In Her Voice: Women in Musical Leadership
Session Abstract: How do we create a space for women of all levels in the profession of choral music to connect and look forward, together? Choral conductors and composers share a variety of experiences, but each has their own story. These stories deepen our perspective and understanding. A panel of women representing various backgrounds and teaching levels will explore:
- 1) ways in which we can support conductors and composers who identify as women
- 2) past experiences of people who were marginalized due to gender identity
- 3) ways to move forward, strengthening a support system among participants for women in choral music
Amanda Quist
University of Miami Frost School of Music
Amanda Quist is the DCA for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. She was previously Chair of Conducting at Westminster Choir College (WCC) and is the recipient of WCC's 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award, and Mazzotti Award for Women’s Leadership. Quist’s ensemble, Westminster Kantorei, won first place in the 2018 American Prize for College & University Choral Performance. Her work with the Philadelphia Symphonic Chorus has been reviewed as “transformative, possessing an impressive immediacy and vigor.” Quist is guest conductor in the US and abroad, and she is National ACDA Coordinator for Collegiate Activities.
Lynnel Jenkins
Princeton Girlchoir, Timberlane Middle School
Lynnel Joy Jenkins has lectured and conducted choirs around the world, including honor choruses at all levels for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), national conferences for the Organization for American Kodály Teachers, and presented sessions for several music associations.
Her contributions to the field of music education have been recognized by Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she has been inducted into the Music Education Alumni Hall of Fame and presented with the Alumni Merit Award.
She is artistic director of Westrick Music Academy (WMA) and choral teacher at Timberlane Middle School of Hopewell Valley Regional School District.
B.E. Boykin
Georgia Institute of Technology
B.E. (Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin first pursued her interest in music during her time at Spelman College, attending classes that inspired and challenged her musical imagination and peaked her interest in composition. Boykin has been commissioned and collaborated with several organizations, including a number of American Choral Director Association (ACDA) divisions, the Minnesota Opera and the Kennedy Center. She obtained her Ph.D. from Georgia State University with an emphasis in Music Education and is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Julie Yu
Kansas State University
Dr. Julie Yu is Professor of Music and Co-Director of Choral Studies at Kansas State University where she oversees and conducts undergraduate choral ensembles, choral music education courses and the summer and residency Master of Music choral programs. Her choirs have performed in Carnegie Hall, in Hawaii, the National Cathedral in Washington DC, as well as in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, and Italy.
She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Central Oklahoma, Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Oklahoma State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of North Texas. Before joining the Kansas State faculty, she taught at Norman North High School in Oklahoma and San José State University.
She has given presentations, conducted, and/or her choirs have performed for state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and the European Music Educators Association Conferences. She is the past-president of the Southwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association and served as an International Conducting Exchange Fellow to Kenya in 2019. She serves as a member of the Kansas State University Faculty Senate.
