Student Activities Coordinator for the ACDA Southern Region and on the National Board for the National Collegiate Choral Organization. His previous roles include serving as the Tenor-Bass Choir Repertoire & Resources Chair and the World Musics & Cultures Chair for the Mississippi Chapter of ACDA.
Glass previously served as Director of Choirs at Southaven High School and Middle School, conductor of the Michigan Youth Chamber Singers, and founding conductor of CoroFuente, the tenor-bass chorus of CoroRio, a community choral organization serving northwest Mississippi. He continues to invest in the musical growth of young choral artists through clinics with secondary choral programs and conducting honor choruses. Notable engagements include conducting the ACDA Southwestern Region 10-12 Mixed Choir; All-State choirs in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wisconsin; and regional honor choirs in Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
A native Mississippian, Glass earned dual bachelor's degrees in business management and music education from the University of Mississippi, where he was inducted into the University's Student Hall of Fame, a university-wide honor bestowed upon only ten seniors annually based on leadership, scholarship, and service. He earned a master's degree in music education from the Florida State University College of Music and a doctoral degree in conducting from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He pursued additional conducting studies as a conducting fellow with the Chorus America Conducting Academy and the Yale-Norfolk Chamber Music Festival Choral Conducting Workshop.
Senior Treble
Dr. Jennifer Sengin
Jennifer Sengin serves on the choral faculty in the role of Visiting Assistant Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she leads the graduate choral conducting program and conducts the flagship ensemble, Conservatory Singers, and the Choral Union. In addition to ensembles, Dr. Sengin teaches graduate choral conducting and choral literature. In the summer of 2024, Dr. Sengin received the inaugural Newcomer Award from the Missouri Choral Directors Association. Prior to coming to UMKC, Dr. Sengin most recently served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Georgia State University (GSU). Under her direction, the GSU Treble Choir (formerly Women’s Chorus) won first place in The American Prize and Dr. Sengin received 2nd place in conducting.
An active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and presenter, Dr. Sengin has conducted honor choirs throughout the country and recently conducted the 2024 South Carolina American Choral Director's Association TTB Honor Choir, 2023 Texas All-State Treble Choir, and additional regional honor choirs. Future engagements include guest conducting along with Dr. Sandra Snow at Carnegie Hall with National Concerts and all-state and honor choirs in Wisconsin, Florida, New York, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, and Missouri. Sengin holds degrees from The College of New Jersey (BM Music Education), Ithaca College (MM Choral Conducting), and Michigan State University (DMA Choral Conducting).
Senior Tenor/Bass
Dr. Jeffrey Murdock
Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is internationally known as a conductor and clinician. He currently serves as Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and founding director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science, and 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.
Dr. Murdock has conducted regional and state honor choirs, and headlined conferences in 26 states and 8 countries. With research interests including of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in the Choral Classroom, Music in Urban Schools, and Social Justice in Music Education, he has presented at state, regional and national conferences of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and the American Choral Directors Association, where he serves as president of the Southwestern Division, past-president of Arkansas ACDA, and serves on the national diversity subcommittee. Choirs under Dr. Murdock’s direction have performed at the Arkansas All-State Conference and the Southwestern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors Association. In addition to being an accomplished conductor of western choral music, Dr. Murdock is also a skilled gospel musician and conductor. He has served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., has collaborated with numerous world-renowned Gospel recording artists.
Dr. Murdock holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, both from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Music Education from the University of Memphis.
11th & 12th grade Mixed Chorus
Dr. kelly miller
Kelly A. Miller is an Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Education at the University of Central Florida where she conducts the SoAl (Soprano/Alto) Chorus, SoAl Ensemble, TeBa (Tenor/Bass) Chorus, and the UCF Community Choir. While at UCF, she has taught introduction to music education, secondary choral methods I and II, music learning theory and assessment, beginning conducting, choral conducting, music and students with exceptionalities, vocal techniques, and graduate classes in music education, while coordinating and supervising student teachers through their junior and senior clinical internships. Prior to her appointment at UCF, Miller taught at Western Illinois University as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education, where she conducted the Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She conducted the Women’s Glee Club at Michigan State University for three years and taught choral music at the high school level for thirteen years in Michigan, Florida, and Nebraska. While in Orlando, Dr. Miller founded the choral/vocal program at Timber Creek High School, served as District 8 Chair for the Florida Vocal Association, and received her National Board Certification in secondary choral music. Before directing choirs, Miller was a concert band director for grades five through twelve, instructing marching and jazz bands, music theory, and elementary general music in Nebraska.
In addition to her choral directing and teaching, she has maintained a private voice studio and is in demand to lead choral workshops on the choral/instrumental director as voice teacher, assessment, choosing choral repertoire and running effective rehearsals, leadership, creating artistry, student and teacher resiliency, student ownership, communication, and team building. Dr. Miller frequently serves as a clinician and festival adjudicator. She has been invited to conduct regional and state honor choirs and present conference and clinic sessions in Portugal, Ireland, Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Hawaii, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Florida, and Michigan. Dr. Miller has performed at state, divisional, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and at the Nebraska Music Educators Association Convention. The Florida American Choral Director Association awarded her the Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award for Dedicated Service, Leadership, and Consistent Examples of Excellence in Choral Music in Florida, the highest award given to a choral director in the state of Florida, and the Florida Music Educator Association named her the 2022 Collegiate Music Educator of the Year. She is a Past-President of the Florida American Choral Directors Association, and she is a currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Music Director and a member of the professional women’s ensemble, mirabai.
Miller holds the D.M.A. degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University, the M.M. degree in music education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the B.A. degree in music education from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.