Speakers & Performers
Gail Eichenthal
Opening Plenary Speaker
Gail Eichenthal is Chief Engagement Officer and a member of the senior management team for the USC Radio Group, which includes KDFC San Francisco, KUSC Los Angeles, and their repeater stations. She oversees community engagement, arts leader...
James W. Newton Jr.
Opening Plenary Speaker James Newton’s work encompasses chamber, symphonic, and electronic music genres, compositions for ballet and modern dance, and numerous jazz and world music contexts. Mr. Newton has been the recipient of many awards, fellowships and grants, including the...
Vijay Gupta
Friday Morning Plenary Speaker
Vijay Gupta is a violinist and renowned advocate for the regenerative presence of artistic voices in social issues. Gupta joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2007 at the age of 19, after having completed an undergraduate degree in biology...
Terrence McNally
Closing Plenary Speaker
A few years after graduating from Harvard, Terrence McNally left his role as founding director of a Boston secondary school for Los Angeles and the entertainment industry in search of larger audiences. After twenty years as an...
Nilo Alcala
Nilo Alcala’s compositions and arrangements have been performed in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He is the first Philippine-born composer to receive the prestigious Aaron Copland House Residency Award (2017), as well as be commissioned and premiered by the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles...
Hilary Apfelstadt
Hilary Apfelstadt is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Conducting at the University of Toronto where she was named the inaugural Faculty Teaching Excellence Award winner in 2013. She holds the Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting. She is also artistic director of the Exultate Chamber...
Tim Carpenter
Tim Carpenter founded EngAGE in 1999, and is host and producer of the Experience Talks radio show. EngAGE is a nonprofit that changes aging and the way people think about aging by transforming senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness and creativity. ...
Andrew Clark
Andrew Clark is the Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer on Music at Harvard University. He serves as the Music Director and Conductor of the Harvard–Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Harvard Glee Club, the Radcliffe Choral Society, and the Harvard Summer Chorus and teaches courses in...
Julia Cole
As Director of Institutional Giving at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Julia works to secure foundation, corporate foundation, and government funds. Under Julia’s leadership, the LA Phil has enjoyed a 190% increase in funding from foundations, corporations, and government agencies over...
Omar Crook
As host and producer of the Living With A Genius with Omar Crook podcast, Mr. Crook continues to release interviews with notable musicians, composers, entertainers, and administrators on a weekly basis. Past guests include composers Eric Whitacre, Shawn Kirchner, and Dale Trumbore,...
Ceci Dadisman
Ceci Dadisman is a multi-faceted marketing professional with over 10 years of experience successfully marketing the arts, nonprofits, and small businesses utilizing innovative and cutting-edge initiatives. She is nationally recognized as a leader in digital and social media marketing and...
Caron Daley
Caron Daley is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University, where she conducts the Voices of Spirit, Women’s Pappert Chorale, and University Singers, and teaches undergraduate and graduate choral conducting. A native...
Jean Davidson
Jean Davidson is President & CEO of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Previously, she spent 15 years in chief executive roles working alongside renowned artistic directors Bill T. Jones of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Yo-Yo Ma with the Silk Road Project. In 2011, as chief...
Lindsey Deaton
Lindsey Deaton is a conductor, guitarist, singer, speaker, and a fierce transgender and LGBTIQ youth advocate. Mrs. Deaton is the Founder/Artistic Director of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles (TCLA), which empowers Trans and gender non-binary people to discover and love their voices, and by using...
Morna Edmundson
Morna Edmundson is the artistic director of Elektra Women’s Choir and one of Canada’s best-known choral conductors and has a strong reputation for excellence. Passionate since childhood about choral singing, she obtained degrees and diplomas in vocal music in Vancouver, Bellingham, and Stockholm...
Brandon Elliott
Brandon Elliott is a conductor, tenor, music educator, and arts entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Choral Arts Initiative, which has garnered regional and national attention. Under his leadership, Choral Arts Initiative has been ranked as one of Orange County's "Best Choirs...
Lee Gallagher
Lee Gallagher's integrated marketing approach cuts through the cacophony of marketing messaging to deliver rock solid ROI. His efforts have placed him as a leader in strategy and design to some of the world's most highly respected brands.
Lee is frequently known to say, "The difficult is...
Vance George
Vance George is internationally recognized as one of America’s leading choral conductors. Under his direction the San Francisco Symphony Chorus has been hailed as one of the finest in the world. On their behalf he has accepted four Grammy Awards: Best Performance of a Choral Work for Orff’s ...
David Gindler
David Gindler is a senior partner at the law firm of Irell & Manella, where he specializes in intellectual property litigation and licensing. A native of Los Angeles, David is an ardent supporter of the performing arts. He serves as Chairman of the Boards of the Los Angeles Master Chorale...
Karen Graham
Karen is a sought-after speaker, trainer, writer, and consultant with expertise in technology leadership and innovation, nonprofit software, and digital strategy. As Idealware's executive director she leads a team of researchers, presenters, and writers who create technology information...
Cristian Grases
Venezuelan native Cristian Grases joined the University of Southern California faculty in the Fall 2010 semester and is currently an associate professor of choral music and conductor of the USC Thornton Concert Choir. As a sought-after conductor, clinician, academic, and adjudicator, he has...
Ryan Guth
Having spent most of his middle and high school career in detention, Ryan Guth loves to speak to audiences about ways for choral directors to engage the seemingly un-engageable.
Ryan learned fearlessness and indomitable spirit from a young age through many years studying the martial arts...
Joshua Habermann
Joshua Habermann is in his ninth season as Music Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Since joining the ensemble he has broadened its repertoire to include not only a cappella literature but also choral-orchestral masterworks, and unique concert experiences that combine music, poetry, and...
John C. Hughes
John C. Hughes is assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Ripon College in Wisconsin. In addition to conducting the college’s choirs, Hughes teaches conducting, choral methods, and private voice lessons. Outside of Ripon College, he is in demand as a clinician and honor...