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ACDA Coastal Regional Honor Choir 2011
Chairperson: Anthony Dehner 2 School Way
Coastal Mixed Choir - Dr. John Dickson John Dickson is Dean of the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia where he also teaches in the graduate program as Professor of Conducting. He conducts the Masterworks Chorus of Mercer, and is the founder and conductor of Coro Vocati, a new professional chamber choir based in the Atlanta area. Internationally known as a conducting pedagogue, Dr. Dickson has presented master-classes before the Association of British Choral Directors and the Russian State Music Conservatories of St. Petersburg and Moscow, served as adjudicator for international choral festivals, and conducted workshops throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Finland, France, and Canada. He has served as conductor and guest clinician for numerous state, regional, and national ACDA conventions, All-State choruses, and choral festivals around the world. Prior to his Mercer appointment he was the Director of Choral Studies and Chair of the Conducting Division at Texas Tech University where he conducted the University Choir, Madrigal Singers and the Lubbock Chorale, and supervised the D.M.A., Ph.D., and M.M. programs in choral conducting. Over his eight-year tenure, his Texas Tech University Choir was regularly featured at outstanding choral venues around the world. The most recent include the 2008 Texas Music Educators Association conference in San Antonio. Notable composers Eric Whitacre and Stephen Paulus have featured the Choir in workshops. In January 2007, the Choir was selected for the National Endowment of the Arts American Masterpieces Music Festival – Crossing the Divide: Exploring Influence and Finding Our Voice, Austin, Texas. For the 2007 England tour the Choir presented evensong services at St. Paul’s and St. Alban’s, London, and was the service choir for the Cambridge choral workshop at St. John’s College. Other significant performances include the 2005 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) national convention in Los Angeles, preceded by invitational performances for the TMEA conference in San Antonio and the ACDA Southwest Regional convention in Little Rock in 2004. In 2002, the Choir represented the U.S. as the only American choir selected to perform for the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD) national convention in York, England. During his tenure in Louisville, KY, Dr. Dickson was also the founder and musical director of Coro Favoriti, a professional chamber vocal ensemble. The ensemble received notable plaudits for a recording of Leonarda Isabella’s Missa Op. 16 with the highly acclaimed Baroque instrumental chamber ensemble, Ars Femina. Appointed as a Visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge University, Dr. Dickson sang with Sir David Willcocks and The Bach Choir in London. A second post-doctoral fellowship allowed him to serve as David Hill’s assistant conductor for The Bach Choir. Dr. Dickson’s work as chorus-master with The Bach Choir chamber ensemble resulted in a recording of Handel’s L’Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato with John Nelson and his Ensemble Orchestral de Paris on EMI’s Virgin Classics. As chorus-master, Dr. Dickson has prepared choirs for other distinguished conductors including Sir David Willcocks, Michael Tilson Thomas, Lawrence Leighton Smith, Max Bragado-Darman, and David Hill. He was the founder and Artistic Director for the Cambridge University, St. John’s College /Texas Tech University Summer Choral Institute. Dr. Dickson is also the Founding Director of the C. S. Lewis Foundation’s Oxbridge Choral Institute, a professional chorus serving the triennial symposium in Oxford and Cambridge. He served on the Editorial Board of The Choral Journal, as editor of the sacred music column, “Hallelujah.” The Choral Journal and The Mastersinger have published several of his articles on conducting and church music. His most recent article, “The Crossroads of our Calling,” appeared in the April 2009 issue of The Choral Journal. He was a past Vice-President for the Texas Choral Directors Association. A strong advocate for church music and a church musician for more than thirty years, he served most recently as director of music for St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Lubbock prior to his appointment at Mercer University. Fifteen years as the Director of Choral Studies at the former graduate school of church music at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, Dr. Dickson championed artistic, graduate church music education. He holds the D.M.A. degree in choral conducting from The University of Texas at Austin, the M.M. degree in musicology from Baylor University, and has done post-doctoral study at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.
Coastal Womens Choir - Buddy James Buddy James is Associate Professor of Music at California State University, East Bay where he is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and Coordinator of Vocal Music Education. He has taught at the University of Southern California, the University of California at Berkeley and Irvine, Whittier College, Elizabethtown College, and Millersville University, where he was named Person of the Year in 2004. Having taught all age groups in both public and private schools, he is a frequent adjudicator and clinician for competitions, workshops and festivals, and recent trips have taken him to Latin America, Europe and Asia. In 2007 he guest conducted Pro Musica Vilnius in Lithuania in a program of American music, and his ensembles represented the United States at the 2005 and 2008 World Choral Festivals in Puebla, México and in Vilnius in 2009 in celebration of the anniversary of Pro Music Vilnius and Vilnius' designation as the European Capital of Culture. Dr. James has conducted performances for The Lancaster Opera Company, The San Francisco Bay Area Chamber Choir, Composers Inc., The University of California, Irvine Symphony Orchestra, the Whittier Bach Festival, musicanovus, the University of Akron New Music Ensemble, and was music director of the CSU East Bay Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2010. In addition to conducting, he has appeared as a baritone soloist in recital and on stage, including performances with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and on national radio broadcasts of the Cleveland Orchestra from the Blossom Music Festival and Severance Hall. He has performed as a member of the Robert Page Cleveland Singers, San Francisco Choral Artists, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Creative Voices. Dr. James holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree from the University of Southern California, and received honors and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Akron. He attended the University of California, Irvine as a Chancellor's Fellow, receiving the Master of Fine Arts degree in Choral Music. He is the former Artistic Administrator for the arts organization Artists Now, is a founding member and President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and serves on the board for Intercollegiate Men's Choruses.
Cal ACDA Honor Choir Chair: Shirley Nute shirleyb2@earthlink.net
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