Jessica Nápoles has been elected as the president-elect for ACDA. Nápoles will begin her term as the President-elect on July 1, 2025. She will immediately join the ACDA National Board as an ex officio member until her term begins. She will serve as the ACDA President in 2029.
Jessica Nápoles is Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of North Texas. She teaches undergraduate coursework in choral methods, conducts the Concert Choir, and mentors graduate students in research. As an administrator, Dr. Nápoles served as Interim division chair for Conducting & Ensembles, Interim division chair for Music Education, and Interim division chair for Voice Studies. A native of Florida with a Cuban-American background, Dr. Napoles taught middle school chorus in the public schools of Miami and Orlando, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music Education, and PhD in Music Education from the Florida State University. Prior to her appointment at UNT, she taught at the University of Utah for 11 years.
Dr. Nápoles is an active choral conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, frequently engaging in guest conducting opportunities locally, regionally, and nationally. She has conducted All State and honor choirs in 25 states across the United States. She has conducted the Southern, North Central/Central, Eastern, and Western division honor choirs for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In 2019, Dr. Nápoles was conductor for the WorldStrides OnStage Honors Performance Series in Carnegie Hall. She was asked to return in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and in 2024 conducted the National Youth Choir.
In addition to her identity as a choral conductor, Dr. Nápoles is a well-known researcher, with numerous publications in journals such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and the International Journal of Music Education. She served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education, the premier research journal in music education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Journal of Music Teacher Education. Her research interests center on testing practitioner practices empirically, expressive conducting, burnout, perfectionism, and teacher talk. She has presented at conferences on these topics nationally and internationally. She is presently serving on NAfME’s Executive board of the Society for Research in Music Education.
Dr. Nápoles is meaningfully engaged with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) at the national level. She is currently the Chair of the Research & Publications Standing Committee. Additionally, she served as Assistant Conference Chair for the 2019 and 2021 conferences, the Honor Choir Coordinator for the 2015 and 2017 conferences, and she is currently the co-chair of the 2025 Dallas national conference. Dr. Nápoles led the writing team of the ACDA COVID-19 task force that drafted a document to assist choral directors at all levels during the pandemic. At the state level, she was on the executive boards of ACDA Utah and Florida ACDA, as R&S Chair for Ethnic & Multicultural Affairs.
Learn more about Dr. Nápoles by listening to Episode #4 of the ACDA podcast on Spotify and Apple podcast. CLICK HERE to read her written statement.
ACDA also extends our sincere gratitude to Vincent Oakes, who served as the other candidate on the election slate. We thank Vic for his service to the profession and the work he has done and will continue to do to for ACDA.
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