“We’re often put in positions that make us uncomfortable with the inner struggle of how to keep our job and have our program recognized enough to get support versus how to carry out our true mission with students. If I’m trying to continue to fall in love with the choral art, I think the way to do that is looking for literature that will balance the soul-searching and academic needs of the students and the entertaining needs of the audiences. Looking for literature for all of those reasons often reignites my own curiosity and interest.”

Dr. Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah is a Full Professor of Music serving as Director of Choral Activities and Undergraduate Music Education at Eastern Washington University. She has earned degrees from Edmonds Community College, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and the University of Kentucky. She was the Artistic Director of the Spokane Area Youth Choirs, and the Director of Spokane Symphony’s Chorale & Chamber Choir. Previously in Spokane, Kristina taught Choral Methods at Gonzaga University, observed student teachers for Whitworth College, and taught Middle School Choir at St. George’s School and High School Choir at West Valley High School in the Spokane Valley. Before moving to the Spokane area, she taught at Everett HS, Ephrata HS, and AC Davis HS. Kristina has served on the WA ACDA Board as an R&S chair in world music, children’s chorus, university, and jazz, and is the current President-Elect of WA ACDA. She has presented numerous times for state and all-northwest MENC/WMEA conventions and twelve WA-ACDA Summer Institutes. Directing Honor Groups and All-State Choirs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Kentucky, from Elementary through High School levels; as well as presenting at festivals and conferences in WA, MA, OR, ID, FL, and KY has given her the opportunity to work with a wonderful array of choristers and directors. The Spokane Arts Commission of the City of Spokane has awarded Kristina the “Arts in Education Award,” and the “Arts Organization Award” for her work with the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus. Kristina also received Spokane’s “YWCA Woman of Achievement in Arts and Culture Award.”

To get in touch with Kristina, you can e-mail her at kploeger@ewu.edu.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

Thank you for listening to our show this season!!

Here are the favorite choral pieces from our guests in the fifth season:
Christmas Oratorio, Johann Sebastian Bach

Mass in B Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach (x2)

Trois Chansons Bretonnes, Henk Badings

The Sweetheart of the Sun, Eric William Barnum

Ein Deutsches Requiem, Johannes Brahms

The Music Makers, Edward Elgar

The Ground, Ola Gjeilo

Kalinda, Sydney Guillaume

Measure Me, Sky, Elaine Hagenberg

Messiah, George Frideric Handel

Las Amarillas, Stephen Hatfield

Gloucester Service, Herbert Howells

Where the Light Begins, Susan LaBarr

O Magnum Mysterium, Morten Lauridsen

Symphony No. 2 (The Resurrection), Gustav Mahler

Elijah, Felix Mendelssohn

Vespers of 1610 , Claudio Monteverdi

Exaudi, Jocelyn Morlock

Ave Verum Corpus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Lacrimosa (from Requiem), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mori quasi il mio core, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

The Call, Roxana Panufnik

I Was Glad, Hubert Hastings Parry

Bogoroditse Devo (from All-Night Vigil), Sergei Rachmaninoff

To the Hands, Caroline Shaw

God So Loved the World (from The Crucifixion), John Stainer

If Ye Love Me, Thomas Tallis

Dona Nobis Pacem, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Va Pensiero (from Nabucco), Giuseppe Verdi

Here are the composers that our guests suggested you check out:
Dominick Argento

Johann Sebastian Bach

Benjamin Britten

Saunder Choi

Jennifer Lucy Cook

Rob Dietz

Reena Esmail (our guest on Episode 50)

Rachel Fogerty

Joshua Hines

Kevin Johnson

Susan LaBarr

Andrew Lippa

Ryan Main

Ily Matthew Maniano

Francis Poulenc

Zanaida Robles (x2)

R. Murray Schafer

Robert Schumann

Caroline Shaw

Barbara Strozzi

Tracy Wong (our guest on Episode 58)

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels

“More competitions are being organized, and it has become a way for these conductors and choirs to work on their skills. By joining these competitions, the rate of their progress accelerated. People join choirs for different reasons. For most of us, we started only because we loved singing, because we found a place where we can share our voice with friends with the same interest. This desire to join competitions would just be a product of years of singing with a choir.”

Mark Anthony Carpio is recognized as one of the most respected figures in choral music today. He is a faculty member of the Conducting and Choral Ensemble Department of the University of the Philippines College of Music, where he earned his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting and his Bachelor’s degree in Piano.

In 2001, Prof. Andrea O. Veneracion, National Artist for Music, chose Mark to succeed her as choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, also known as the “Madz.” Since then, he has continuously led the already much-awarded choir to even greater heights, including placing first in several prestigious choral competitions in Europe. Under his leadership, the group has been invited as guest choir in several international choral conferences in the USA and South America, among others.

In 2007, under the baton of Mark, the Philippine Madrigal Singers won, for the second time, the grand prize in the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Arezzo, Italy. This victory makes them the first of the only four choirs in the world to win the grand prize twice.

In 2009, UNESCO designated the group as a UNESCO Artist for Peace. This title is given to celebrity advocates charged with the mission of embodying and raising awareness of the UNESCO ideals, which include peace, security, fundamental human rights, and freedom.

In the Philippines, he regularly collaborates with the Philippine Choral Directors Association, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, for music and choral education programs. He heads the Andrea O. Veneracion Sing Philippines Foundation, which spearheads choral music development initiatives including the Sing Philippines Youth Choir, whose singers come from all over the country.

Mark has adjudicated in different choral festivals and competitions and presented around the world, including Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Latvia and the US. Locally, he has been the chairman of the board of jurors of the biennial Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival and the 1st Asia Choral Grand Prix (2019).

He also directs the Consortium of Voices, a choral society of young choristers, consisting of the Kilyawan Boys Choir, Kilyawan Male Choir and the Voces Auroræ Girls Choir.

​To get in touch with Mark, you can find him on Facebook (@markanthonycarpio) or visit the Philippine Madrigal Singers website.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson