On April 5, the TXST Chorale will perform as part of the London Handel Festival virtual performance of Handel's most famous oratorio Messiah. In this episode we speak to Festival Director Samir Savant about the project.

Recorded from the floor of the 2020 TMEA Convention, Temple University professor Dr. Deb Confredo speaks with Dr. Babcock about the future of music education including technology in the classroom and the new world of remote teaching.

TXST Choirs Today speaks with Maestro Craig Jessop from the Southwestern ACDA Convention in Little Rock Arkansas. Dr. Jessop discusses his time leading the Air Force Singing Sergeants, his work with Robert Shaw and his time as Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The men of the San Marcos High School Men's Choir are our home town heros, having had given a stunning performance at this year's TMEA convention. The Choirs Directors Dawn Reinhuber and Brigitte Smith talk with us about their performance, their program and their community. All musical excerpts are from the San Marcos HS Men's Choir 2020 performance.

TMEA SPECIAL EDITION: Recorded from the floor of the TMEA 2020 Convention, Dr. Robert (Bob) Horton talks with us about the importance of service to our professional communities, and how TMEA helped shape his career. Dr. Horton is the Fine Arts Director for the Conroe, TX ISD, and currently serves as the Past-President of the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA). He has held multiple leadership positions in both TMEA and TCDA. Prior to working in Conroe, For eleven years, Dr. Horton was the Head Choir Director at Woodlands High School, Texas. In 2011 and 2014, The Woodlands HS Chamber Choir won the American Classics Madrigal Festival and presented Honor Concerts in 2012 and 2015. The TWHS varsity treble choir, conducted by Bob and his assistant Lynn Bull, was also selected to perform at Southwest American Choral Directors Association in March 2014.  All musical excerpts are of the Woodlands HS Varsity Treble Choir Performing at the 2013 TMEA Convention.

Ralph Allwood, MBE is a British conductor, who currently conducts the choir of Queens' College, Cambridge.[1] He was previously the Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College in the UK until September 2011, and set up many musical events, including the Eton Choral Courses of which there are now seven a year.[2] He previously headed the music departments at Pangbourne and Uppingham.[3] He also conducts the Rodolfus Choir, a critically acclaimed group of singers aged 16–25, drawn principally from the Eton Choral Courses. In this episode Ralph and I talk about his time at Eton as well as his work with at-risk youth in Pimlico, London. All musical excerpts are of the Rodolfus Choir under the direction of Ralph Alwood.

Mr. James Cumings has been teaching choral music since 1999 at Jackson Northwest Kidder Middle School.  During that time He has taken great pleasure in working with middle school singers--watching them grow both as musicians and young people who care about each other and their art.  During the summer he directs the 6-9 SSA choir at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.   Recently, James was honored by being selected MSVMA’s “Teacher of the Year” at the 2019 conference.   In this episode I speak with both James Cumings and his wife Ashley about their unique partnership in the classroom, as well as tried and true methods for middle school teachers that have worked for them.

Artist-in-residence at Texas State University and Artistic Director of the Grammy Award winning ensemble Conspirare Craig Hella Johnson discusses his early education and experiences, his latest work "Considering Matthew Shepherd" and his new seminar entitled Sound Lab. Beloved by audiences, lauded by critics and composers, and revered by singers, Johnson is known for crafting musical journeys that create deep connections between performers and listeners. The Wall Street Journal praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare wrote that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.” Distinguished composer John Corigliano wrote, “I believe that [Johnson] has understood my music in a way that I have never experienced before. He is a great musician who understands everything about the music he conducts.”  Johnson is also Music Director of the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble and conductor emeritus of the Victoria Bach Festival. He was Artistic Director of San Francisco-based Chanticleer (1998-1999) and has served as guest conductor with the Austin Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and many others in Texas, the U.S., and abroad.  Craig Hella Johnson joined the faculty at Texas State as Artist in Residence in fall 2016 and continues to inspire his colleagues and students in innovative teaching and programming as Professor of Practice.  

Renowned American composer Dr. Gwyneth Walker talks with Jonathan Babcock her career as a composer, plus much more! Gwyneth Walker is a graduate of Brown University and the Hartt School of Music. A former faculty member of the Oberlin College Conservatory, she resigned from academic employment in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer. She is the recipient of the Year 2000 "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Vermont Arts Council. Walker's catalog includes over 130 commissioned works for orchestra, band, chorus and chamber ensembles. Recent works demonstrate the composer's interest in combining theatrical elements with musical composition. Letters to the World (2001), a piano quartet, incorporates readings from the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Acquaintance With Nature (2002),  for chorus, clarinet, piano and narrator, weaves music around the writings of Henry David Thoreau. This variety of genres is reflective of the composer's enthusiasm for a wide range of creative endeavors. Orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal and staged works are all part of the Walker musical life. The common element is the pursuit of imaginative expression.

Director of Opera, Dr. Mark Reynolds, talks about the spring 2019 production of The Magic Flute and much more! Dr. Marc Reynolds A native of Los Angeles, Mark joined the School of Music faculty in Fall 2018 as an assistant professor and Director of Opera Studies. He received his undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University, Master of Music degree with an emphasis in Opera Directing from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with an emphasis in Opera Directing at The University of Texas at Austin.  As a Stage Director Marc Reynolds has enjoyed success in directing including The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat for Austin Lyric Opera, Carmen, Falstaff, Die Fledermaus, and The Merry Widow for Utah Lyric Opera, The Mikado, The Old Maid and the Thief, La Cenerentola, The Magic Flute, and Amahl And The Night Visitors for Sparkling City Light Opera, La Serva Padrona for La Follia Austin Baroque, as well as La Curandera, Albert Herring, and Cosi Fan Tutte for the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler Opera Center. His work has received awards, nominations, and acclaim from the press and critics.   As an educator Dr. Reynolds has taught for Westminster College, Utah Valley University, The University of Texas at Austin, The Butler Opera Center Young Artist Program, Brigham Young University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Sparkling City Light Opera’s Vocal Arts workshop, Utah Vocal Arts Academy Workshop, and the Cornish-Amerian Song Institute. He has also enjoyed giving master classes and workshops across the United States and abroad.