Emily
Holt Crocker

Emily Holt Crocker is recognized nationally as one of the leading experts in children's choirs. After a successful 15-year career as a music teacher and choral director in her native Texas, she joined the music publishing industry, and now holds the position of Vice President of Choral Publications for Hal Leonard Corporation in Milwaukee and is Senior Author and Editor of the Essential Elements for Choir textbook series.

She holds degrees from the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University, and has done additional study at UNT (choral conducting), Westminster Choir College (conducting and voice-building), TWU (vocal pedagogy) and Sam Houston State University (Kodaly methods). Back To Top

For more information: www.halleonard.com

Peter
Dennee

Peter Dennee joined Carthage in 2005. He conducts the Lincoln Chamber Singers and the Carthage Womens Ensemble. In addition to directing these ensembles, Dr. Dennee teaches conducting and music education classes.

Prior to his appointment at Carthage, Dr. Dennee held positions as assistant professor of music at West Virginia University and Susquehanna University, and visiting assistant professorships at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and The University of Michigan. He has taught music at the elementary and secondary levels in Baltimore, Milwaukee, and Tempe, Ariz.

Dr. Dennee earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral music from Arizona State University, a Master of Music in music education from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins, and a Bachelor of Arts in music education from Carthage (1986). Back To Top

For more information: http://faculty.carthage.edu/pdennee

Ola
Gjeilo

The music of Manhattan-based Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) has been performed and recorded in more than 30 countries worldwide in venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Los Angeles' Disney Hall, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, The Arsht Center in Miami, Washington DC's Kennedy Center and National Gallery, as well as the Copenhagen and Oslo Opera Houses. His music has been featured on PBS and radio stations across the US.

'09-'10 season Composer-in-Residence for the 2008 and 2009 Grammy winning Phoenix Chorale, Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) has been commissioned by several notable artists and organizations, such as Barbara Bonney, Solveig Kringelborn, Philip Brunelle, the Edvard Grieg Society, St. Olaf College, Luther College, Choral Arts Ensemble, Taipei Male Choir, Oslo Church Music Festival, and the ACDA Women's Choir Concortium. His choral music has also been performed by elite choirs such as the Kansas City Chorale, Conspirare, World Youth Choir, VocalEssence, BYU Singers, and the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation's Radiokören.

Ola's debut piano CD, Stone Rose, featuring his own lyrical pieces in the crossroads between classical, jazz and popular music, was released in 2007 by the multiple Grammy nominated label 2L and is available on amazon.com and iTunes.

After studying for his Bachelor's Degree at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, the Royal College of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York, he completed his Master's Degree in composition at Juilliard in 2006.

Walton became the exclusive publisher of his choral music in 2007. Back To Top

For more information: www.olagjeilo.com

Mac
Huff

Mac Huff is entering his third decade as one of the leading arrangers and composers in the music industry.

His academic background includes degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas-Austin, as well as summer study at the Aspen Music Festival and doctoral work at the University of Southern California.

Mac is also an accomplished pianist, musical director, performer, teacher and clinician. Over the years he has composed, arranged and musical directed award winning shows for ABC-TV, NBC-TV, The Walt Disney Co., Hallmark, Inc., Colleco, Inc., Canon, Dow Inc., the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Six Flags Show Productions, Union Station Main Stage Shows (Indianapolis), JB Robin Co. (Los Angeles), Howard Lanin Productions (New York) and TMJ Productions (Las Vegas) among others. In addition, he is in demand as a lecturer and as a guest artist for various music festivals and workshops throughout the world.

Mac's published works are represented exclusively through Hal Leonard Corporation. Back To Top

For more information: www.machuff.com, www.halleonard.com

Joseph
Martin

Joseph Martin (1959 - ), a native of North Carolina, earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Subsequently he earned a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. Joseph taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas. His piano teachers include Jimmy Woodle, David Gibson, Amanda Vick Lethco, Martha Hilley and Danielle Martin. While at Furman University, he was accompanist for choral director and composer Milburn Price and, inspired by his teaching, Martin began to compose.

He is a member of the staff of Shawnee Press, Inc. as Director of Sacred Publications, with responsibilities for overseeing the editorial and creative direction of the company and also coordinating the recording and production aspects of future sacred publishing efforts.

Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. As winner of the Nina Plant Wideman Competition, he performed with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. His solo recital in Ex-convento del Carmen was broadcast nationally throughout the country. Though he continues to perform in concert, he now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians.

His first solo piano recording, American Tapestry, was nominated for a Dove Award. This album, along with his other recordings (Songs of the Journey, Celtic Tapestry, and A Christmas Tapestry) has been enormously popular in the sacred and secular markets. He has recorded for Yamaha's Disklavier series and has composed hundreds of commissioned works.

Recognized throughout the United States for his many choral compositions, both sacred and secular, Joseph's music is published by numerous publishing houses. Over twelve hundred compositions are currently in print and the list continues to grow. His composition "Pieta" was recently honored with an award from the John Ness Beck Foundation.

In 2008 he was inducted as a National Patron of the Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity. Along with Mark Hayes and David Angerman, Joseph has co-authored a fully graded, progressive piano method for the Christian student called Keys for the Kingdom. His major works include 32 choral cantatas and Song of Wisdom, a choral tone poem based on the best-selling children's book, Old Turtle.

His music can be heard in such diverse locations as Carnegie Hall in New York City; the Lawrence Welk Theatre in Branson, Missouri; and in hundreds of worship services in churches across the United States and Canada. He continues to surprise audiences with the variety and scope of his compositions and arrangements.

Joseph lives in Austin, Texas with his children Jonathan and Aubrey and his wife Sue. Back To Top

For more information: www.martin88.com

Jerry
Rubino

Jerry Rubino is a singer/pianist/conductor/coach regarded for his diverse musical interests, engaging artistry, and passionate enthusiasm for performing arts. Jerry founded and directs VOICES 360, a vocal and instrumental ensemble that prioritizes the collaborative process of the singer/actor and dancer to present multi-disciplined performances of repertoire including early music, classical music, gospel, pop and jazz. His groups appear in diverse venues from Macy's to Orchestra Hall. He is a music editor with Oxford University Press and the Hal Leonard Corporation, is the assistant conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorale, and his workshops and music directing have taken him to Australia, Asia, Europe, Canada and throughout the United States. In Minneapolis, he has taught at Northwestern, Augsburg and Carleton Colleges, and recently music directed Swing at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters and Nautilus Music Theater productions of Man of La Mancha and Carousel at the Southern Theater. Back To Top

For more information: www.jerryrubino.com

André
Thomas

A previous faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Thomas received his degrees from Friends University (B.A.), Northwestern University (M. M.), and the University of Illinois (D.M.A). He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician, and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia.

Dr. Thomas has conducted choirs at the state, division, and national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His international conducting credits are extensive. They include conductor/clinician for the International Federation of Choral Musicians, summer residency of the World Youth Choir in the Republic of China and the Philippines, winter residency of the World Youth Choir in Europe, and a premier performance by an American choir (The Florida State University Singers) in Vietnam. He has been the guest conductor of such distinguished orchestras and choirs as the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in England, and guest Conductor for the Berlin Radio Choir in Germany. Since 1988 he has also served as Artistic Director of the Tallahassee Community Chorus.

Thomas has also distinguished himself as a composer/arranger. Hinshaw Music Company, Mark Foster Music Company, Fitzsimmon Music Company, Lawson Gould, Earthsongs, and Heritage Music Company publish his compositions and arrangements. Dr. Thomas has produced two instructional videos "What They See Is What You Get" on choral conducting, with Rodney Eichenberger, and "Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice" on adolescent voices, with Anton Armstrong. He is a past president of the Florida ACDA, and the past president of the Southern Division of ACDA. Back To Top

For more information: www.andrejthomas.net