ACDA Welcomes New Region Presidents, and Thanks Outgoing Region Leadership

ACDA region leadership changed over on July 1. Welcome to our new region presidents!

Christopher Kiver, Eastern Region President. Dr. Kiver is Director of Choral Activities at Penn State. There, he conducts the Concert Choir and Glee Club, oversees the graduate choral conducting program, and teaches classes in choral conducting and choral literature. He is Director of Music at the University Baptist and Brethren Church in State College and has served as founder and director of The Orpheus Singers and guest conductor of the Pennsylvania Center Orchestra. Kiver is a graduate of the University of London, Florida State University, and the University of Michigan where he received the D.M.A. in choral conducting. A native of England, he has received numerous prizes and scholarships including a Fulbright Award, and the 2002 Sydney World Symposium Foundation Conducting Scholarship. In 2006, he was a double Grammy Award winner (“Best Choral Performance” and “Best Classical Album”) as a chorus master for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s monumental Songs of Innocence and of Experience. He is former national chair for the Repertoire & Resources Committee on Men’s/TTBB choirs, and a past president of Pennsylvania ACDA.

Jeffrey Allen Murdock, Southwestern Region President. Dr. Murdock currently serves as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas. He is the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year. With research interests inclusive 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 ACDA, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the International Society for Music Education (ISME). Murdock is past president of Arkansas ACDA, and serves on the national diversity subcommittee. In addition to being an accomplished conductor of western choral music, Murdock is also a skilled gospel musician and conductor. He has served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., and has collaborated with numerous world-renown Gospel recording artists. 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, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in music education from the University of Memphis.

David Puderbaugh, Midwestern Region President. Dr. Puderbaugh is Assistant Director of Choral Activities at the University of Iowa, where he conducts University Choir, teaches graduate choral literature and undergraduate choral conducting, advises D.M.A. theses, and assists in administration of the choral program. He is also Associate Director of the School of Music, overseeing the graduate program.  He served as editor of the Recorded Sound Reviews column for ACDA’s Choral Journal, and as editor of Melisma, the newsletter of North Central Region ACDA. In addition to his conducting and scholarly activities, Puderbaugh is an active tenor soloist. Puderbaugh holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Drake University, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa.

Stanley Roberts, Southern Region President. Dr. Roberts is the Arthur Lowndes Rich Professor of Choral Conducting and Director of Choral Studies in the Townsend School of Music of Mercer University. Roberts conducts the Mercer Singers and Mercer Women’s Chamber Choir while teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, choral literature, and techniques. He is Conductor and Artistic Director of the Choral Society of Middle Georgia, an 80-voiced ensemble that collaborates with the Mercer University Choir for performances of major choral/orchestral works.  He currently serves as Minister of Music at the First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia. Highly regarded as a clinician, he has conducted All-State Choirs, Honor Choirs, and Festival Choruses throughout the United States, England, and Europe.

Michael Short, Western Region President. Short serves as Choral Music Director at Orange High School in Orange, California. While at Orange High School, he has also taught choral ensembles at Santa Ana and Santiago Community Colleges and music education classes for Hope University International Studies program. Short is the founder and musical director of the Orange Community Master Chorale. Short’s choral groups—school and church—have appeared in two feature films, Ed Wood and Sister Act 2 and performed musical voice-over for a movie about Stan Lee. He received his Bachelor of Music from Chapman College and his Master of Music degree in choral conducting fro California State University, Fullerton. Short  served on the organizing committee for Western Region conferences for over twelve years.

Dr. Steven Zielke continues to serve as Northwestern Region president.

Finally, and certainly not least, we thank our former region presidents for their skillful and dedicated service to ACDA! These past two years were challenging, and ACDA and our regions continue to flourish in no small part due to the excellent and innovative leadership of the following, and now former, region presidents:

• Penelope Cruz, Eastern Region
• Lou De La Rosa, Western Region
• Connie Drosakis, Southern Region
• Mary Evers, Midwestern Region
• Ryan Sullivan, Southwestern Region