Third Annual State Choral Festival - March 26, 2010
Concert Performance Adjucators

Dr. Craig Peterson
Craig Peterson is Director of Choral Activities at Mesa Community College where he directs two chamber choirs, a concert choir, a jazz choir and choral education classes. He received the Bachelor of Music Degree from Concordia College and the Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Choral Conducting from Arizona State University. Craig has served in numerous leadership roles including all-state jazz chair, and president of AZ ACDA. Groups under Craig's direction have consistently received superior ratings at area festivals and have appeared at the AZ State ACDA Convention, the AZ Music Educators Convention, at three ACDA Western Division Conventions, and the National Convention of the Orff and Kodaly Music Teachers Association. Dr. Peterson has also prepared choirs for the Phoenix Symphony and the Boston Pops Orchestra. He has conducted numerous HS Regional Choirs and has led the AZ All-State jazz clinic choir twice. Craig also has served as the Assistant Director of the Phoenix Chorale and he continues to be in demand as a clinician and singer throughout Arizona and as far away as Texas. He also sings bass in and directs Phoenix Vocal Jazz.

Dr. Elizabeth Schauer
Dr. Elizabeth Schauer accepted an appointment as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona in fall 2004. An award-winning educator, Dr. Schauer directs the Symphonic Choir and University Community Chorus, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in conducting, literature and methods. In addition she serves as Chancel Choir director at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Tucson, and on the summer faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Before coming to Tucson, Dr. Schauer was Director of Choral Activities at Adams State College in Colorado, and also taught at Centenary College in New Jersey.

Dr. Schauer has conducted college, community, church, honor and public school choirs, and has served as music director of community and university theatrical productions as well. She is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor and presenter throughout the United States. She has presented sessions at the national conventions of American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and College Music Society (CMS), and will be presenting at the March 2010 Western Divisional Convention of ACDA to be held in Tucson. Her choirs have been invited and selected by audition to perform at local, state and regional events of Music Educators National Conference (MENC), ACDA and CMS.

Dr. Schauer has held state and regional leadership positions with ACDA, CMS and MENC, and currently serves as Youth & Student Activities Chair for the Western Division of ACDA, as well as site chair for the 2010 convention. She received her DMA in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, her MM in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College, and her BM in music education with distinction from the University of Michigan. She has studied conducting with Patrick Gardner, Thomas Hilbish, Joseph Flummerfelt, Frauke Haasemann, Allen Crowell, Elmer Thomas, Earl Rivers, John Leman and Dale Warland.

Dr. Nick Strimple
Nick Strimple is Associate Professor of Choral and Sacred Music in the USC Thornton School of Music, and Director of Music at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church. Choral ensembles under his direction have appeared at national and divisional ACDA conventions, and numerous European music festivals. He has conducted several of the world's leading ensembles, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the Nuremberg Symphony, the Slovak Radio Orchestra and the Prague Radio Choir. He is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Choral Music in the Twentieth Century (2002) and Choral Music in the Nineteenth Century (2008). Dr. Strimple is recognized internationally for his work with Holocaust music and has lectured on the subject at Yale University, Oxford University and other distinguished institutions. As a composer he is primarily known for his liturgical and chamber works and has received commissions from the Vienna International Organ Festival, the J. Paul Getty Museum and Jorge Mester, among others. He has also composed film and television scores and worked as arranger, or choral arranger, for Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Air Supply, and other leading artists. His Christmas cantatas were recently recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Judith Durocher
For 30 years, Dr. Durocher has been honing her craft and career as a choral director and music educator. With a reputation for excellence, Dr. Durocher brings a unique combination of counseling, teaching, musical and performance skills. She holds a Masters degree in Vocal Performance from Bradley University and a second Masters in Counseling from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. In Music Education from the University of Arizona. Over the course of her career, Dr. Durocher has developed strong choral programs at Scottsdale Community College, Pinnacle Highs School and Horizon High School. Dr. Durocher has sung professionally with the nationally renowned Phoenix Chorale and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, NATS, The American Choral Directors Association, ACDA, and the Arizona Music Educators Association, AMEA. She has served on the State Department of Education Committee to re-write the Arizona Music Education Standards, and to develop assessment tools for music educators. She has served as the Vice President of the Paradise Valley Alliance for Arts in Education, a district-wide booster organization to support the arts. In addition to classroom teaching, Dr. Durocher maintains a private voice studio and she is the co-founder of the Music Theater Conservatory, www.musictheaterconservatory.com a summer camp for performers in grades 7 – 12. MTC alumni have experienced great success in school and community shows, including selection to the All-State Show Choir. Dr. Durocher continues to seek out new opportunities to provide exceptional learning opportunities for students who are serious about developing and refining their performing arts skills.