Brant is a composer, arranger and orchestrator, whose work appears in several catalogs, including Shawnee Press, and since 2001, he has conducted and produced orchestral recordings for Shawnee Press. His music has been performed and recorded by orchestras and choral ensembles throughout the United States and at regional and national meetings of professional music organizations.

Brant has been a member of the Oklahoma State University music faculty since 1987, and currently serves as area coordinator of msuic theory and composition. He has received the Wise-Diggs-Berry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts and the Friends of Music Distinguished Music Professor Award. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity.

Brant has served on the staff of First Baptist Church-Stillwater as music associate and pianist, as well as interim music director (1996-2002).

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Currently composer-in-residence and choir director at First Christian Church, Des Moines, Iowa, Ben has filled 40 commissions in the last decade in the many genres. Research in Kenya and Tanzania on the role of singing in strengthening community and solving conflict produced his extended work BANDARI: Inside These Walls, which established him as a leader in the development of cross-cultural choral repertoire. His music has been performed by the Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, the American Boychoir, and the Tapiola Choir, among others. Ben's "Singing and the Culture of Peace" festivals strengthen the choir's awareness of their powerful role in community while encouraging audiences to rediscover singing in a new way.

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E-Mail:andrdo2353@hotmail.com

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Since his earliest New York reviews critics have noted his melodic gifts, the structural clarity and harmonious nature of his music. His first pieces, short piano pieces written in the early 1950s which he later arranged for wind trio, are in fact still being performed around the world. His numerous choral pieces have been performed in many countries and his art songs have been featured in two recent studies on the subject of American Art Song.

Performers who have been associated with his music include Harpsichordist Elaine Comparone who has commissioned a number of works, Saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, Sharon Robinson, The Boehm Wind Quintet, the Virtuosi Wind Quintet, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Sylvan Winds and the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble which began its existence with a full evening of Baksa's music.

E-Mail:rbaksa@berk.com

Website:http://www.rbaksa.com

Additional studies in vocal pedagogy have been at the University of Alabama. As an educator, Dr. Belfield has taught students from preschool to college. As a church musician, he has served six denominations in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, California, Missouri, and Alabama. As composer and arranger, Belfield has written works for chorus, voice and piano, and organ. His choral compositions are published by Mark Foster, a division of Shawnee Press, and GIA Publications.

Although he performs a variety of music, Belfield continues to champion the works of black composers. His articles have been published in The American Organist and the Choral Journal. Dr. Belfield is currently Assistant Professor of Music and Assistant Director of Choral Studies at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. At Winston-Salem State, he teaches Music Theory, Choral Arranging, and accompanies the Winston-Salem State University Choir. He also serves as director of Schola Cantorum, the University Men’s Ensemble. Belfield served on the faculty at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama before coming to Winston-Salem State University. He frequently serves as choral clinician, guest conductor, organist, and accompanist across the country. He continues to accept choral commissions for school and professional chorus and for special church celebrations. Dr. Belfield holds memberships with the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

E-Mail:belfieldrl@wssu.edu

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Throughout the year, he leads classes in writing and arranging music, keyboard skills and performs concerts across the United States. With a skillful and energetic approach to keyboard styling, Jeff's writing has made him a respected pianist and writer/arranger with the major publishers in the country. His talents have yielded numerous publications and he was the creative mind behind a four-piano project including himself, Mark Hayes, Steven Nielson; and Ovid Young. His publications include solo piano books, piano/organ duet books and numerous works collaborated with other writers.

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She frequently serves as a choral and keyboard adjudicator and leads "composer weekends" and various workshops throughout the country. Her goal as a musician is to always present her music as an offering of worship to God, and to help lead others in worshipping and praising God also.

She has received ASCAP Special Awards for the past several years. Her husband, Bruce, is a Minister of Music, and he and Cindy currently serve at First Baptist Church in Killeen, Texas. They are the parents of three grown sons.

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Recognizing a need for choral music written especially for student singers and volunteer church choirs, Don began composing for his own groups. Over 400 of his original choral compositions and arrangements have been released by Shawnee Press, Inc. and other leading publishers of school and church music. More than 15 million copies of his works have been sold, and he has received several ASCAP Special Awards.

His enthusiasm for working with singers of all ages has led to numerous invitations to serve as guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator. He has conducted festivals and workshops in 40 states and Canada. A graduate of Ithaca College, Besig is a member of ACDA, MENC, NYSSMA, ASCAP, and Phi Mu Alpha.

In 1980, Don began collaborating with lyricist Nancy Price. The insight they have gained through their combined years of directing choirs has led the Price/Besig team to create some of the most appealing original compositions and arrangements available in today's market.

E-Mail:dbesig@rochester.rr.com

Website:http://www.priceandbesig.com

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E-Mail:bwbisbee@pngusa.net

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Mr. Bobrowitz had been a freelance bass trombonist, pianist, composer, and arranger in the New York area for more than 30 years. After a thirty year career as a Band and Orchestra Director and Music Department Head, he retired from the Great Neck Public Schools in June 2000, and currently resides in Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Bobrowitz continues to be in demand as a performer, composer, and arranger.

E-Mail:musikmn21@aol.com

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She has taught for thirty years, including teaching as a graduate assistant at the University of Kentucky and as an adjunct professor at Warner Pacific College, Portland, Oregon. She now maintains a private studio. Her students have won awards at regional and national levels. She has performed in the United States, England, Scotland and Germany.

Shirley currently lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband Irv. They have two adult children, Carol Joy and David. All of the profits from her books and CD's go to the Hearts of Hope Foundation for cancer recovery.

Active in clubs and concerts until retiring from live performance in 1997, Lois has sung, played bass and guitar, written and performed in pop, rock and blues bands in the USA and abroad.

She now lives in the Pocono Mountains of PA where she works as a community educator at a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center. Lois and her husband, recording engineer Kent Heckman, also own and operate Red Rock Recording Studio.

E-Mail:redrock@ptd.net

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Mrs. Buckwalter is a 1974 graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and a 1977 graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied organ with Mr. John Weaver and earned the prestigious Artists Diploma in Organ Performance.

Internationally known in the field of handbell composition, Mrs. Buckwalter composed her first published work in 1982. With 36 handbell and 9 choral compositions now in print, she has earned enthusiastic praise for her creative compositions, her colorful harmonies and use of chromatics which have raised the musicality in handbell music as a genre. Mrs. Buckwalter is sought after as a handbell clinician for workshops and bell festivals throughout the country. Her works are frequently selected at area and national handbell conferences and have been recorded in the United States and Japan.

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Mark has written music and curriculum for numerous major publishers. His song collections, including Groovin’ with the Grimms, the Gettin’ Down with Mama Goose series, and Yo! Leonardo, the first in his Smarty Pants series, top many best-seller lists, as do his percussion resources, which include The Accidental Drum Circle and The Body Electric. Mark also writes extensively for video, television and the stage.

Known to many little listeners as “Mister Mark,” he tours nationally, presenting high-energy family concerts. Mark’s CDs, You’ve Got A Song and Go Ape!, have won several awards for children’s music.

Mark resides in Fort Worth, Texas with his wife, Nina, and daughters, Emma and Grace.

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As an ASCAP composer and arranger, Mark's compositions have been successfully programmed in churches and schools nationally with musicals and songs published by Shawnee Press and others. Mark is a multiple recipient of ASCAP's Popular Music Award and an Angel Award as a producer. He is a member of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), and serves on the Board of Advisors for “The Music Man Square”, a museum and foundation in Mason City, Iowa, dedicated to furthering music education and honoring the legacy of Meredith Willson (creator of Broadway’s The Music Man).

As a broadcaster, Mark has produced various live and broadcast productions for over 20 years. Production credits include Eventide: Voices in Song (syndicated) and Steve Allen's Great American Songwriters heard on National Public Radio (hosted by the late, legendary entertainer). Mark's work in music business and broadcasting has led to collaborations with Andy Griffith, pop and Broadway songwriter Rupert Holmes, jazz pianist Loonis McGlohon, gospel singer Cynthia Clawson and others.

Mark holds bachelors and masters degrees in music education and communications from Mars Hill College and The University of Tennessee.

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Bob graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied double bass with Roger Scott, principal bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Bob later received degrees in music education from the University of the Arts, and conducting at the College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State).

Bob was a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Josef Kripps, conductor, and is presently Principal Bass for the Delaware Valley Philharmonic and Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestras. In addition, he is a free lance bassist in Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Delaware performing with many of the stars of Broadway and stage shows, and has recorded with many of the top artists of the day. He also played the Mike Douglas show. Bob has performed with Henry Mancini, Bill Conte, Michael LeGrand, Marvin Hamlish, and most recently with Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli.

As a composer/arranger for Warner Brothers, Bob has published nearly 300 titles. His compositions and arrangements for orchestra cover a wide range of classical and popular styles which are performed all over the world. Bob conducts orchestra performances and reading sessions for regional festivals, and is a clinician at professional conferences across the United States.

E-Mail:cbp17@erols.com

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His musical experiences range from church musician to theme park entertainer. He has performed musical styles from rock to classical to bluegrass.

He currently has over one hundred, twenty anthems in print. In addition to Shawnee Press has released a CD of his choral work entitled The Music of Pepper Choplin – Composer Merit Signature Series. Another Shawnee release is Psalms of the Wood, a CD of his choral music, accompanied by folk instruments and keyboards.

Pepper leads events throughout the country as composer, clinician, conductor and entertainer. Audiences respond with laughter and with tears as he conducts and sings his unique mix of inspirational and humorous music in churches and conferences.

Pepper has several CDs to his credit including his self produced, Pepper Is My Real Name, which features his humorous songs. His recording, Hold On, is a solo album of his most popular inspirational songs.

Much of Pepper’s creative energy goes into planning creative and vibrant worship for Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC where he is Minister of Music. Many of his anthems are born out of a need at his own church. Pepper’s chief desire is “to create music that will lead people to worship in a dramatic way.”

E-Mail:music@pepperchoplin.com

Website:http://www.pepperchoplin.com

Christiansen's solo organ performances have taken him across the United States, Canada and England. In addition to accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their venerable weekly broadcast "Music and the Spoken Word," he accompanies them on tours to many countries of the world. He has been a featured artist for groups such as the United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants.

He has composed several published organ and vocal works. His writings also include works for chorus, string quartet, woodwind trio, chamber and symphony orchestra.

E-Mail:ChristiansenCR@ldschurch.org

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His compositions and arrangements have been published by GlorySound, Harold Flammer, and Mark Foster Music, as well as other publishers in the United States. Jim's works include choral pieces, violin solos, vocal solos, music for brass and percussion, hymn preludes for solo piano, recorder duets, and arrangements for various instrumental ensembles. Jim is a member of ASCAP and the American Composers Forum.

In addition to composing, Jim does music typesetting for publishers and individuals, and he works as a freelance proofreader. He also enjoys playing his viola with the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, accompanying choirs and soloists on the piano, bird-watching, reading, cooking, and making music at home with his family. Jim is an at-home father-his main occupation. He and his wife, Angie, who teaches grade school music, adopted their two children in Russia: Alex, in 1996, and Lena, in 1998.

E-Mail:clemens@infolaunch.com

Website:http://www.jeclemens.com

His recordings include Generation to Generation (SCB Records), The Complete Passover Sing-along Seder and You Can’t Lose ’em All (Worldwide Success Records). His book “Songs for my People” was published in 2007.

E-Mail:bcohon613@yahoo.com

Website:http://www.cantorabbi.com

Following a three-year stay in Milan, Italy, where Mr. Courtney studied the piano with Illonka Deckers, performed for the Associazione Musicale "Gustav Mahler," and worked extensively as a vocal coach, he was invited to join the music faculty of the famed Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, serving as piano teacher and accompanist for the woodwind and brass department.

During this six-year period and while serving in the music ministry of the Salzburg International Baptist Church, Mr. Courtney began directing a church choir and composing sacred choral music due to the unavailability of English language music. Today, Mr. Courtney's published works include sacred choral octavos, vocal collections, and extended works for choir and orchestra. Compositionally, Mr. Courtney combines his training and background as a pianist, a cellist, a vocal coach, an accompanist and a choral director to create works that bear his unique style.

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E-Mail:vickituckercourtney@att.net

Website:http://www.vickituckercourtney.com

Dr. Cox received a Bachelor of Music degree with honors in piano performance from Oklahoma Baptist University, the Master of Music in orchestral conducting from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and the Doctor of Music in composition from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

As a composer, Dr. Cox has more than 160 published works and has received the Standard Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) every year since 1987. He receives numerous commissions and requests for his music, and was recently honored as the commissioned composer for the Texas Music Teachers Association Conference in May of 1995. In addition to his work as a composer, he has an extensive background in choral and orchestral conducting.

E-Mail:drmick@airmail.net

Website:http://www.michaelcox.org

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In addition to conducting, Dr. Crutchfield has provided piano accompaniment for singers, instrumentalists, and conductors throughout the world, including Sir David Willcocks, Marilyn Mims, Angela Brown, and Harpist Carol McClure. He has accompanied choirs at the regional and national levels of the American Choral Directors Association. He has been heard on the British Broadcasting Corporation as service organist for the International Church Music Festival (Bern, Switzerland). Other organ venues have taken him to Japan, Canada, and the United States. Dr. Crutchfield is a published choral and organ composer. He has held the position of Dean of the Chapter (Chattanooga, TN) and Board of Governors (Louisville, KY) for the American Guild of Organists. Dr. Crutchfield is serving the American Choral Directors Association as chair of the Church Music Repertoire & Standards Committee for the Southern division of the ACDA (2003 – 2005).

E-Mail:jcrutchfield@hbclouky.org

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Throughout his career, Brazeal has served in many roles, such as guest conductor, clinician, lecturer, and church choirmaster. His numerous professional affiliations include National Endowment of the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs for the city of Detroit, former trustee and member of the Advisory Committee of the Detroit Community Music School, former Chairman of the Music Advisory Committee for the Michigan Council for the Arts, and President of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

As Fine Arts Department Head at Northwestern High School, Brazeal skillfully prepared the school ensemble and choir to earn superior ratings in state finals competition, appear before the National Convention of the MENC, and perform on an NBC television network special. Brazeal is listed in the 1978 edition of "Men of Achievement," International Biographies, Cambridge, England. He was invited by the White House to become a member of a special committee to present White House Fellowships to highly motivated young Americans. Brazeal's testimony was requested at the field hearings on the re-authorization of the National Foundation for the Arts and Humanities Act, and also that of the Museum Services Act. Brazeal serves on the Board of Directors of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1972, the Brazeal Dennard Chorale is a group of highly trained singers dedicated to developing the choral art to its highest professional level. The Brazeal Dennard Community Chorus was organized in 1985 as a community outreach program by The Brazeal Dennard Chorale to encourage participation of members of the surrounding communities and to provide them with vocal training and professional performance opportunities. The Brazeal Dennard Youth Chorale provides a very special and highly developed choral ensemble of young singers between the ages of 13 and 22. The primary function of the Youth Chorale is to seriously study and perform challenging choral literature.

Brazeal Dennard is the recipient of The Maynard Klein Award in recognition of artistic excellence in the field of choral music, presented by the Michigan Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Brazeal Dennard is the retired supervisor of music for the Detroit Public Schools and serves as adjunct faculty at Wayne State University.

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E-Mail:gdepuit@umich.edu

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Diemer has received annual ASCAP awards since 1962 for performances and publications. Other recognition includes a Louisville Orchestra Student Award, a Ford Foundation Young Composers Grant for a 2-year composer-residency in the Arlington, VA schools, an NEA fellowship in electronic music, a Kennedy Center Friedheim award for her Concerto in One Movement for Piano, the American Guild of Organists Composer of the Year award, a Mu Phi Epsilon Merit Award, etc., plus numerous commissions. A recent (2001) biography of ELD by Ellen Grolman Schlegel is published by Greenwood Press: A Bio-Bibliography, Emma Lou Diemer.

In publication since 1957, her music includes works for orchestra, band, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, voices, and electronic pieces. She has received numerous commissions from schools, churches, and professional groups. Her music is published by Oxford University Press, Hildegard Publishing Company, Boosey & Hawkes, Carl Fischer, The Sacred Music Press, Arsis Press (Empire Publishing Service, Colla Voce, Treble Clef Press, Shawnee Press, and others. Recordings include piano and chamber music on the Vienna Modern Masters label (Encore), North/South Consonance (Sextet for Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin, and Cello; Catchaturian Toccata for Flute and Piano), Living Artists (String Quartet No. 1), Leonarda (Fantasy for Piano--also on Fleur de Son Classics), Josara Records (Four Chinese-Love Poems), RBW Record Co. (organ with instruments), and recently-recorded orchestral works on the Contemporary Record Society label (Suite of Homages), Master Musicians Recordings (Concerto in One Movement for Piano and Santa Barbara Overture), TNC Recordings (Sonata for Flute and Harpsichord).

E-Mail:eldiemer@cox.net

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Mary has been teaching music for 25 years and currently teaches in the Bud Beasley Elementary School in the Washoe (Nevada) County School District. She met George Strid about 16 years ago. They were team-teaching a sixth-grade general music class when their principal asked them to write a musical for Reading Week. From that beginning, a writing team was born, which has resulted in over 150 songs and 15 musicals published by Shawnee Press and other major publishers.

A native of Oregon, George graduated from the Oregon College of Education and obtained Master's degrees in composition and education from Western Oregon State College. Having taught for 25 years, George currently teaches vocal music at Washington Middle School in Olympia, Washington. When not writing or teaching, he conducts workshops and clinics throughout the United States and Canada.

E-Mail:QCDBO7A@prodigy.com

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An active composer and arranger, Patti has over 200 choral octavos and scripture songs published with Shawnee Press, Alfred and other publishers. For the last several years, she has been a recipient of an ASCAP Standard Award for composers. She frequently serves as a church and school clinician, and has presented sessions at the Texas Music Educators Convention, as well as Composer Weekends for numerous churches. Patti directs both in and out-of-state music festivals and serves as a music contest adjudicator.

In addition to writing and workshops, Patti now serves as Minister of Music and Worship Arts at Norman First Baptist Church. She is married to husband, Jim, and they have two grown children, Emily and Adam.

E-Mail:pdrennan@cox.net

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Choral groups under his direction have performed with distinction at contests and at other award winning occasions. They have performed in Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden, as well as on radio and television. His organizations have been invited to sing at New Jersey and New York State School Music Association conventions, divisional meetings of the Music Educators National Conference, and the first American Choral Directors Association National Conference.

Walter Ehret is well known as a clinician, conductor, and choral literature specialist, and has functioned in these various capacities at over 300 workshops in some 30 states. He is one of the nation's most prolific and respected choral editors and arrangers, and has over 2000 publications in print. In addition, he is co-author of Growing With Music, a basic music series (K-8), co-author of Functional Lessons in Singing, a class voice textbook, and author of the Choral Conductors Handbook. His broad ranging knowledge of the music education field and his acknowledged expertise in choral matters make him an invaluable clinician.

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E-Mail:wsroger2@comcast.net

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