Sharon Hansen - Youth

Sharon A.  Hansen is Professor and Director of Choral Activities and head of Graduate Choral Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Widely known as a conductor and master teacher throughout the United States and in Europe, Hansen is guest conductor for the Romanian National Radio Choir (Bucharest), and has lead the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach Collegium-Stuttgart, the Stockholm Conservatory Chamber Choir, the Moldavian and Oltenian Philharmonic Choirs (Iasì and Craiova, Romania), and the University of Regensburg (Germany) Symphony Orchestra. She has presented master classes in conducting in Romania’s Academy of Music (Bucharest) and Ovidius University (Constanza), and was guest lecturer at the first  and second annual Romanian National Choral Director’s Association Conferences in Sinaia.  She led the first International Choral Conducting Masterclass in Bucharest in September 2003, returning in 2004 for the second such masterclass.  Her UWM Concert Chorale made their Carnegie Hall debut in 1997, and her collegiate and professional ensembles have been featured at local and regional MENC and ACDA conventions. A dynamic and compelling conductor, Hansen is highly sought after as a guest conductor and clinician both at home and abroad. She has guest conducted numerous state and district honor choirs at the high school and collegiate levels, and has conducted All-State choirs in Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Hansen holds the Doctorate in Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Eph Ehly and Glen Block. While on sabbatical in Germany, Hansen sang over sixty-five concerts throughout all of Europe with conductor Helmuth Rilling and his ensembles;  as a result of her intensive study with Rilling, she authored Helmuth Rilling:  Conductor —Teacher.Since 1996, Hansen has been a member of the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal, where she is editor of the bi-monthly column "On the Voice, " featuring articles dedicated to issues of vocal health and pedagogy. Hansen’s research has been presented at Regional and National ACDA Conventions, as well as in other local and national venues.  She is presently engaged in writing a chapter for ACDA’s upcoming monograph on the current status of women choral conductors, as well as writing and editing an additional monograph based on her ten-year history of “On the Voice” articles.Hansen is the Founder and Music Director of the Milwaukee Choral Artists, the premiere professional women’s vocal ensemble in the Midwest. Now in its ninth season, the Milwaukee Choral Artists was formed by a group of committed and talented professional women singers from throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area in order to present and promote choral and vocal music of the highest quality. In December 2005, Tom Strini, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Music Critic, named MCA's "Liederabend" the "Number One Performing Arts Event of 2005;"  of the top ten events he named, MCA held two positions.Regularly hailed for its imaginative programming, the group has quickly established itself in the mainstream of professional music making both within and beyond Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Choral Artists enjoys regular appearances with Present Music, Milwaukee's internationally acclaimed contemporary music ensemble. In November 2006, the Milwaukee Choral Artists joined Present Music in the world premiere of Kamran Ince's "Hammers and Whistlers," which Journal-Sentinel music critic Tom Strini selected as one of his "Top Ten Classical Music Events for 2006."  In November 2005, the two ensembles presented the world premiere of Milwaukee-born composer Daron Hagen's "Flight Music," a six-movement work with texts by Amelia Earhart, named by Strini as "Best Musical Premiere of 2005."  In November 2004, MCA and Present Music performed the world premiere of Henry Brant's "Wind, Water, Clouds and Fire," which Journal-Sentinel music critic Tom Strini also selected as one of his "Top Ten Classical Music Events for 2004."

Equally well versed in early music, the Milwaukee Choral Artists appeared for the second time with the internationally acclaimed Boston Camerata as part of Early Music Now's 2005-2006 Season. MCA has also performed as part of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist's Fine Arts Series (Milwaukee), at the French Mass at Milwaukee's Bastille Days, and in state and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors' Association.

Hansen is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who in America,  and Who's Who in the World,  among others. In service to community arts organizations, she is a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee Children’s Chorus,, and served six years on the Board of Directors for Milwaukee’s Early Music presenter Early Music Now. In tribute to her influence on Southeast Wisconsin’s music scene, Hansen was the recipient of both the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Civic Music Association’s 2003 Award of Excellence in Choral Music. Her professional memberships include ACDA (American Choral Directors Association,) Chorus America, IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music), MENC (Music Educators National Conference),  NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing, The VoiceCare Network, and The Voice Foundation, for which she is presently Treasurer of the United States’ only local chapter

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Lynn Shaw Bailey - Children

Lynn Shaw Bailey, composer, lyricist, writer and choral director, may best be described as an energetic, creative and passionate advocate for young people and the arts.  Her compositions include sacred and educational works for adult, youth and children's choirs, as well as compositions for piano, organ, handbells and instrumental ensembles.  

For over 25 years, Ms. Bailey has been actively involved in all aspects of the music programs at First Baptist Church of Lithia Springs (Georgia), most recently as director of the Young Musicians Choir.  She is on faculty of the Georgia Baptist Convention summer music camps.  As cofounder of a non-profit arts education advocacy and support organization, Ms. Bailey has implemented numerous programs and influenced decision-makers in ways that have helped thousands to enjoy the benefits of arts education. 

Ms. Bailey studied music at Oklahoma Baptist University and received the 2005 OBU Alumni Profiles in Excellence award.  She is a member of ACDA, Choristers Guild and the Baptist Church Music Conference.  She is also a member of the American Society of Composers (ASCAP), where she has received special annual awards for her compositions since 1995.  Ms. Bailey enthusiastically returns to the Conference for Church Musicians after directing the FABM children’s choirs in 2005.

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David Weck - Handbells

David L. Weck is founder and director of The Agape Ringers.  On a daily basis, he is an editor with Hope Publishing Company of Carol Stream, Illinois, where he is responsible for the handbell catalog consisting of more than 700 titles.  David is in demand as clinician and director of numerous local and national handbell events – most recently conducting at the 2004 International Handbell Symposium in Toronto, the 2005 Summer Workshop of The Handbell Ringers of Japan, and has just returned from the 2006 Puerto Rican Handbell Festival where he was one of the invited conductors.  For 30 years David has been involved in choral music through music education, church music, and as assistant director of the Chicago Community Renewal Chorus.  Currently, he serves as adjunct faculty member of VanderCook College of Music Continuing Education, and also represents the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers serving on the national board.  He and his wife, Jane Holstein, reside in Wheaton, Illinois, where they joyfully spend all of their spare time with their grandchildren, Becky and Jack.

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G. Douglas Smith - Instrumental

Dr. Smith taught at North Texas State University and Dallas Baptist University prior to joining the faculty of SBTS. Having pioneered the "four-plus" concept for instrumental music, he has published an extensive catalog of instrumental arrangements for use in the church, as well as a number of articles on instrumental music for the church published in various journals. Dr. Smith has served Baptist churches as minister of music, minister of instrumental music, and soloist in several states, as well as a high school band director in Tennessee. A frequent faculty member at Music Weeks of Ridgecrest and Glorieta, he has presented numerous clinics and workshops throughout the United States and in several other countries.

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Jane Holstein - Organ

Jane Holstein has been active in church music for as long as she can remember and currently serves as director of music ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of River Forest, Illinois, where she is organist and directs the vocal, handbell and brass choirs.  Her full-time employment is music editor with Hope Publishing Company of Carol Stream, Illinois.  As editor she is responsible for the company’s keyboard and instrumental catalogue and served as managing editor for the 2001 hymnal publication Worship & Rejoice.  Jane performs in concert at the organ console with pianist/composer, Joel Raney.  Their concerts have taken them throughout the United States in churches, colleges and for special events. She is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University, the University of Kansas, and received the Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University which is put to use on a daily basis in both her church role and in the publishing world. She has studied with several distinguished instructors including Stephen Nielson, Tim Nelson, James Higdon and Richard Enright.  Jane resides in Wheaton, Illinois with husband, David L. Weck.

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Joel Raney - Piano

JOEL RANEY (b. 1956) started playing the piano at age 3, and began his career at a small rural church in Alabama where he cut his teeth on gospel music from the old Broadman Hymnal.  He studied piano, organ, and choral conducting at the University of North Alabama, and then went on to receive his Master of Music degree in piano performance from TheJuilliard School in New York.  After graduation, he earned his living as an accompanist, arranger and musical director, working on a number of Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.  His work as a conductor and musical director carried him to Los Angeles, and eventually on to Chicago where he now resides with his wife, Susie, and their three sons, Charlie, 18, Sawyer, 15, and Jesse, 12. 

Joel currently owns a music production company in Chicago, Catfish Music, where he and a team of composers create music for television and radio commercials. Their work been heard on ads for, McDonalds, Burger King, Applebees,  Kraft Foods, S.C. Johnson, Coca Cola, Hallmark, and Sears.  He has written more than 2000 scores for commercials, including a Clio award-winning choral arrangement for American Airlines. 

Joel has recorded four piano solo CD’s; An Instrument of Your Peace, Overtures of Praise,  This is my Story, This is my Song,  and Images of Christmas.  His love of church music and his unique career experience came together in the mid 90’s when he began writing and arranging sacred music.  He is enjoying a return to his roots as he uses his unique approach to breathe new life into the old hymns, and to create exciting new music for choirs and instrumentalists.  His name appears often in the Hope Publishing Company catalog with an ever-growing list of chorals, piano solo books, organ and piano duets, and instrumental music.  Joel keeps busy as a choral and keyboard clinician, and often can be heard performing with organist Jane Holstein as they present their concert program, “Keyboard Excursions”, in churches and universities around the country.  He currently serves as artist-in-residence at the First Presbyterian Church in River Forest, Illinois, where he plays regularly for the services, and composes for the choirs and ensembles.

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