Choral Conducting Symposium

Kyle Pederson (b. 1971) is a Minneapolis-based composer, lyricist, pianist, and educator. Kyle was awarded the ACDA Genesis Prize in 2020 and the American Prize in Choral Composition in 2019. His work has been commissioned and recorded by All State/Honors choirs, and youth, church, college, and professional choirs around the world. In 2025, Navona Records released All is Miracle, the first full album of Kyle’s choral works, recorded by the award-winning vocal ensemble Transept. Kyle enjoys working at the intersection of the sacred and secular, and his lyrics and music invite the choir and audience to be agents of hope, grace, and compassion in the world.  Kyle has an undergraduate degree from Augustana University, a Masters Degree in Education from University of St. Thomas, and an MFA in Music Composition from Vermont College of Fine Art. His work is published by Walton, Santa Barbara, Galaxy, Morningstar, Alfred, Hal Leonard, Beckenhorst, Gentry, Hinshaw, and Carl Fischer music publishers. Additional information and links to Kyle’s music can be found at  kylepederson.com. 

A two-time Michigan Emmy Award winner, a 2017 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient, and a 2015 GRAMMY® Award nominee, Eugene Rogers is recognized as a leading conductor and pedagogue throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to being the founding director of EXIGENCE, Dr. Rogers is the director of choirs and an associate professor of conducting at the University of Michigan. Recently, he was named as the fifth Artistic Director of the two-time GRAMMY® Award-Winning Ensemble, The Washington Chorus (Washington, D.C.).

Rogers holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in choral music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in choral conducting from U-M. He currently serves on the board of Chorus America and is the former national chair of the Diversity Initiatives Committee for the American Choral Directors Association.

Julie Skadsem is associate professor of choral music education and conducting at the University of Michigan where she conducts the Women’s Glee Club and teaches courses in conducting, choral techniques, and vocal methods. Before coming to Michigan in fall 2006, Skadsem was associate professor of music education at the University of Alabama, where she taught courses in choir, conducting, and music education, and was the founding director of the Birmingham Children’s Choir. She taught vocal music (7-12) in Ironwood, Michigan and is an active clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor.

She is a member of the VoiceCare Network and is certified in Dalcroze eurhythmics, Orff-Schulwerk, and Kodaly. In addition to her choral work, Skadsem is also an active researcher. Her research on choral conducting and rehearsal techniques has been presented at MENC, ACDA, and the Southeastern Music Education Symposium, and is being published at the state, regional, and national levels. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Southern Music Education Journal.

The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Matthew Abernathy will join the Department of Conducting as an assistant professor and associate director of choirs in the fall of 2025. Abernathy will conduct the Men’s Glee Club, the University Choir, and teach conducting classes.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Abernathy back to his alma mater as he returns to join our choral faculty,” said Eugene Rogers, associate professor of conducting and director of choirs. “His deep passion for students, choral music, and opera, combined with his exceptional talent and experience, make him a perfect addition to SMTD.”

Abernathy previously served as artistic director of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the principal chorus for the Florida Orchestra, where he led a 140-voice symphonic chorus that performed major choral-orchestral works. He continued the Master Chorale’s long-standing legacy of supporting the work of living composers and has commissioned music by Nico Gutierrez, Natalie Draper, Joan Szymko, and many others. He further developed a comprehensive community engagement program reaching all ages throughout Tampa Bay.

Abernathy also served as the music director of Minnesota Opera’s youth opera program Project Opera, their Children’s Chorus director, and guest chorus master. Prior engagements include work as the chorus master for the Lakes Area Music Festival and regular work as an assistant conductor/section leader with the Minnesota Chorale, including for their recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 (BIS Records) with Minnesota Orchestra.

Other notable conducting appearances include the Florida Orchestra, St. Pete Baroque, Wintergreen Music Festival, Bach Society of Minnesota, Dakota Valley Symphony Chorus, Oratorio Society of Minnesota, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Summer Singers, Opera MODO, Arbor Opera Theater, 113 Composer Collective, and the Norfolk Chamber Choir. He has prepared choruses for conductors including Michael Francis, Chelsea Gallo, Michael Christie, Christian Reif, Osmo Vänskä, Jonathan Brandani, Nicholas Kraemer, and many others.

Abernathy was named the 2024 Grand Prize winner of the MidAmerica International Choral Conducting Competition and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in June 2026. Additionally, he was a semifinalist in – and the only American admitted to – the 2022 Fosco Corti International Competition for Choral Conductors in Turin, Italy, out of over 60 international applicants.

“I am truly humbled to be joining the faculty at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. My time as a student at SMTD was a formative point in my musical education, and I am especially excited to play a role in supporting the next generation of singers, conductors, and educators through the choral program’s creative approach to music-making,” shared Abernathy. “As the new director for the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club, I’m honored to join the legacy of great conductors who have held this role before me – in particular my teachers Jerry Blackstone and Eugene Rogers – and to continue to build on over a century of musical excellence.”

Beyond his performance work, Abernathy is a devoted pedagogue and champion for music education and art-making at all ages. Previously he was the director of choral studies at the University of Tampa, where he conducted Chamber Singers and Camerata and taught the undergraduate aural skills sequence. Additionally, he has been on the faculty at the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota. His academic research focuses on aural skills and musicianship as well as leadership for conductors, a topic on which he has presented at the ACDA Southern Conference.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Abernathy join the conducting faculty at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and look forward to the many contributions he will make to our esteemed choral program,” said Ellen Rowe, chair of conducting and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Music.

Abernathy has furthered his studies at the Medomak Conductors Retreat, Chorus America Conducting Academy, and Norfolk Chamber Choir Workshop. He holds degrees from the University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, and Onondaga Community College.

Paul Smith is an innovative and creative performer, composer, conductor, an inspirational educator and an empowering public speaker. As co-founder of Grammy-nominated VOCES8, author of The VOCES8 Method and CEO of the VOCES8 Foundation, his annual programme sees him working globally in prestigious concert venues, festivals, schools, universities and wider communities.

Paul is passionate about the impact singing and the arts can have in the widest possible context – from academic improvement to social skills and building more cohesive communities. He uses that passion to design and deliver unique, inclusive and uplifting performance projects.

Collaboration is a key word to describe Paul’s approach to music making, and in recent collaborations, he has been thrilled to work with an eclectic arrange of artists including Paul Simon, Eric Whitacre, percussionist/composer Teena Lyle, stage designer Julia Hansen (Glyndebourne, Santa Fe Opera) Christophe Duquense (Dune 2), opera director Anisha Bondy (Komische Oper Berlin) and loop station world champion, MandoBeatbox.

For more than 20 years Paul has been the CEO of the VOCES8 Foundation, and he dedicates much of his time to growing the global impact of the Foundations in the UK, US and France with his team, and alongside his brother, Barnaby, with whom he began VOCES8.

Season highlights for 2025-26 include continuing his work with the Royal Academy of Music in London; leading the Sing’In massed choir projects across France and Germany, work with the Philharmonies in Paris, Luxembourg and Berlin; with Opera Avignon, with Les Éléments in Toulouse and Festival de la Vézère. There are performances of works from his new album titled ‘Revolutions’ from New York and London to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and in South America; various performances in France, Germany and Austria of his community projects with MandoBeatbox and Daniela Mars; programmes with VOCES8, Apollo5 and Lyyra (the new upper voice ensemble from the VOCES8 Foundation) across the US, and concerts and workshops in Europe, the USA, Asia and South America.

The VOCES8 Method, written by Paul, is published by Edition Peters in four languages, and is now being used in thousands of schools in numerous countries around the world. The Method is designed to link specific music-making activities with academic improvement in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.

As a composer, Paul writes regularly for vocal groups, choirs, orchestras and soloists. Publications in 2025-26 included Magnificat, Love Always Within and Wayfaring Stranger. Other recently published commissions include his setting of the Nunc Dimittis and the Edo Lullaby on the VOCES8 Singles range. Paul’s music is published by VOCES8 Publishing, ECS/Morningstar and Edition Peters. Publications and commissions for 2025-26 include a new album of his work for VOCES8, which is released as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration for the group, and will include a feature performance at the Barbican in 2025.

As a composer and pianist, Paul works with flutist and composer, Daniela Mars in their duo, MARS SMITH. The duo continues to perform and work with communities globally, also touring their cinematic album ‘Faroe Islands: Echoes on the Wind’. This season sees them performing in the UK, US, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia. They will also begin releasing new singles from their work on a new album inspired by Lençóis Maranhenses in Brazil, and their music can regularly be heard on BBC Radio 3.

Since its inception in 2007 the VOCES8 Foundation has worked with 500,000 young people. Projects have included massed singing performances at the Royal Opera House (London), Cité de la Musique (Paris) and the Philharmonie in Luxembourg; and with “singing city” projects in cities such as Torino, Wroclaw, Lyon, Hannover, Houston, Albuquerque, Dallas/Fort Worth, Bermuda, Nairobi, Lagos, Dubai, Tokyo, and Taipei. Working in partnership with the Diocese of London, Paul has spearheaded the creation of a home for the VOCES8 Foundation at the VOCES8 Centre, a centre of excellence in vocal music performance, education and outreach in the heart of the City of London.

As an educator and public speaker, Paul has given speeches and created sessions on music and leadership, teamwork, music and creativity, health and wellbeing, and The VOCES8 Method. He presented a TEDx talk entitled ‘How can we use music to help us learn?’. Engagements at international conferences include the ACDA National conventions; Europa Cantat; the London Music Education Expo; Chor.com; the World Symposium of Singing at the Liszt Music Academy; the World Symposium of Choral Music and at the Royal College of Music in London.

Paul has been singing for more than 30 years, first as a boy chorister with the choir of Westminster Abbey, and, since 2005 with VOCES8. As a recording artist with Decca Classics, Paul has featured on best-selling, chart-topping albums and won a host of international awards. He was an Executive Producer on VOCES8’s Grammy-nominated album ‘The Lost Birds’. His first album as a solo artist and composer, ‘Reflections’, was released in 2019 and entered the top 10 in the UK Specialist Classical Charts. His 2022 album, ‘Renewal?’ has also received wide critical acclaim. ‘Revolutions’ was released with VOCES8 Records and Decca in 2025.

Session Title: Más que ritmo: Heart & Heritage of Latinx Choral Music

Bio:

Dr. Eric D. Reyes is a Mexican-American conductor, pianist, and vocalist committed to creating music that inspires hope, communicates beauty, and fosters unity. Born and raised in Southern California, he currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Hope College in Holland, MI and as Artistic Director of the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys.

An active presenter and clinician, Reyes has presented at national and regional conferences including the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His work often explores the cultural and musical traditions that shape choral repertoire from across the Americas, and he is passionate about helping conductors engage diverse repertoire with both musical and cultural understanding. Reyes is also actively involved with the Michigan School Vocal Music Association as a clinician and adjudicator, recently having led the 2025 MSVMA SSAA Honors Choir.

As a choral artist, Reyes has performed with ensembles including VoxGR and the Holland Bach Society and has been a part of leading ensembles such as the Southern California Children’s Chorus, Moody Chorale, University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club, University of Michigan Orpheus Singers, University of Michigan Arts Chorale, and the Community Chorus of Detroit. In 2017, he was one of eight rising conductors selected nationwide to participate in a conducting masterclass with Ann Howard Jones and Jerry McCoy at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference.

Reyes holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Michigan, where he was a recipient of the Brehm Endowed Fellowship in Choral Conducting, and a Bachelor of Music in Music and Worship (Piano) from the Moody Bible Institute. He is deeply grateful for the support of his mentors Dr. Eugene Rogers, Dr. Xiangtang Hong, Dr. Mark Stover, and Dr. Jerry Blackstone, and for the constant encouragement of his wife, soprano Jennie Judd Reyes. Together they are proud parents of their daughter, Josie.