Artists
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong organist
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Sara Cahall is currently working in the Cincinnati area as a collaborative pianist, organist, and choral director. Her positions include Associate Professor of Choral Activities at Thomas More University, where she directs Dolce, the auditioned women’s chorus. She is also an accompanist for the Cincinnati Boychoir and Minister of Music at Ascension & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Wyoming, OH. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Bowling Green State University, a Master of Music degree from The University of Arizona in 2017, and partial doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. During her studies at CCM she also served as organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral Cincinnati.
Conference Role
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Compline conductor
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Opening Eucharist conductor
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Epiphany Procession conductor
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Commissioned Composer for Opening Eucharist
- Conference Committee Co-chair
Biography
Organist, conductor, and composer Stephan Casurella was born in England, where he began studying piano, organ, and music composition at an early age. After moving to the United States, he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in both piano performance and music composition and in 2009 was awarded a doctor of musical arts degree in church music (organ emphasis) from the University of Kansas.
In demand as a performer and conductor, Stephan currently serves as Canon Precentor and Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati where, in addition to overseeing all aspects of music for the cathedral’s rich liturgical life, he conducts the cathedral choirs, shares organ playing duties, and coordinates a busy concert schedule. A published composer represented in six publisher catalogs, he has written for a wide range of media with a particular focus on sacred choral works.
Conference Role
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Gerre Hancock Internship recitalist
Biography
Ezechiel Daos recently served as the 2024-2025 Gerre Hancock Intern in Church Music at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (Atlanta, Georgia) under the mentorship of Mr. Matthew Brown.
Prior to his appointment at St. Lukes, Ezechiel served as organist at First Presbyterian Church (Denton, TX) under the direction of Dr. Jacob Augsten. In November 2023, in collaboration with First Presbyterian Church and their GriefShare program, Ezechiel gave the North Texas premiere of Eric Whitacre and Tony Silvestri’s The Sacred Veil.
An advocate for broadening classical music, particularly in the realm of organ and vocal repertoire, Ezechiel seeks to find and perform music by BIPOC and women composers. Of particular interest to Ezechiel is Kundiman, Filipino art songs which were popular in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Ezechiel continues to serve as the Associate Cantor and Paul Bouman Chapel Choir Chair at Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival, a four-week residential music academy for high schoolers. Taking place at Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, it’s at LSM that Ezechiel combines his interests for liturgy and cultivating passion in young musicians.
Ezechiel holds degrees from Central Methodist University (BME: Music Education, BM: Vocal Performance) and the University of North Texas (MM: Organ Performance, harpsichord related field). His major teachers included Jesse Eschbach, Bradley Bennight, Jonelle Loehnig, Melissa Simons, and Susan Quigley-Duggan.
Conference Role
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Noonday Prayer organist
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Conference Committee Co-chair
Biography
In recent years at CCM, John Deaver has taught the two-year Organ Repertoire course and Organ History and Design. Other courses he has taught since 2007 are Keyboard Harmony for Organists and Liturgical Organ Playing. He has served Trinity Episcopal Church in Covington, Kentucky as Director of Music and Organist since September 1980. He also served the Convent of the Transfiguration (Episcopal) in Cincinnati, Ohio as Director of Music and Organist from 1981 to 2019. At Trinity he founded and is a frequent performer on the monthly luncheon concert series A Midday Musical Menu. He is active in the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, which he has served as Dean, and the Association of Anglican Musicians, which he has served as Secretary, Publicist, and Secretary of the Anglican Musicians Foundation.
A native of Staunton, Virginia, Deaver's teachers have included Roberta Gary, Arthur Rhea, Wilmer Hayden Welsh (whose organ compositions were the subject of his DMA thesis), and Carl Broman. For continuing education, he has attended the Poitiers Organ Academy in Poitiers, France with Jean-Baptiste Robin and Olivier Houette, the XXIII Academia de Organo in Palencia, Spain with Javier Artigas, Roberto Fresco, Roland Dopfer, and Monica Melcova, the North German Organ Academy in Bremen, Germany with Harald Vogel and Roland Dopfer, and the Haarlem Summer Organ Academy in the Netherlands taking classes of Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, Olivier Latry, Jean-Baptiste Robin, Margaret Phillips, Loïc Mallié, Ewald Kooiman, and Harald Vogel.
Conference Role
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Compline harpsichord prelude
Biography
Praised for “beautiful performances of great warmth” (Classical Voice of North Carolina), Michael Delfín captures the listener with sensitivity and flair as a versatile performer of historical and modern keyboard instruments. Michael won the top prize ex aequo in the Ninth Jurow International Harpsichord Competition, shortly after being nominated to the Diapason 20 Under 30 Class of 2021. He is the recipient of the Bourbon Baroque Nicolas Fortin Scholarship, the Historical Keyboard Society of North America Bechtel/Clinkscale Scholarship, and the Catacoustic Consort Early Music Grant. As a pianist, Mr. Delfin has won prizes in the International Crescendo Music Awards, Chautauqua International Piano Competition, and two consecutive concerto competitions at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Recent performances include recitals for the Ear Taxi New Music Festival, The Stone, and the Western Early Keyboard Association, and solo appearances with Lyra Baroque, Bourbon Baroque, the CCM Concert Orchestra, and the American Chamber Symphony. Mr. Delfin’s advocacy for new music has led to numerous world premieres across the United States to rave reviews. He recently collaborated with mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm on an album of contemporary art song for Ablaze Records, to be released in 2024.
Mr. Delfín is the artistic director of Bama Baroque and Cincinnati-based ensemble Seven Hills Baroque. Before joining of the faculty at University of Alabama as instructor of early keyboard, he taught piano at Cedarville University and has taught harpsichord and chamber music at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He was also recently appointed to the Early Music America’s Emerging Professional Leadership Council and the Historical Keyboard Society of North America’s board of directors. He makes his home with his wife and son in Tuscaloosa, where he serves as organist at the Grace Presbyterian Church. A native of Fresno, CA, Mr. Delfín holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, and the Johns Hopkins University, and his mentors include Awadagin Pratt, Yoshikazu Nagai, Boris Slutsky, Michael Unger, and Carol Oaks.
Conference Role
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Closing Eucharist organist
Biography
James Garvey has been Organist and Director of Music at Church of the Ascension, Knoxville, Tennessee, since 1990. There he administers a full music program involving adults, youth, and handbells, as well as a regionally acclaimed concert series.
Mr. Garvey holds degrees from Rice University, where he studied organ with Clyde Holloway and piano with Mary Norris. Upon graduation he served for five years as the Assistant Organist at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado. He has served as dean of the Knoxville Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is a Past-President of the Association of Anglican Musicians.
Church of the Ascension’s choirs regularly perform outside of Sunday church services and may be heard on recorded CD. Mr. Garvey’s own playing has been recorded on CD, at First Baptist Church of Charleston, West Virginia, as well as at Church of the Ascension in Knoxville. An artist who has played throughout the Southeast, Mr. Garvey has also performed for regional and national conventions of the American Guild of Organists as well as national conferences of the Association of Anglican Musicians.
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong organist
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Recitalist at St. Thomas, Terrace Park
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Church Musician and Concert Organist Jason M. Gunnell currently serves as the Associate Director of Music and Organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio. He is finishing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Organ Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) studying with Dr. Roberta Gary, and Michael Unger. A native of Idaho, Jason received his Bachelor of Musical Arts at Brigham Young University-Idaho, studying with Daniel Kerr, James Drake, and Darwin Wolford. He received his Master of Music in Organ Performance and Church Music from the University of Kansas, studying with James Higdon. Jason taught courses in Music Theory, Organ Lessons, and beginning organ courses at BYU-Idaho and CCM. Jason has performed in masterclasses with organists of renown such as Ken Cowan, Paul Jacobs, Peter Richard Conte, Fred Swann, Clay Christiansen, and Richard Elliott. Jason won the 2011 Strader Organ Competition held in Cincinnati, Ohio and was a finalist for the post of Tabernacle Organist at the Mormon Tabernacle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in 2018.
Jason has extensive experience as a church musician and organist. Before being appointed organist at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio, Jason was organist at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and also served as organist at First Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Jason also actively serves in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many music capacities and has served in the Church of Jesus Christ in music capacities for over 30 years.
Jason has played in and performed in many notable venues throughout the United States and Hungary. Jason actively recitals in the famed Mormon Tabernacle and the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah as a Guest Organist at Temple Square, playing on the world famous V/206 Aeolian Skinner Organ in the Mormon Tabernacle and the V/130 Schoenstein Organ in the Conference Center. Jason currently lives in Cincinnati with his family. He is happily married to his wife, Kate. They are the parents of seven young boys, Grant, Mitch, Brigham, William, Clark, Russell, and Hyrum.
Conference Role
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Commissioned composer for Choral Evensong
Biography
Howard Helvey (b. 1968) resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is active as a composer, arranger and pianist, and serves as organist and choirmaster of historic Calvary Episcopal Church. He is also co-founder (2013) and conductor of the Cincinnati Fusion Ensemble, a professional chamber choir. Additionally, in 2016 he became Editor of the historic music publishing imprint, H.W. Gray. Nationally and internationally Mr. Helvey is in frequent demand as a composer, conductor, and speaker. Known particularly for his choral music, Mr. Helvey maintains an extremely active writing schedule, and his hundreds of compositions and arrangements are published by Beckenhorst Press, Hinshaw Music, Oxford University Press, Boosey & Hawkes, H.W. Gray, Alliance Music, Lawson-Gould, E.C. Schirmer, MorningStar Music, Paraclete Press, and Roger Dean, among other companies. His compositions have been featured on numerous recordings, national television and radio broadcasts, in such eminent venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas), St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City, Rome, Italy), St. Patrick’s Cathedral (NYC), St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin, Ireland), the American Cathedral (Paris, France), Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto), the White House, the National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.), Westminster Abbey (London, England), Bath Abbey (England), the former Crystal Cathedral (Garden Grove, California), and many locations throughout Europe and Asia. In addition, his music is regularly performed at regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and other professional music organizations, and has been acclaimed as “engaging” (Choral Journal), “definitive” (Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians), “magical” (The Hymn) and — in response to his occasional inclusion of jazz elements — “fun and certain to be of interest” (The Diapason). Recordings of his music appear on the Gothic, Innova, Pro Organo, Cedille, Reference, Regent (UK), Spektral (Germany), and Suisa (Switzerland) record labels. In 2021, Beckenhorst Press released the album In That Bright Land: Choral Music of Howard Helvey (available on all major digital audio platforms) featuring studio recordings of twenty-six selected works. And in 2020, Beckenhorst Press released Transformations: Ten Piano Solos Based on Timeless Hymn Tunes (available as a CD and on all major digital audio platforms) featuring Mr. Helvey performing the contents of his piano book by the same title.
Mr. Helvey is commissioned frequently by church, university, and professional ensembles, and recent highlights include performances of his music by the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, the Choirs of King’s College and Selwyn College (Cambridge, England), the BBC Singers, the Paris Choral Society (France), the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the National Lutheran Choir, the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, the Phoenix Chorale, the Salt Lake Choral Artists, True Concord, the Kansas City Chorale, the Cincinnati Fusion Ensemble, the Atlanta Master Chorale, Conspirare (Austin), the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, The Crossing (Philadelphia), the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Chicago a cappella, the Turtle Creek Chorale (Dallas), the Choirs of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York), the Choirs of the Cathedral of St. Philip (Atlanta), the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola (New York), the Choir of Trinity Wall Street (New York), the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, Kammerchor Constant (Cologne, Germany), Officina Corale (Rome, Italy), molto cantabile (Lucerne, Switzerland), Coro Ricercare (Lisbon, Portugal), Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, Pro Musica (Copenhagen, Denmark), Melting Vox (Belgium) — and by university/collegiate choirs from Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Concordia, Luther, Brigham Young, Texas A&M, the University of Georgia, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Westminster Choir College. Anthems and motets by Mr. Helvey have recently been featured in the United Kingdom cathedrals of Canterbury, St. Paul’s (London), Chichester, Lincoln, Durham, Worcester, Salisbury, Ely, Southwark, St. Albans, Liverpool, Exeter, Christ Church (Oxford), York, Hereford, Norwich, Bristol, Chester, Wells, Portsmouth, Winchester, Coventry, and St. Giles’ (Edinburgh). He received international awards in 2002, 2003 and 2006 (as first prize winner) from the John Ness Beck Foundation, who annually recognizes outstanding achievement in choral composition. In 2018, Mr. Helvey was the winner of the inaugural Sewanee Church Music Conference Choral Composition Prize. On March 15, 2020, he was to make his Carnegie Hall debut conducting a program of his choral music, but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the concert was postponed to a later date.
As a pianist, Mr. Helvey collaborated 1997-2012 with distinguished artist Richard Steinbach in concerts and recordings of four-hand and two-piano literature. Performance highlights included concerts in dozens of cities throughout the United States, Canada and England, and — by invitation — as duo artists at the 2000 national meeting of the Music Teachers National Association convention in Minneapolis. Widening their exposure through television appearances in the United States and Canada, the Steinbach/Helvey Duo offered its performances to a broad and diverse community. 2001 saw the international release of their critically-acclaimed debut CD recording Piano Duo which included the brilliant and rarely-performed masterwork Eight Variations on an Original Theme in A-flat Major by Franz Schubert. The Steinbach/Helvey Duo was formerly managed by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists. Along with violinist Mari Thomas and cellist Susan Petersen, Mr. Helvey is also a founding member of the Hannaford Piano Trio.
With cognate studies in conducting, voice, organ, and poetry, Mr. Helvey holds a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master of Music degree in composition and piano performance from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Designated an undergraduate Chautauqua Scholar, he pursued additional studies in piano at New York’s Chautauqua Institution. Mr. Helvey has studied piano with Raymond Herbert, Jan Houser, Richard Morris and Dolores Gadevsky; and his composition teachers have included John Cheetham, Thomas McKenney, Darrell Handel and Frederick Bianchi. As one passionate about effective congregational hymn-singing, Mr. Helvey received additional training in hymn-accompanying and organ improvisation from Gerre Hancock. Additionally, he is a Fellow of (Alice Parker’s) Melodious Accord.
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong conductor
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St. Thomas Bach Ensemble conductor
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Dr. Monroe is Director of Music at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Terrace Park, Ohio, where, in addition to leading an active choral program for children and adults, he established and conducts the Bach Ensemble at St. Thomas, a professional ensemble of instrumentalists and vocalists who perform services, concerts and educational retreats centered on the music of J. S. Bach.
As a conductor and music educator he has taught at every level from elementary to college, including positions at Ursuline Academy and Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Miami University (OH), and Georgia College & State University. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has previously served on the boards of the Cincinnati Choral Consortium and was a regional chair with the Association of Anglican Musicians. He currently serves on the board of the Burden Foundation, which supports the work of the Burden Museum and Gardens in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Board of Trustees of Cincinnati Country Day School. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife Jennifer, contrabassoonist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and their children Jack and Catherine.
Conference Role
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Lunchtime carrilonneur
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Creating a Healthy Choir Environment: Balancing Musical Excellence and Compassionate Leadership
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Ben Owen is a Cincinnati-based conductor, composer, pianist, and organist with a pastoral nature and a verve for sacred music. Born and raised in Iowa, Ben brings a caring, neighborly, yet firm approach to all of his musical endeavors, endearing him to musicians of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds. In addition to his role as Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Camerata, Ben serves as the Director of Music Ministries and Choirmaster at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati where he conducts two weekly adult choirs and oversees a comprehensive music ministry and staff. Previously, he served as the conductor of Canticum Novum, a semi-professional project choir based in Eastern Iowa, as well as in a number of church and public school positions throughout Iowa. Ben holds a Bachelor of Music in Choral/General Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he also served as a teaching assistant and accompanist to his teachers, Dr. Timothy Stalter and Dr. David Puderbaugh.
Conference Role
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Recitalist at Christ Church Cathedral
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Commissioned composer for Closing Eucharist
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Brenda Portman is active throughout the United States as a concert organist, organ instructor, and composer of choral, organ, instrumental, and vocal works. She is the Resident Organist at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and organ instructor at Xavier University. She holds the D.M.A. degree in organ performance from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, as well as degrees from Northwestern University and Wheaton College.
Dr. Portman has been a prizewinner in numerous national organ competitions as well as composition competitions for choral or organ works. She has been commissioned to compose new music for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, new organ dedications, memorials, and other occasions. Her compositions have been described as “refreshing, intelligent, and inspired,” “exquisite,” and “ridiculously good.” For more information, visit brendaportman.com.
Conference Role
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Coro Latinoamericano director
Biography
Bruno Sandes is the associate director of Coro Latinoamericano at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis. He holds both a B.M. and M.M. from the Jacobs School of Music and is currently in the final stages of completing his doctorate in voice performance under the guidance of Carol Vaness. A dynamic singer and dedicated voice teacher, Sandes is deeply invested in his students and ensemble, focusing on building a solid, healthy vocal technique and enhancing communication skills to ensure vocal longevity and mastery.
Highly engaged in the art of song and concert repertoire, Sandes has performed an extensive and diverse array of works by composers from various countries and eras. His performances have graced stages and theaters in the United States, Europe, and South America, earning him numerous awards and distinctions. He has served as a Professor of Voice at DePauw University and as an Associate Instructor of Voice at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he also assisted in directing graduate opera workshops for Carol Vaness and Heidi Grant Murphy.
Conference Role
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Pre-workshop recitalist at Christ Church, Glendale
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Choral Evensong conductor and organist
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Dr. Tyler W. Robertson is the Director of Music Ministries and Organist at Christ Church Glendale, where he oversees a comprehensive program of musical activities and ensembles to support and enrich the worship life of the church.
Tyler has been a church musician for over 25 years, serving in various roles across the spectrum of Christian denominations—with half of that time in the Episcopal Church. He holds a B.M. and M.M. in Organ Performance from Baylor University (Texas) where he studied with Joyce Jones and Bradley Welch, and a D.M.A in Choral Conducting from The Ohio State University, where he studied with Robert J. Ward. He is a member of The Association of Anglican Musicians and the American Guild of Organists, where he holds the Associate level certification (AAGO).
At Christ Church, Tyler plans all music for worship and directs the vocal and bell choirs. He plays organ and piano for all services, utilizing the wonderful instruments CCG is fortunate to have. In addition to the daily activities within the church, Tyler administers the Music Live @ Christ Church concert series, which includes a variety of concerts and special worship services.
An Ohio resident for ten years, Tyler has become known as a strong collaborator on organ and piano. Between 2015-2022, he appeared frequently at the organs of First Congregational Church in downtown Columbus where he accompanied their monthly services of Choral Evensong, December Lessons & Carols, and other special events. Tyler has served as organist for two choral residencies in England, at Lincoln and Norwich cathedrals.
Dr. Robertson also publishes a wide variety of his own compositions, including organ, choral, and brass/organ hymn arrangements, available at: www.tylerrobertsonmusic.com
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong conductor
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Choral condcucting worskhop and choral reading session leader
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Conference Committee memberr
Biography
Brett Scott is Professor of Ensembles and Conducting at the UC College-Conservatory of Music, where he conducts the CCM Chorale, teaches conducting and literature at the graduate and undergraduate level, and is Music Director of Opera d’arte, CCM’s undergraduate opera company. Under his direction, the CCM Chorale released its first commercial recording, Lux Dei, through Ablaze Records, and has begun production of its second recording, focusing on sacred music for choir and electronics. Chorale has given multiple regional and world premieres by both American and international composers, including the 2015 revival performance of Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice, the 2016 regional premiere of Abyssinian Mass by Wynton Marsalis and the North American premiere of Stabat Mater by Ivan Moody, and the 2018 North American premiere is Fredrick Sixten’s St. John Passion. In 2019 Chorale will give the American premiere of Andrew Staniland’s Dark Star Requiem and create the world premiere recording of the English version of Sixten’s St. John Passion. Under his direction Opera d’arte has won numerous awards through the National Opera Association. His conducting students have on multiple occasions reached the finals of the ACDA graduate student conducting competition and have been regularly selected to participate in Chorus America masterclasses.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Cincinnati, Scott was Director of Choral Activities at the University of Rochester and Assistant Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music. Comfortable in front of a wide range of ensembles, Scott currently directs Cincinnati’s Musica Sacraand is the Musical Director of Coro Volante, a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance and recording of music by living composers. Under his direction the group has released two recordings through Ablaze records, with two more expected over the next year.
Scott has conducted and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Central America and Europe. An acknowledged expert on contemporary music, he is in demand internationally as a lecturer on Canadian music and has presented at several national and international conferences. He was editor of Chorus America’s Research Memorandum Series, an Associate Editor of NCCO’s The Choral Scholar, and is a contributor to the most recent Grove Dictionary of American Music. His authorized biography of composer, educator and soundscape activist R. Murray Schafer was published by Rowman and Littlefield in March of 2019.
Scott currently serves as President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and a member of the jury for the American Choral Director Association’s Julius Hereford Prize.
Conference Role
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Closing Eucharist conductor
Biography
Matthew Swanson is director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival, a cornerstone of the Cincinnati arts community since its founding in 1873. He is the artistic leader of the May Festival’s choral ensembles—the May Festival Chorus, the May Festival Chamber Choir, the May Festival Youth Chorus and the Cincinnati Boychoir—and collaborates with the annually appointed Festival Director to craft programming for the May Festival. He conducts and prepares the May Festival Chorus – the core artistic element of the Cincinnati May Festival and the official Chorus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra – for their performances at historic Music Hall and beyond. As Director of Choruses, he also leads the May Festival Conducting Fellowship, a collaboration of the May Festival and the Choral Studies Program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
In the 2024–25 season, Swanson will prepare the Chorus for performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the CSO and conductor Marin Alsop and for performances of Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the CSO and conductor Richard Egarr. He will conduct the May Festival Chamber Choir in performances across greater Cincinnati and will lead the May Festival Choruses in a February 2025 performance at Music Hall. He will also prepare the Choruses for their featured appearances at the 2025 May Festival.
Previously, Matthew Swanson was the Associate Director of Choruses, Youth Chorus Director and Director of Special Projects for the May Festival. In these roles, he instituted an annual Youth Chorus commissioning project, the presentation of community choral concerts during the May Festival, a program of free professional voice instruction for Chorus and Youth Chorus members, free in-school choral clinics for area middle and high schools, and the Youth Chorus Enrichment Program. In addition, he expanded institutional support for the Youth Chorus, which is fully cost-free for members, and led the creation of a strategic alliance of the May Festival and the Cincinnati Boychoir.
His portfolio of special projects at the May Festival has included staged productions of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS (2018) and Candide (2022) and the formation of the May Festival Community Chorus. In celebration of the May Festival’s 150th anniversary season in 2023, he led “25 for 25: A New Time for Choral Music,” the May Festival’s wide-ranging community commissioning project.
Beyond the May Festival, Swanson was previously affiliated with the Mostly Mozart Festival as an assistant conductor, production consultant, programmer and presenter.
As an educator, Swanson has taught conducting, choral literature and early music at CCM. He also taught conducting and choral methods and led the Xavier Choir at Xavier University from 2021 to 2024. He is frequently engaged as a host and presenter of lectures, concerts and broadcasts in Cincinnati, New York and elsewhere.
Swanson is a native of southeast Iowa and was educated at the University of Notre Dame (BA), CCM (MM, DMA), and King’s College, Cambridge (MMus). He held the May Festival Conducting Fellowship in 2015. Prior to his fellowship appointment, he joined the May Festival Chorus as a singer in 2012 and worked in the CSO and May Festival box office from 2014 to 2015.
Conference Role
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New Liberty Dance Orchestra band leader
Biography
Sharing his birthday with Fred Astaire, Matt Tolentino was born May 10, 1985. Some say he was born 80 years too late, but Tolentino will argue this is not the case, as his mission is to preserve traditional music for the modern audience for years to come.
Matt has made it his life’s mission to perform and preserve pre-swing American popular music – hot jazz, ragtime, and the roots of swing, as well as traditional folk music.
As a true multi-instrumentalist, he plays accordion, piano, banjo, guitar, tuba, clarinet, saxophone, and vibraphone. He can be found working in solo, trio, and quartet settings, as well as his orchestras The Singapore Slingers and The New Liberty Dance Orchestra, specializing in the music of 1895 – 1935, and The Royal Klobasneks, a traditional “old-time” polka band.
Matt makes his home in Cincinnati, Ohio, sharing his 1890 Victorian with his wife Danielle, their Chihuahua Doo-Dad, and a 1952 Kaiser DeLuxe.
Conference Role
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Recitalist at Plum Street Temple
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Michael Unger is a multiple award-winning performer who appears as a soloist and chamber musician in North America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Since 2013, he is Associate Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He is a First Prize and Audience Prize winner of the National Young Artists’ Competition of the American Guild of Organists (NYACOP), a First Prize winner of the International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo, and a Second Prize and Audience Award winner of the International Schnitger Organ Competition on the historic organs of Alkmaar, the Netherlands. Recent solo recitals include performances for national conventions of the American Guild of Organists, Organ Historical Society, and Historical Keyboard Society of North America; ‘Five Continents – Five Organists’ Festival at Seoul’s Sejong Center; International Festival of Organ, Choral and Chamber Music Gdańsk; Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg – Musica Sacra; and numerous international and regional recital series. In 2018, he premiered two Preludes and Fugues by American composer Henry Martin for the national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Kansas City, Missouri. Recent orchestral appearances include Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 (“Organ”) and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (“Symphony of a Thousand”) with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Other organ and harpsichord collaborations include Cincinnati May Festival, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Collegium Cincinnati, Catacoustic Consort, and Publick Musick, with repertoire that includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos and Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord. He received favorable international reviews for his debut solo recordings under the Naxos and Pro Organo labels, and his performances have been broadcast on North American and European radio, including syndicated programs Pipedreams and With Heart and Voice. He was a guest faculty at the 2015 and 2016 Smarano International Academies in Trentino, Italy, the 2019 Colorado State University Organ Week, and has given masterclasses at several North American universities and conservatories, including residencies with cellist Adriana Contino.
Michael Unger holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts with Performers’ Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student and teaching assistant of David Higgs and William Porter, and recipient of the school’s Jerald C. Graue Musicology Fellowship. He is also a Gold Medal graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where he studied with Larry Cortner and Sandra Mangsen, and his post-graduate teachers include Roberta Gary in Cincinnati and Jean-Baptiste Robin in Versailles, France. Formerly the Director of Music at the Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word in Rochester, New York, he currently serves as organist of Cincinnati’s historic Isaac M. Wise – Plum Street Temple, and is a volunteer chorister in the choir of Cincinnati's Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal).
Conference Role
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Opening Eucharist organist
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Epiphany Procession organist
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Abraham Wallace holds Bachelor’s degrees in piano (BMA ‘18) and Geophysics (BS ’18) from the University of Oklahoma. He completed a Master’s degree in pipe organ performance at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (’21) and is currently a doctoral candidate in the same field at the University of Michigan. He has served various different churches in the capacity of organ scholar, chorister, and director of music. He was selected to be the 2023-2024 AAM Gerre Hancock Organ Scholar at St. George’s Episcopal Church (Nashville, TN). He is currently the Associate Director of Music at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, Ohio. In his spare time, Abe likes to read, make coffee, and bake sourdough bread.
Conference Role
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Compline organist
Biography
Wu Ningjing was born 01/21/1994 in China. She has a Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in organ performance from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Como in Italy. Now she is currently studying in the first year of DMA organ program with Dr. Unger Michael at University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music. She is currently interning at the Church of Redeemer in Cincinnati.
Ensembles
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong Choir
Biography
Led by Dr. Tyler Robertson, the Choir of Christ Church Glendale sings regularly at the 11:00 a.m. Rite II Sunday Service during the choir season (after Labor Day through Trinity Sunday), as well as special services like the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Choral Evensong, and weekday services as required. The choirs have been on five pilgrimages to England, having been Choir in Residence at Wells Cathedral (2007), Worcester Cathedral (2010), Durham Cathedral (2013), Canterbury Cathedral (2016), and Winchester Cathedral (2019).
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Opening Eucharist Choir
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Epiphany Procession Choir
Biography
Experience the Cathedral Choir, an ensemble of auditioned professional and volunteer choristers, at weekly Sunday morning services, monthly Evensong services, and other major liturgical observances in the church year. Directed by Stephan Casurella, the Cathedral Choir offers a range of choral literature from the Anglican cathedral tradition, the folk tradition of African-Americans, newly written works, and idioms from other cultures.
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Choral Evensong Choir
Biography
From our Celtic ensemble to our children's choir, from the Banquet ensemble to special musical worship events, music is central to life at Church of the Redeemer! Our Music Ministry groups gather together on Thursday evenings during the program year (September - May) to share a meal and rehearse. Read about our many musical opportunities using the tabs on the sidebar, and for more information about Church of the Redeemer Music Ministry family, contact Dr. L. Brett Scott, Minister for Music.
Conference Role
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Concert: Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass
Biography
Collegium Cincinnati is a vibrant musical organization serving Greater Cincinnati and is an in-residence ensemble at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Cincinnati. A professional choral and instrumental ensemble, Collegium presents engaging, enlightening, and inspiring programs that include traditional choral/orchestral masterworks like our annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, along with new masterpieces by modern composers. Our musicians are the finest in the region and come from our own Cincinnati community.
Conference Role
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Concert at Christ Church Cathedral
Biography
In response to its growing Latin American congregation, Christ Church Cathedral – Indianapolis founded Coro Latinoamericano in 2004. The choir leads music for the weekly Spanish-language services and performs at key cultural and religious events beyond the Cathedral, such as Día de los Muertos, Las Posadas, the Celebración de la Virgen de Guadalupe, and Meditaciones de Cuaresma.
As one of the few choirs of its kind in the United States, Coro Latinoamericano serves as an ambassador of Latin American traditions. Their mission goes beyond musical performance; they aim to forge a deeper connection with the community, creating an experience where culture, faith, music, and spirituality converge in a harmonious celebration. Comprised mostly of volunteer amateur musicians, with support from a few professionals, the choir weaves the threads of faith and tradition into a vibrant tapestry of captivating harmonies and rhythms, reflecting the rich diversity of Latin American cultures and roots.
Taking in consideration how diverse the Latin American congregation is at CCC, Coro has currently singers and representatives of nine different countries within the group. This rich fusion of cultures has significantly influenced the choir’s music, incorporating elements from various traditions. In recent years, Coro has expanded both the complexity and variety of its repertoire. The choir has also embraced influences from Italian, Spaniard, Amerindian, Gospel, and African American choral traditions, offering a glimpse of the vast beauty and cultural wealth embedded in Latin American worship practices.Over the years, the group has sought to pave the way for other choirs like it, proudly showcasing the beauty of Latin American musical traditions. At the same time, they continue to explore and define what it means to be a Latin American Episcopal choir in the United States.
Conference Role
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Concert at Covenant-First Presbyterian Church
Biography
Matt Tolentino and the New Liberty Dance Orchestra bring the music of 1900-1935 to the Queen City with the utmost authenticity. Ragtime, hot jazz, and the roots of swing. With period instruments, microphones, attire, and a library of 6,000 songs, you will find no finer “revival” orchestra in the Tri-State.
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Concert: Immortal Bach
Biography
The Bach Ensemble at St. Thomas enriches and inspires the musical life of the Cincinnati area through the performance of the music of J. S. Bach, his contemporaries, and musical heirs.
The Bach Ensemble at St. Thomas serves as ensemble-in-residence at St. Thomas Episcopal Church where it leads the monthly Bach Vespers, performing the cantatas of J. S. Bach in the context for which they are written. Beginning in 2024-2025, the ensemble will also present a series of ticketed concerts.
The Bach Ensemble at St. Thomas is committed to historically informed performances of Bach’s music and artistic collaborations with other musical ensembles.
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong Choir
Biography
The St. Thomas Parish Choir consists of adults and teens and sings at the 10:15 am service from after Labor Day to Pentecost, as well as special services and events throughout the year. The choir rehearses Thursday evenings from 7:00 – 9:30 p.m. The choir’s repertoire includes traditional Anglican works, choral masterworks from all eras, as well as the work of modern composers.
Clergy and Religious
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AAM Chaplain
Biography
The Rt. Rev. Brian Lee Cole was ordained and consecrated fifth bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee on December 2, 2017. He became chaplain of the Association of Anglican Musicians in January 2024.
A southeast Missouri native, Bishop Cole graduated from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1989. In 1992, he earned a Master of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, with additional studies in Anglican Church History at The University of the South School of Theology, Sewanee, in 2001. He also pursued studies in Art and Prayer at General Theological Seminary (GTS), New York City, in 2006, and studied liturgics In Asheville, N.C., from 2002 to 2005.
In 1998 he married Susan Weatherford, a poet, musician, avid gardener, and graduate of Berea College and University of Kentucky. They have one son, Jess.
Ordained a priest in 2002, Cole served as vicar at Church of the Advocate, a worshiping community of the Diocese of Western North Carolina for homeless in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. From 2005 to 2012, Cole was sub-dean at The Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville. He served as rector at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington, Kentucky, from 2012 until his election as bishop.
Cole has served as an instructor in Appalachian Religion, Faith and Practices, and Appalachian Religion and Culture, at Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa. N.C.; Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. Prior to his ordination as a priest, he served for seven years on the staff of the Appalachian Ministries Education Resource Center (AMERC) in Berea, Kentucky. Much of his work then involved teaching seminarians, listening to Appalachian leaders, both in and out of the Church, and learning how to read and appreciate the culture of the region.
He served on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church 2006-2012 and on the Executive Committee of the Executive Council 2009-2012.
He has chaired, facilitated, led, co-led and participated in numerous committees, training programs advisory boards, and retreats. Cole has twice served as a General Convention deputy – in 2006 and 2009. He is an associate of the Order of the Holy Cross.
Cole is an avid reader and runner, and loves listening to good jazz music. He ran the San Francisco Marathon in 2000 and ran the Shut-in Bridge Run in 2006 and 2008, which is considered to be the toughest trail race in the southeastern United States. The Bluegrass 10K is a road race routed directly by Good Shepherd and Cole ran it annually while living in Lexington.
Conference Role
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Noonday Prayer preacher
Biography
- Life Professed June 11, 2003
- Born in Alturas, California, a tiny town about as far northeast as you can get and still be in California.
- Served as Bursar twice. Shared the ministry in Eureka, California with Sister Alice.
- Ordained to the priesthood May 7, 2015
- Elected Sister Superior June 24, 2023
Conference Role
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Noonday Prayer officiant
Biography
Sr. Carina Elsa is a Cincinnati native and an alumna of Bethany School. She is a teacher, musician, and crafter. She works with the Spiritual Life team at Bethany. She is the chapel sacristan, and she is a member of the Music Selection Team for the Sisters’ services. She makes cards and gift items for the Transfiguration Gift Shop.
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Choral Evensong Officiant
Biography
The Rev. Canon Jane Gerdsen serves as the Rector of St. Barnabas Montgomery, a vibrant and growing church in a northern suburb of Cincinnati. She is an honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral. Previously, she spent ten years serving the Diocese of Southern Ohio as Canon for Ministry Development and as Missioner for Fresh Expressions, working to encourage new forms of Christian community. She has also served in a variety of other churches and communities in Southern Ohio.
Jane is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Episcopal Divinity School. She is an ICF trained coach, and has experience coaching dioceses, mission developers, clergy and lay leaders. She is a wife, and mother to two children and one dog and enjoys spending time hiking and gardening.
Conference Role
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Opening Eucharist preacher
Biography
The Very Rev. Owen C. Thompson grew up in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2003 at Christ Church Cathedral and spent 22 years in parish ministry in the Diocese of Long Island, New York, In 2021, he was called to serve in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, as the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Downtown Cincinnati.
Dean Thompson attributes much of his passion for ministry and his understanding of the role of the Church in the world to his time as a seminarian-intern at Trinity Wall Street during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2002, where he pastored to first responders and volunteers at ground zero at St. Paul’s Chapel.
He received his Master of Divinity degree from The General Theological Seminary, New York, NY, holds a Masters in Educational Communications and Technology from New York University’s School of Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Minor in Performing Arts from Hobart College, Geneva, NY.
Dean Thompson is the son of the late Rt. Reverend Herbert Thompson Jr., Bishop of Southern Ohio (ret.), whose ministry motto, “To reconcile. To heal. To Liberate. To Serve,” he has adopted as his own, and the late Russelle Cross Thompson, a former professional operatic soprano and an amazing mother. Dean Thompson is married to his wife of 23 years, Jonna Morales-Thompson, who is a Holistic Nutritionist; together, they have two sons, Ridley (16) and Carter (13), and two rescue dogs, Gabby and Leia. He is the middle child. His older brother, Herbert Thompson III, is a Captain in the United States Navy, and his younger sister, Kyrie Thompson, is a Registered Nurse at the Veteran’s Hospital in New City, NY.
In addition to his life and work in the Church, Dean Owen is also a community activist who is dedicated to works/causes that focus on reconciliation, peace, justice, equality, equity, food insecurity, homelessness, undoing racism, gun violence prevention, and creation care. When enjoying time off, he enjoys reading, riding, playing the djembe drum, hiking, “Netflixing,” and spending time with his family.
Conference Role
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Opening Eucharist Celebrant
Biography
Bishop Kristin Uffelman White was elected 10th Bishop of Southern Ohio on September 20, 2023 and ordained as bishop on February 17, 2024 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus.
Bishop White served as canon to the ordinary for congregational development and leadership in the neighboring Diocese of Indianapolis from 2018 until her election as bishop diocesan in 2023. She is a lifelong Episcopalian who was born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised in Prineville, Oregon. She served Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest and St. Augustine’s, Wilmette, both in the northern suburbs of Chicago, before joining the bishop’s staff in Indianapolis. She is a trainer and director in the College for Congregational Development, a church-based leadership training program, and served in various diocesan roles during her time in the Diocese of Chicago .
Before earning a master of divinity degree at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Bishop White was a high school English teacher in Oregon. She also holds an associate’s degree from Cottey College, a bachelor’s degree from Western Oregon University and a master of arts in teaching from Willamette University. She and her husband, John, are parents of an adult daughter, Katherine Grace, who lives in Germany.
Bishop White succeeds Bishop George Wayne Smith, who served as Southern Ohio’s bishop provisional from 2021 to 2024.
Presenters
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Trans voices workshop leader
Biography
Danielle Cozart Steele enjoys a multifaceted career as a soprano, conductor, researcher, and clinician. Danielle’s research involves the integration of transgender singers into their preferred-gender ensemble, vocal pedagogy for transgender singers, and the hybrid care of the transgender voice with cooperative treatment plans between medical practitioners and voice professionals. Danielle majored in vocal performance at Butler University (bachelor’s) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (master’s). She was awarded her master’s degree in music education at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City in 2024 and anticipates completing her doctorate in music education at TC in 2025. Danielle currently teaches voice at Butler University and is the artistic director of Vox Veritatis, a Cincinnati-based choral ensemble that focuses on building inclusive and beloved community, advancing music opportunities for all types of singers, and singing truth to power. www.DanielleMarieSteele.com; www.VoxVeritatis.org
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Conducting workshop and choral reading session leader
Biography
Recognized as a visionary conductor and creative artist, Joe Miller maintains an active performance schedule. Miller currently serves as Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). In addition to his work at CCM, Miller is artistic director of choral activities for the renowned Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina and since 2016 he has served as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir.
Featured works of Miller’s 2024-25 season CCM include touring with the CCM Chamber Choir with Bach’s Singet dem Herrn, Mahler Symphony Nr. 2, Resurrection (Mark Gibson), Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brett Scott), and a residency with renowned Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds. Works with the Philadelphia Orchestra include Mahler, Symphony Nr. 3 (Yannick Nézet-Séguin), and Verdi Requiem (Ricardo Muti), and Handel, Messiah (Yannick Nézet-Séguin). Miller will close the 2024-25 season with new works and projects for the Spoleto Festival USA. Finally, last season marked the premier of MAESTRO a collaboration with Bradley Cooper and Netflix featuring the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir and the music of Leonard Bernstein. The music has been released on Deutsche Grammaphon and the movie received a Best Picture Nomination for the Academy Awards.
Miller made his conducting debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2021 conducting Handel’s Messiah. Recent collaborations with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra have included premier performances of Kevin Puts’ The Hours with Renée Flemming, Kelli O’Hara and Jennifer Johnson. The 2024 Philadelphia Symphonic Choir’s performances in Carnegie Hall and at Marion Anderson Hall celebrated Nathalie Stutzmann’s long collaboration as Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
After viewing a staged performance of Joby Talbot’s demanding Path of Miracles at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA, D.C. Theatre Scene wrote, “Joe Miller is a fearless artist. His bold leadership and trust in these young singers enabled his choristers to forego the ‘stand and deliver,’ score-bound habits of their genre and ‘walk with him’ on this special journey. Not only did the singers need to memorize their parts, no mean feat, but follow his baton’s bid from any part of the auditorium and sing in any body position. Miller constantly challenged them in the process and inspired them to work confidently, well outside their comfort zone.”
Miller’s ensembles have performed throughout the world giving concert tours in Italy, Germany, Austria, France, England, China, and Spain, participating in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona. His choirs have toured extensively throughout the United States performing for the American Choral Director’s Association National and Regional Conferences, and including groundbreaking performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project.
Miller has been praised for his recordings. American Record Guide wrote about, Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir, “This is gorgeous singing … with perfect blend, intonation, diction, ensemble and musicality.” The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Daniel Elder was hailed by Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical Notes as “simply astounding.” Miller’s debut recording with the Westminster Choir, Flower of Beauty, received four stars from Choir & Organ magazine and earned critical praise from American Record Guide, which described the Westminster Choir as “the gold standard for academic choirs in America.”
Miller has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, earning him critical praise. After a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cleveland Orchestra, The New York Times wrote about his choir’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Joe Miller’s Westminster Symphonic Choir was subtle when asked and powerful when turned loose.” Recent seasons have included performances with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle; The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel.
From 2006-20, Miller served as Professor of Conducting and director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Previous faculty appointments have included Western Michigan University and California State University, Stanislaus. He received his DMA in Choral Conducting with a cognate in Voice from CCM in 1997. He received his MM in Choral Conducting from CCM in 1992. In 1987, he graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Music Education and Voice.
Conference Role
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Lunchtime carrilonneur
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Creating a Healthy Choir Environment: Balancing Musical Excellence and Compassionate Leadership
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Conference Committee member
Biography
Ben Owen is a Cincinnati-based conductor, composer, pianist, and organist with a pastoral nature and a verve for sacred music. Born and raised in Iowa, Ben brings a caring, neighborly, yet firm approach to all of his musical endeavors, endearing him to musicians of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds. In addition to his role as Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Camerata, Ben serves as the Director of Music Ministries and Choirmaster at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church in Cincinnati where he conducts two weekly adult choirs and oversees a comprehensive music ministry and staff. Previously, he served as the conductor of Canticum Novum, a semi-professional project choir based in Eastern Iowa, as well as in a number of church and public school positions throughout Iowa. Ben holds a Bachelor of Music in Choral/General Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Arts in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he also served as a teaching assistant and accompanist to his teachers, Dr. Timothy Stalter and Dr. David Puderbaugh.
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Creating a Healthy Choir Environment: Balancing Musical Excellence and Compassionate Leadership
Biography
In recent years at CCM, John Deaver has taught the two-year Organ Repertoire Paul Owen earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy and Master of Science in Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Western Illinois University. Paul enjoys working with children, adults, couples, and families. He has experience in various settings such as private practice, pediatric, adult, and geriatric inpatient mental health, hospitals, hospice, schools, assisted living, and other senior living communities. He uses a person-centered, culturally sensitive, and holistic approach to build a therapeutic relationship and develop an environment where clients feel safe and comfortable exploring the concerns that brought them to counseling. In his free time, Paul enjoys cooking, playing video games, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Conference Role
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Collegium Cincinnati director
Biography
Matthew Phelps is in his third season as the Artistic Director of Collegium Cincinnati. He is also the Minister of Music at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN and the principal conductor of the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra. At Collegium Cincinnati, he leads a professional choral and instrumental ensemble known for early and new music performances, including an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, considered the beginning of Cincinnati’s Christmas concert season. Phelps’ performances have been described as “Clear and joyous…inspired…superbly prepared” (Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Business Courier), “beautifully prepared” (Mary Ellen Hutton, Cincinnati Post), “beautifully shaped” (David Katz, Chief Judge of the American Prize), and “moving and deeply meaningful.” (Walter Bitner, On the Podium)
At West End, he conducts the Chancel Choir, performs major concerts with orchestra, and leads a comprehensive program that includes two adult choirs, four choirs for children and youth, and two handell choirs. For 8 seasons he was the founder and artistic director of the professional chamber choir Vocal Arts Nashville and led the group in performances through the middle TN region, including a debut recording: O Love, the Music of Elaine Hagenberg. He has had regular conducting engagements with the Nashville Concerto Orchestra, the Mozart Birthday Festival Orchestra, and the Nashville Ballet. He has also served on the faculties of Vanderbilt University, Lipscomb University, and Xavier University.
Phelps received his degrees in conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he studied with Earl Rivers, Brett Scott and Mark Gibson. He has the rare distinction of winning awards in three separate disciplines (piano, organ, and conducting), including the 2015 American Prize in Choral Conducting.
Conference Role
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Choral Evensong conductor
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Choral condcucting worskhop and choral reading session leader
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Conference Committee memberr
Biography
Brett Scott is Professor of Ensembles and Conducting at the UC College-Conservatory of Music, where he conducts the CCM Chorale, teaches conducting and literature at the graduate and undergraduate level, and is Music Director of Opera d’arte, CCM’s undergraduate opera company. Under his direction, the CCM Chorale released its first commercial recording, Lux Dei, through Ablaze Records, and has begun production of its second recording, focusing on sacred music for choir and electronics. Chorale has given multiple regional and world premieres by both American and international composers, including the 2015 revival performance of Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice, the 2016 regional premiere of Abyssinian Mass by Wynton Marsalis and the North American premiere of Stabat Mater by Ivan Moody, and the 2018 North American premiere is Fredrick Sixten’s St. John Passion. In 2019 Chorale will give the American premiere of Andrew Staniland’s Dark Star Requiem and create the world premiere recording of the English version of Sixten’s St. John Passion. Under his direction Opera d’arte has won numerous awards through the National Opera Association. His conducting students have on multiple occasions reached the finals of the ACDA graduate student conducting competition and have been regularly selected to participate in Chorus America masterclasses.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Cincinnati, Scott was Director of Choral Activities at the University of Rochester and Assistant Professor of Music at the Eastman School of Music. Comfortable in front of a wide range of ensembles, Scott currently directs Cincinnati’s Musica Sacraand is the Musical Director of Coro Volante, a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance and recording of music by living composers. Under his direction the group has released two recordings through Ablaze records, with two more expected over the next year.
Scott has conducted and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Central America and Europe. An acknowledged expert on contemporary music, he is in demand internationally as a lecturer on Canadian music and has presented at several national and international conferences. He was editor of Chorus America’s Research Memorandum Series, an Associate Editor of NCCO’s The Choral Scholar, and is a contributor to the most recent Grove Dictionary of American Music. His authorized biography of composer, educator and soundscape activist R. Murray Schafer was published by Rowman and Littlefield in March of 2019.
Scott currently serves as President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and a member of the jury for the American Choral Director Association’s Julius Hereford Prize.