REBECCA LAKES
Rebecca Lakes is Head Choral Director at Eisenhower Middle School in North East ISD in San Antonio, TX. Rebecca taught elementary music for 23 years and served as the Lead Elementary Coordinator for NEISAD for eight years. She is also the Past-President of the Kodály Educators of Texas and the Director of the Preparatory and Prelude Choirs for the Children's Chorus of San Antonio. Rebecca serves on and has chaired numerous committees for the Organization of American Kodály Educators. She has presented workshops at TMEA, OAKE, KET, and for numerous school districts across the nation. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Arts in Flute Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. She has a Master of Music in Pedagogy from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed all of her Kodály levels at Texas State University and all of her Orff levels at Trinity University and her Principal's Certification at Schreiner University. Rebecca serves as a Kodály pedagogy and folk music materials teacher in the Midwestern State University Kodály Institute.
DR. SUSAN HARVEY
Dr. Harvey is Professor of Music at MSU. She teaches music education courses, ear training, and has directed the Oratorio Chorus. Prior to teaching at MSU, she taught instrumental and choral music for 20 years in public schools. Dr. Harvey presents sessions at state, national, and international music education conferences and at educator in-services. Topics for presentations have focused on the use of Kodály-inspired curriculum in the instrumental classroom, intonation in instrumental ensembles (band and orchestra), and teaching practice strategies in the ensemble rehearsal. Dr. Harvey is Music Director of the New Hope Presbyterian Church Choir, and previously Music Director and Conductor of the Wichita Falls Youth Symphony Orchestra for nine years.
NICK LEONARD
Nick Leonard is the music teacher at Greenfield Elementary School in Midlothian, VA and a Graduate Fellow at Michigan State University. He earned a BM in Music Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduating from VCU Music, Nick completed his Orff Level I training at The Collegiate School. He began his Kodály Level I training in the summer of 2019 at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Tex and became fully certified in July of 2022. He has since served as a folk materials teaching apprentice, assisting the 2023 faculty. He has also served as the Central VA Member-at-Large for VOKE and currently serves on the VMEA Government Relations Committee. Nick continues to actively present workshops and professional developments in his area. He is a recent Teacher of the Year and the recipient of both the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from VCU and the Superintendent Game-Changer award from Chesterfield County.
NICK HOLLAND-GARCIA
Nick Holland-Garcia has taught elementary general music for 17 years in Seattle, San Antonio, Baltimore, and currently teaches at Brown Elementary in Lubbock, TX. He earned a BM in Vocal Performance from Pacific Lutheran University, a MM in Voice Performance from The University of Michigan, and his Kodály Certification from Texas State University. His areas of interest and research include vocal pedagogy and LGBTQ+ issues in music education. Nick has presented workshops on topics of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), classroom pedagogy, and technology at regional, state, and national music education conferences. His work in integrating Kodály pedagogy with the interactive white board led to his contribution for a chapter in the second edition of Kodály Today: A Cognitive Approach to Music Education by Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka.
EVAN BRUNO
Evan Bruno is an accomplished music educator and choral conductor who has spent more than a decade working with youth from across the Chicagoland area to bring them together through music. In 2022, Evan was named the eighth Artistic Director of Anima – Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus. As Artistic Director of Anima, Evan's choirs have toured nationally and internationally, performed with the Music of the Baroque under the direction of Dame Jane Glover, and in 2024, partnered with the Illinois Philharmonic to premier a commission by Augusta Read Thomas. In addition to his work with Anima, Evan is currently serving as the as the Chair of Voice Department at the Merit School of Music where he conducts the Conservatory Choirs and oversees curriculum and faculty development.
From 2011 to 2022, Evan was with Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly Chicago Children's Choir), most recently serving as Faculty Director for the organization, overseeing an artistic staff of 13 conductors who work with nearly 5,000 young people across Chicago in 80 schools and 13 communities. While with Uniting Voices, Evan worked in over 20 schools, co-opened the Englewood Neighborhood Choir opened the Bucktown Neighborhood Choir, and assisted in the preparation of choruses for performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ravinia Music Festival, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Evan's choirs perform music from the Renaissance period to modern choral compositions. He is also passionate about the authentic performance of music outside the Western Classical Canon to help youth understand the world around them and be best prepared to become the next generation of just leaders.
As a teacher, Evan’s focus has been creating a space where each individual singer can express exactly who they are without concern or worry and he strives to create an inclusive rehearsal environment. His teaching and related research aim to optimize the social emotional impact of music education. Evan has been invited to present on his research and techniques to improve social emotional learning in the arts at the Kennedy Center for the Arts and to Grantmakers for Education. Evan was also a contributing author for the book “Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings.”
Evan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in choral music education from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. He also holds Level III Kodály Certification from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX where he has also served as an instructor of ensemble and conducting.
Born and raised in Williamsburg, VA, Evan Bruno began his professional music career at the age of 10 when he joined the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums as a fifer. Over eight years, Evan learned the importance of authenticity in music-making and the value of high-quality extracurricular music programs for youth. This unique experience continues to inform his teaching today. Evan lives on the North Side of Chicago and thoroughly enjoys the vibrant arts and culinary scene of the city he has come to call home.
TAYLOR WALKUP-AMOS
Taylor Walkup-Amos is the music teacher at Yorktown Elementary School and the Choristers Director of the Virginia Children’s Chorus. She is passionate about integrating creative and innovative approaches in the music classroom to increase accessibility and joy in music making for all students. Taylor is the author of Creating Inclusive Music Classrooms Through Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (TEACHING Exceptional Children, 2020) and a contributing author for Aligning Music to STEM (GIA Publications, 2020), Winding it Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Practical Resource (Oxford University Press, 2017) . She is a 2024 CMA Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence, serves as the Chair of the Council for Creativity and Innovation for the Virginia Music Educators Association, and serves on the board of the Virginia Organization of Kodály Educators. Taylor completed her Kodály certification at Midwestern State University and Early Childhood Level I Certification from the Gordon Institute for Music Learning at Temple University. She holds the degrees of Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Music from Christopher Newport University and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Music Learning Theory from the University at Buffalo.
DR. ALICE HAMMEL
Grammy Award Nominated music educator, Dr. Alice Hammel, was the 2023 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Lowell Mason Fellow, Virginia Music Educator Association Outstanding Educator (2018), and is the current Past-President of the Virginia Music Educators Association. She is a widely known music educator, author, and clinician whose experience in music is extraordinarily diverse. She is a member of the faculty of The University of Arkansas, and has many years of experience teaching instrumental and choral music in public and private schools. Dr. Hammel has put these varied experiences to great use while compiling a large body of scholarly work. She is a co-author for four texts: Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Label-free Approach, Teaching Music to Students with Autism, Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music Classroom and Ensemble Settings , and Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Practical Resource. Dr. Hammel is Past-President of the Council for Exceptional Children – Division for Visual and Performing Arts Education and was recently awarded their Past President Award for Excellence. Dr. Hammel has served NAfME as a member of the National Executive Board, The Equity Committee, and The Music Teacher Initiative. She is a proponent of Music Will and the Modern Band movement.