Speakers and Performers
Nina Kraus
Wednesday Plenary Speaker
Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. She is a scientist, inventor, and amateur musician who uses hearing as a window into brain health. She began her career...
Vu Le
Friday Plenary Speaker
Vu Le is the author of the blog NonprofitAF, formerly Nonprofit With Balls. He is the executive director of Seattle-based nonprofit Rainier Valley Corps, whose mission is tackling systemic injustice by developing leaders of color, strengthening...
Andre Dowell
Saturday Plenary Speaker
Andre Dowell is a strategic arts administrator and thought leader who helps drive national programming and conversations around diversity in classical music. He currently serves as chief programming officer for the Sphinx Organization, the...
Arianne Abela
Arianne Abela (founder of Justice Choir-Detroit) is currently on conducting faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and is founder and director of the Detroit Women's Chorus, an ensemble dedicated to social-justice and community empowerment. She is director the Fort Street Chorale, and...
Jennifer Anderson
Jennifer M. Anderson is the director of music at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the founding artistic director of VocalPoint, an 80-voice auditioned choir that uses the power of people, art, and collaboration to tell the stories of organizations doing...
Ahmed Anzaldúa
Ahmed Fernando Anzaldúa (co-editor, Justice Choir Songbook) is a Mexican-Egyptian conductor and pianist who enjoys championing the works of new composers and exploring his unique combined musical heritage. He is founder and artistic director of Border CrosSing, a professional chamber choral...
Sarah Bartolome
Dr. Sarah J. Bartolome, an assistant professor of music education at Northwestern University, is a children’s music specialist with an interest in choral culture globally. An active choral conductor, Dr. Bartolome has conducted for such prestigious youth choirs as the Greater Boston Youth Chorus...
Christopher Bell
Now in his 17th Season with the Grant Park Music Festival, Christopher Bell has served as Chorus Director of the Grant Park Chorus since 2002. Bell oversees a chorus of more than 100 singers, along with the Apprentice Chorale made up of young singers from local universities. Bell prepares all of...
Melissa Berliner
As a vice president at the nonprofit fundraising and communications consulting firm Campbell & Company, Melissa Berliner has the proven ability to quickly identify the core challenges facing clients and develop tailored, innovative strategies to address them. Collaborating with individuals...
Bud Beyer
Bud Beyer, Professor Emeritus in Theatre, Northwestern University, joined the faculty in 1972 and served as head of the acting program until 1989, when he was chosen to chair the Department of Theatre. He stepped down as chair in 2002, and retired from Northwestern in 2008. Professor Beyer was...
William Beyerl
Mr. Beyerl is a retired executive with over 40 years of retail management experience. During his career he worked in all facets from buying to store operations and human resources and payroll. His experience covers strategic planning & budgeting, P & L accountability, marketing, contract...
Harold Black
Harold G. Black has been a member of the Bach Choir board of managers since 2003, and currently serves as president. During his tenure on the board he has served as chair of the guarantor, marketing, and strategic planning committees. Mr. Black was an executive at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc...
Travis Branam
Travis is a dedicated, organized, hard-working individual who genuinely cares about the students and artists he works with. He is honest, reliable, and has a very welcoming presence that puts the people around him at ease. His teaching methods make it easy for people of all ages to learn, and...
Jeanie Brindley-Barnett
Jeanie Brindley-Barnett is a respected pioneer and leader in the field of arts and aging. She was a presenter, mentor, and development chair of curriculum with ArtSage, whose work was supported in a three-year Minnesota State Arts Board Professional Development Initiative program, where she...
Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown is the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the leading professional choral arts organization in the country and a resident company of Walt Disney Concert Hall. As COO, he leads the Master Chorale’s artistic production, marketing, and education departments, and...
Marie Bucoy-Calavan
Marie Bucoy-Calavan has conducted a diverse range of ensembles, from primary and secondary level choirs, to community, collegiate, and professional choruses and opera productions. Bucoy-Calavan finished her bachelor of arts in music and master of music in choral conducting at California State...
Tom Dean
Tom Dean is the classroom and choral editor for J.W. Pepper. Prior to working for Pepper, he taught instrumental and choral music as well as audio engineering at the high school level in Delaware public schools for 32 years. He is a member of ACDA and is active in the Delaware Music Educators...
Rhett DelCampo
With an extensive background in piano and percussion performance and deep experience in all facets of the arts industry, Rhett began his tenure as executive director of Seraphic Fire in August 2014. Since taking over, he has focused on solidifying the organization’s infrastructure, from board...
Christina Deaton DeMarea
Christina Deaton DeMarea is currently chief operating officer of Chicago Children’s Choir, the nation’s largest choral music education organization which serves nearly 5,000 youth each year in all 57 zip codes of Chicago. From 1997-2007, Christina served as executive director of Chicago Children...
Erica Edwards
Erica Lynette Edwards joined The Joffrey Ballet in 2000, fulfilling her dream of becoming a ballerina. After a rewarding 15-year career, she hung up her pointe shoes and became the director of community engagement at The Joffrey Ballet. In this role, Erica is responsible for managing all Joffrey...
Ēriks Ešenvalds
Hailing from Latvia, Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977) is one of the most sought-after composers working today, with a busy commission schedule and performances of his music heard on every continent. After studying at the Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary and the Latvian Academy of Music, he was a...
Bob Fealy
Bob Fealy is founding managing director of Limerick Investments. For over two decades, he has been involved with early stage technology companies, having founded Duchossois Technology Partners and serving as Chairman of the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund and Chicago Ventures. In 1986, he...
Scott Foss
Scott Foss, known throughout the United States as a conductor and clinician of both sacred and secular choral music, is the classical and concert choral editor for Hal Leonard Publishing, the world’s largest music publisher. In that role, he manages choral publications for G.Schirmer, Boosey...
David Fraher
David Fraher has dedicated his creative skill to building and leading arts organizations and programs throughout the United States. His primary focus for more than 30 years has been at the helm of Arts Midwest where he serves as president & CEO. Under David’s leadership, Arts Midwest has...