I began serving on the board of the California chapter of the American Choral Directors Association as Repertoire and Resources chair for Two-Year Colleges in 2014. I continued in that role when we became the California Choral Directors Association, and I now serve on the Board of Directors as President.
During my time on the Board of Directors and Advisory Council, I’ve served as an integral part of CCDA conference committees including CASMEC and the 2020 and 2021 Summer Summits. I have created databases to help keep CCDA colleagues connected, contributed to CCDA’s official response to AB 1887 and other position statements, written articles for Cantate, and presented at CCDA events and webinars. I have even dressed up as (among others) Brené Brown, a Madonna wannabe, and a dancing pineapple at our summer conferences at ECCO. In each one of these roles, I’ve learned something new about CCDA, our people, and what we can continue to grow into.
As a community-college professor, I’m aware of both the inequities in our society and the extraordinary power that we, as musicians and teachers, have to transcend them. As a member of the CCDA Board of Directors, I'm committed to ensuring that our mission—to empower choral musicians to create transformative experiences for California’s diverse communities—informs our every decision and initiative. We’ll continue to strive toward new artistic heights (whether in person, virtually, or both) and to extend the joys of choral-music making to singers of all ages, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender expressions, and regions.
Personal and organizational growth, like great choral rehearsals, can be—should be—uncomfortable and joyous at the same time. (As Brené Brown says, "Choose courage over comfort. Choose whole hearts over armor.") These past few years have shown us, maybe even more than all the years before it, that the CCDA community is resilient, flexible, creative, and dedicated to the self-reflection that leads to inspiration. I'm excited to see where our collective spirit takes us next, and I’m honored to be part of the team leading this amazing organization’s journey into the future.
