Thank you for listening to our show this season!!

Here are the favorite choral pieces from our guests in the sixth season:
Christ lag in Todesbanden by Johann Sebastian Bach
Agnus Dei - Samuel Barber
Missa Solemnis - Ludwig van Beethoven
Chichester Psalms - Leonard Bernstein
Ein Deutsches Requiem - Johannes Brahms
Os Justi - Anton Bruckner
A Jubilant Song - Norman Dello-Joio
Requiem - Maurice Duruflé
“Kyrie” from Requiem - Maurice Duruflé
All Things New - Elaine Hagenberg
The Seasons - Joseph Haydn
Dirait-on - Morten Lauridsen
Sure on This Shining Night - Morten Lauridsen
Requiem - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
All-Night Vigil - Sergei Rachmaninoff
I Will Lift Thine Eyes - Jake Runestad
At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners - Williametta Spencer
Dum Transisset Sabbatum - John Taverner
Perhaps - Dale Trumbore - 2x
Dona Nobis Pacem - Ralph Vaughan Williams
I Thank You God for Most This Amazing Day - Eric Whitacre
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine - Eric Whitacre
Annelies - James Whitbourn
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - arr. Mack Wilberg

Here are the composers that our guests suggested you check out:
Kim André Arnesen
Alex Berko
Margaret Bonds
Johannes Brahms
Jennifer Lucy Cook
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
Kate Crellin
Kenter Davies
Norman Dello Joio
Laura Farnell
Robert Gibson
Matt Goldstein
Anthony Gray
Joseph Haydn
Cyrillus Kreek
David Mailman
Joanna Marsh
Felix Mendelssohn
Darius Milhaud
MaryAnne Muglia (our guest on Choir Fam Ep. 124)
Nyi Nyi Myin
Stephen Paulus
Henry Purcell
Judy Rose
Moira Smiley
Diana Syrse
Timothy Takach (our guest on Choir Fam Ep. 34-35)
Patrick Vu

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“It’s not until you’re leading an ensemble that you really figure out how to make the music happen and how to motivate the people around you. It’s humbling in a lot of ways, and it’s so gratifying. As a conductor, you’re providing the framework for musicians to do their best work. Both in the way that you structure rehearsal and the gestures that you are showing the music through, you’re creating a scaffolding, inviting people in, and collaborating together. Ideally, you’re creating a situation where everybody has ownership of the musical process and the musical result as well.”

Grant Gershon currently celebrates his 25th season as the Kiki and David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, which he has turned into the "best-by-far major chorus in America” (Los Angeles Times). Earlier in 2026, Grant and the Chorale were honored to receive their second Grammy™ Award for Best Choral Performance, and they have been nominated 3 times in the last 5 years in this category. In 2025 the Chorale was featured on the Academy Awards ceremony, broadcast to over 19 million viewers around the world.

A champion of new music, Grant led the world premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at the San Francisco Opera. He also conducted its European premier at the Dutch National Opera. As Resident Conductor of LA Opera, Grant conducted the West Coast premiere of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha, and he led the world premiere of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino, subsequently released on Sony Classical Records.

Among the highpoints of his tenure with the LA Master Chorale, he twice opened the famed Salzburg Festival—with Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro in 2019 and Heinrich Schütz’ Music to Accompany a Departure in 2023. He and the Chorale also performed these works to enormous acclaim in London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago and New Zealand.

Grant’s discography with the Chorale includes recordings of music by Billy Childs, Nico Muhly, Henrik Gorecki, David Lang, and Steve Reich. He has also led the Chorale in performances for motion picture soundtracks, including, at the request of John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

In New York, Grant has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Trinity Wall Street. Other major appearances include performances at the Ravinia, Aspen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Salzburg, and Vienna festivals; Teatro Colon in Buenos Aries, the Barbican in London and the Paris Philharmonie. He has worked closely with numerous legendary conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, and his mentor, Esa-Pekka Salonen.

To get in touch with Grant, you can email him at ggershon@lamasterchorale.org or find him on Instagram (@the_gershmeister).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“This is a way to understand how the voice operates in all its parts – perceptually, physiologically, and acoustically -- so that we can learn to stop doing things that are unnecessary for a particular outcome. A lot of people get worried when they hear anything talking about muscles or working the voice or effort, that we’re talking about doing it all all the time. Why do we do what we do in this profession, and how can we utilize some of this science- and evidence-based knowledge to help ourselves not eliminate the things we say but inform them?”

Dr. Brian J. Winnie is the Director of Choral Studies at Western Illinois University, where he supervises the graduate choral conducting program, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral conducting and choral literature, and conducts the Chamber Singers and the flagship ensemble, the University Singers. He previously served as the Director of Choral Activities & Voice and was chair of the music department at Southwestern College in Winfield, KS. Prior to his tenure in higher education, Dr. Winnie was the Artistic Director of ChoralSounds NW, a community choir based in Burien, WA, and he taught for seven years in public education at both the middle and high school levels.

An active festival conductor and adjudicator, Dr. Winnie has been artist-in-residence in Ekaterinburg, Russia and has worked with festival choirs throughout the United States. He is a frequent guest lecturer/workshop leader and has presented on "Contemporary Vocal Technique in the Choral Rehearsal," "Redefining the Choral Warm-Up," and "21st-Century Choral Pedagogy." Dr. Winnie has published articles in the Voice and Speech Review, Choral Journal, Voice Foundation Newsletter, International Choral Bulletin, and ChorTeach, and he is the editor and contributing author to The Choral Conductor's Companion and The Voice Teacher's Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Teachers of Singing both published by Meredith Music Publications and distributed by GIA Publications.

Choirs under his direction have performed at state conventions and received accolades in both international and national competitions.

A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Winnie received his B.S. in Music Education from the Pennsylvania State University, Master of Music Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington. He is a certified Estill Master Trainer, Mentor, & Course Instructor.

To get in touch with Brian, you can visit his website or With One Voice's website or find him on Facebook (@bwinnie2).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“One of my favorite parts of teaching younger students is getting to see them experience things for the first time. I was their introduction to choir a lot of the time, their first choir teacher. I got to see them have those moments like, ‘Whoa, we can do this, we can sing together, we can sound really cool.’ Eventually, they can tell you, ‘we were not singing with tall vowels right there.’ They call each other out on it. With kids that young, a lot of it is just that they’re not used to that soundscape; they’re not used to singing in a group. That exposure helps raise the ability level.”

Molly Toups is a second-year graduate student at Louisiana State University (LSU) currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she graduated summa cum laude from LSU in 2018, earning her undergraduate degree in vocal music education and obtaining a University Medal. Throughout her studies, she has performed with the LSU A Cappella Choir, LSU Chorale, LSU Chamber Singers, and LSU Gospel Choir. Additionally, she has conducted the LSU Chamber Singers and LSU Chorale while obtaining her graduate degree.

Ms. Toups taught music and choir in local public schools for six years before returning to graduate studies. In her most recent position, she worked as choir director and music teacher at Copper Mill Elementary in Zachary Community School District from 2021 to 2024. During her tenure there, the choral program doubled in size. Her choirs consistently achieved superior ratings at assessments, and her students were frequently selected for honor choirs at the local, state, regional, and national levels. She has been an active member of the American Choral Directors Association and Louisiana Music Educators Association (LMEA), previously serving as Elementary Co-Chair and Secretary of her local choral directors’ association. She recently served as guest clinician for the LMEA District VIII Elementary Honor Choir in February 2025, and she has been a frequent adjudicator for honor choir auditions and vocal rallies.

Ms. Toups has sung with a variety of choral ensembles in recent years, including Red Shift Choir, Opus Ensemble, VIVA, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Chorus. She currently serves as the music director at Christ the King Catholic Church at LSU and is a cantor at various churches within the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

Ms. Toups believes in providing quality musical opportunities for all students and fostering a life-long pursuit of learning. She has completed Level I of Kodály training and Levels I, II, and III of Orff Schulwerk certification.

To get in touch with Molly, you can email her at mollytoups1@gmail.com.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“What most people want to get out of choir is to feel a progression, that they slowly master the craft of choral music. For every warm-up, I boil it down to make it simple but also find the sweet spot where I can challenge the singers to get out of their comfort zone or dare to fail. The bravery to fail is crucial to the music making we’ll be doing after the warm-up. Exercises that are on the brink of what is doable will have them on the edge of their seat in a playful spirit. It’s always with a smile, always fun. If you make a mistake, no one will judge you. We can’t grow if we don’t make mistakes.”

Jonas Rasmussen (b. 1992) is a Danish conductor, composer, content creator and educator who has quickly established himself as one of the most distinctive choral voices of his generation. Known for his ability to combine artistic ambition with playfulness and accessibility, he is the Artistic Director of Ensemble Novum, Academic Choir Aarhus and Youth Choir Aarhus U, and teaches classical choral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus.

Jonas’ ensembles have won some of the most prestigious international choral prizes, including the World Choral Championship in Tokyo (2019), the Grand Prix at the Rimini International Choral Competition (2018), the European Broadcasting Union’s competition Let the Peoples Sing in Barcelona (2019), and the World Choral Cup in Barcelona (2022). In 2023 and again in 2025, he brought home multiple gold medals at the European Choir Games, Europe’s biggest choral competition. Both his ensembles choirs are now ranked in the top 10 on INTERKULTUR’s official top 1000 list of choirs from all around the world – with Youth Choir Aarhus U as #2 and Academic Choir Aarhus as #8.

Education and mentorship are central to Jonas’ work. In 2025, he started to post content online for a wider international audience and the response has been remarkable. In the first 10 months, Jonas has achieved just short of 350.000 followers across platforms and that number is quickly growing. He is frequently invited as a workshop leader for choral organizations in Denmark and abroad where his engaging style and ability to connect with singers of all levels are widely appreciated.

Jonas’ vision is to position choral music as a living, evolving art form – not a museum piece, but something that constantly redefines itself through collaboration, innovation, and community. Whether on the concert stage, in a classroom, or online, his work is driven by the belief that choir singing is one of the most powerful ways to create meaning and connection between people.

To get in touch with Jonas, you can find him on Instagram (@choirconductor).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“In many choirs, the tenors and basses were a minority. The tenors and basses at the middle level are disparate; they’re not like each other in any way. Sometimes there’s a common range of only about a minor third. I made it my goal to see if I could write music for that type of choir. Rule #1: the tenors and basses will have separate parts, and it will be in their range. I thought, ‘why not put altos and basses on the same part, just in octave unison, and do it for the entire song with no exceptions?’ We called it SAB with optional tenor. Now I’ve got 11 songs out with that voicing.”

Dan Davison was the Choir Director at Ballou Junior High in Puyallup, Washington, from 1979 to 2019. In addition to having taught the four ensembles at the school, he had numerous teaching and mentoring responsibilities.

Currently, he sings professionally with Male Ensemble Northwest.

Dan was born in 1956 in Sacramento, California, but he has lived in the greater Seattle area since 1965. Since 1979, he has lived in Puyallup, Washington, with his wife, Cathy, who was also a public school teacher. He attended public schools in the Bellevue School District and then attended Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he received his Bachelor's degree, studying under Maurice Skones. He continued his education and received a Master's In Music from Western Washington University, studying with Bruce Pullan.

Dan's tenure as Choir Director at Ballou Junior High School acquainted him well with the complexities of the adolescent voice. His experience ranges from working with treble choirs to tenor-bass choirs to mixed choir, He also worked with vocal jazz ensembles and his Jazz Choir performed at the ACDA Northwest Convention in Seattle in 2010. Dan is an experienced church choir director and has directed choirs at Western Washington University and Pacific Lutheran University. Dan also directed the Northwest ACDA Youth Choir (grades 7-9) for the 2014 ACDA Northwest Convention.

Dan is a published composer, with numerous works available from Walton Music, BriLee Music, Pavane Publishing, and Anchor Music. Mr. Davison received numerous awards for his role in music education, including the 1996 State Of Washington Christa McAuliffe Educator Of The Year, The Educator Citizen Of The Year in 2010 for Communities In Schools In Puyallup, Washington, and also the "Outstanding Choral Director Award" for 2010 from the Washington chapter of The American Choral Directors Association.

To get in touch with Dan, you can email him at dandavison@comcast.net.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“There were a whole bunch of these women who were publishing music during their liftetime in 17th-century Italy. I find it's important that young women know that they were composers other than Hildegard and Fanny Hensel who were writing. These women's voices were buried for so many years, and yet they were writing in the same styles as their male contemporaries. We can learn about our times now by looking to the past and to think critically about who we're lifting up and whose voices we are amplifying now based on how things have progressed over history.”

Dr. Meredith Bowen is an Assistant Professor of Choral Music at Michigan State University where she teaches graduate choral literature, conducting at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and conducts the auditioned treble ensemble, Mosaic. Bowen works to expand the choral canon and amplify marginalized voices by editing, restoring, and publishing editions of historical music by women. She is an active guest conductor, presenter, and clinician and is founding singer and Artistic Administrator for mirabai, a professional women’s ensemble dedicated to amplifying women’s voices through commissioning, performing, and recording. Her editions of music by 17th-century composers are published by Boosey & Hawkes and MusicSpoke. Prior to joining MSU, Bowen was the Director of Choral Studies at Radford University in Radford, VA, taught public school in Lansing, MI, and led a variety of community choirs throughout MI. She earned her B.S. in Music Education from West Chester University, and both an M.M., and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University.

To get in touch with Meredith, you can email her at bowenmer@msu.edu or find her on Facebook (@mybowen), Instagram (@emwhybee), or TikTok (@m.y.bowen).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“I remember when I performed at Carnegie Hall for the first time. It was transformative. I remember taking the stage and just being in complete awe. I looked out, and it was just incredible. When I heard the sound, it was even more incredible. I used to say that my favorite part of my job was standing right at the stage door and watching every choir singer come and take the stage for the first time. They would look out and just be in complete awe. Now that I’m production manager, my new favorite part of my job is when conductors come off the stage and I get to tell them, ‘turn around, go back, they’re still clapping for you.’” - Eric Spiegel

“Living abroad gave me a whole new perspective and appreciation for my home country. It taught me a lot about other cultures and how to work with different people and have a certain cultural sensitivity and sensibility. I could not recommend it enough. We’re trying to grow and enhance the kinds of international opportunities that we provide. It’s such a collaborative, educational experience that goes way beyond one or two concerts. We know for many people who travel with us, it might be their first time in Europe. We try to make sure that it’s special in every possible way that we can.” - James Redcay

A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, James Redcay joined MidAmerica Productions in April of 2015. A graduate of New York University, Redcay spent years in New York City as an accomplished pianist, composer and teacher, performing and composing for numerous concerts and institutions. During this time Redcay also held the position of Composer-in-Residence at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. After graduating from NYU, Redcay moved abroad to Macao, where he taught music at the Conservatory of Macao and created and managed large-scale arts and entertainment programs and daily operations for Sands China Ltd., a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands. After six fruitful years, Redcay relocated to the United States and now resides in Michigan.

Eric Spiegel holds a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, with experience teaching middle and high school vocal/general music. As a performer, Eric has sung and acted in choirs, jazz groups, a cappella ensembles, and musicals across the United States and around the world. Eric conducted the Brooklyn, NY chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir for seven seasons, including in performances at David Geffen Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and has served as MidAmerica Productions’ head of production for concerts at Carnegie Hall since 2023.

To get in touch with James & Eric, you can visit midamerica-music.com or find MidAmerica on Facebook (@midamerica.productions) or Instagram (@midamericaproductions)

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson