Opening Session – Monday at 8:30am
Welcome, Clinicians’ Comments, Exhibitors’ Comments
Choir Room
Concert Hour – Monday Evening
The Loyal Lions | Directed by Lynn Herbel
Registration
Monday, July 15
8:00am-4:30pm
Tuesday, July 16
8:00am-4:00pm
2024 Summer Convention Headliners
Headliner - Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock
Dr. Jeffrey Allen Murdock is internationally known as a conductor, clinician, and music educator. He currently serves as Director of Choral Activities, Professor of Music, and is the Founding Director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music at the University of Arkansas. He is a 2016 Connor Endowed Faculty Fellow in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, a 2018 recipient of the Golden Tusk Award, the 2019 Most Outstanding Faculty Member among all university faculty, a member of the distinguished University of Arkansas Teaching Academy and is the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year.
While Dr. Murdock is an accomplished classical musician, he is also a skilled Gospel musician. He has served on the conducting staff of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and has collaborated with Gospel recording artists, including Donnie McClurkin, Richard Smallwood, Mary Mary, Marvin Winans, Marvin Sapp, Lisa Knowles, Kathy Taylor, and numerous others.
Dr. Murdock’s research interests include cultural hegemony in choral music education, social justice in music education, culturally responsive pedagogy in music education, and music in urban schools. He has been invited to present at the National Research Conference for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) as well as two World Conferences of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) – (Glasgow, U.K., and Helsinki, Finland). Dr. Murdock is also a frequent research presenter at local and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA) where he is president-elect of the Southwestern Division (SWACDA), past president of the Arkansas Chapter, and serves on the national subcommittee for diversity. Dr. Murdock holds both Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Conducting degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education from the University of Memphis. In addition to NAfME and ACDA, his professional memberships include the ASCAP and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO). He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Headliner - Dr. Susan Brumfield
Dr. Susan Brumfield is Professor of Music Education at Texas Tech University, and founder and Artistic Director of The West Texas Children’s Chorus. She holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Brumfield is known for her work as a teacher, author, composer and conductor. An internationally recognized expert in the Kodály approach, Dr. Brumfield is the author of First, We Sing! Kodály-Inspired Teaching in the Music Classroom, a series of textbooks and song anthologies published by Hal Leonard Music. The latest publication in that series is 101 Songs and Games for Intermediate Grades, a scholarly folk song anthology.
Dr. Brumfield’s other publications include Hot Peas and Barley-O: Children’s Songs and Games from Scotland, Over the Garden Wall: Children’s Songs and Games from England, and Kentucky Mother Goose, co-authored with American folk legend Jean Ritchie. She is currently working on Giro Giro Tondo: Children’s Songs and Games from Italy.
In frequent demand as a commissioned composer, clinician and guest conductor, she has conducted numerous national, regional and all-state choirs, including the OAKE National Children’s Chorus and the ACDA Eastern Division Children’s Honor Choir. She has served on the artistic staff of the Pacific International Choral Festival as conductor of the 2019 and 2023 Treble Choral Festival Choirs.
Dr. Brumfield was honored twice as the Texas Tech University College of Visual and Performing Arts Award for Outstanding Research, and as a two-time finalist for the President’s Book Award. She was the 2019 recipient of the university-wide Barnie E. Rushing Jr. Award for Research at Texas Tech University.