New and Returning Bloggers for Fall 2015

I'm so pleased to announce the people submitting blog posts for ChoralNet this fall!  

 

Tim Sharp is back on the blogging roster with a first post yesterday.  I'm thrilled to see what Tim will be sharing.  As the Executive Director for ACDA, he has incredible insights into the world of choral music and the direction for our national organization.  Tim will be blogging on Monday of each week.

 

On Tuesday, we will hear from Julie Parsons, who Julie Parsons is the conductor of the Snoqualmie Valley Girls' Choir, the musical director and worship coordinator for Maplewood Presbyterian Church, and the organizer of the Rain City (Seattle) chapter of Beer Choir. She is a founding member of the Mägi Ensemble (a professional choir specializing in music from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). She also works with the ACDA Educational Technology Committee and is an active musical director at local community theaters. Julie was recently elected as ACDA President for the state of Washington.  

 

It looks as though Julie and I will be sharing the Tuesday slot.

 

On Wednesday, Marie Grass Amenta will again share her insights. After a twenty year career teaching, conducting a community children's chorus and a rather substantial church position, Marie Grass Amenta chucked it all to found a semi-professional chamber choir , the Midwest Motet Society, based in the southern suburbs of Chicago. This has left her time to freelance, both as a soprano soloist and conductor, with a private voice studio in addition to her chamber choir. She writes the occasional program notes for various music organizations, lectures on music inclusion and mentors special interest/special needs choirs. She has written articles for parent support groups about raising a child with special needs. Her series here on ChoralNet on "Choral Ethics" will be the basis of a book on the subject. Marie has been a ChoralNet Moderator since 2011. Married to the long-suffering Dr. Charles Amenta, an ENT physician, for over thirty years, they are the parents of three sons.  

 

Thursday brings Lisa Billingham., an Associate Professor at George Mason University where she teaches courses in Choral Music Education and Conducting. She is the Director of Graduate Studies for the School of Music and the Past-President of Virginia ACDA. Dr. Billingham, a Certified Laban Movement Analyst is active as a clinician and specializes in pedagogy and research related to Laban. She resides in Centreville, Virginia with her husband Jay and Bogart the cat.

 

 

Jack Senzig continues his Sunday series of featuring new choral music called the Composer's Spotlight. He is the owner/editor of the Composers of Choral Music Community on ChoralNet and he created and administers the Composition Showcase and has authored the Composer of the Month blog series.