“It's hard to focus on anything educationally if certain basic needs aren't being met, so you're trying to navigate and be proactive as much as possible. I have students who have their own needs and things they're going through that are influencing the classroom. Every year, every group, it's a different dynamic. Every student in this group deserves the opportunity to have a good experience with this. Now, they've got to buy in a little bit. They've got to own their piece of it. You can't do it all for them, but they all deserve the opportunity to succeed in that class."

Philip Brown is the director of vocal music at Liberty High School. Additionally he looks forward to collaborations and projects with the Allegro Youth Choirs of Kansas City. He graduated summa cum laude from Bethany College (KS), majoring in K-12 music education and vocal performance. He later received his M.M. degree in music education from Northern Arizona University.

Before returning back to Missouri, Philip started his school teaching in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado (Arvada West High School). Then in Minnesota, he taught at 4 different high schools in the twin cities area over the course of twenty years. Additionally, he spent 15 years conducting the high school choirs with the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs organization.

Philip was honored as the 2011 ACDA-MN Young Director of the Year. He was selected as the Director of Note for Minnesota by Choral Director Magazine in 2012. In 2013 he received the VocalEssence/ACDA-MN Creative Programming Award for his repertoire philosophy and programming. Philip was named the Bethany College (KS) Gold Award recipient in 2015 and was the Winner of the Youth Choir Conducting Division for The American Prize 2016, and again in 2020. He was the featured community member in the Eden Prairie Lifestyle Magazine for 2020. He conducted the Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs - Treble Singers at the 2019 National ACDA Conference in his hometown of Kansas City, and the Cantanti Singers at the 2025 National ACDA Conference in Dallas.

His choral groups have been selected for performances at state, regional, and national conferences for ACDA, NAfME, and Chorus America. Choirs under his conducting have collaborated with the Minnesota Oratorio Society, Minnesota Choral Artists - The Singers, Great Northern Union, VocalEssence, Northern Lights Chorale, Cantus, National Lutheran Choir, Singers in Accord, and multiple university choirs. His choirs have consistently received superior ratings, best in class awards, and grand sweepstakes awards at various music festivals and competitions.

Philip has given presentations and clinics on: rehearsal techniques that energize and engage singers, small ensemble singing strengthening the full ensemble, incorporating technology in the music rehearsal, student-driven assessments, and commissioning new choral works. He is an active clinician and guest conductor, is professionally affiliated with ACDA and NAfME, and is the High School Repertoire & Resource chair for ACDA.

To get in touch with Philip, you can find him on Facebook (@philip.m.brown.79) or email him at philip.m.brown.79@gmail.com. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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“I was one of those people that had some biases against pop music. Being in show choirs and seeing the ways that the songs were transformed and arranged really opened my eyes to different styles of music and changed my perspective. I no longer view popular music as being all that different from classical music or film scores. There's just something about arranging: taking all these pieces of a song and figuring out how to put them together. It's almost like doing a puzzle. It unlocks some of the same parts of my brain.”

Garrett Breeze is a Nashville-based composer best known for his catalog of more than 1,500 choral arrangements of popular music, including more than 1,000 written for competitive show choirs. For the past 15 years, Garrett has been actively involved in the show choir community as an arranger, show designer, clinician, and adjudicator, working with hundreds of choirs across the country. His music is published by Breeze Tunes and Shawnee Press and regularly appears on J.W. Pepper’s Editor’s Choice and other recommended lists.

As a skilled freelance orchestrator and music preparer, Garrett has contributed to a wide range of media projects, including 12 large-format films, Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir, and popular video games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch. He has also worked with renowned artists such as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jordan Smith, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael W. Smith, Santino Fontana, Sutton Foster, and Tauren Wells. His original production music has been featured globally in commercials on all major television networks and in well-known TV shows such as Access Hollywood, Judge Judy, and Lego Masters.

Garrett holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media Music from Brigham Young University and a Master’s degree in Commercial Composition and Arranging from Belmont University. He is host of the Selling Sheet Music Podcast and currently serves as ACDA’s Contemporary/Commercial Co-Chair representing Show Choirs.

To get in touch with Garrett, you can email him at garrett@breezetunes.com or visit his website, breezetunes.com.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“The Spanish language is not treated with the attention and nuance that we often do for many of the languages used for singing auditions. There’s this myth that Americans can't make certain sounds, but in other rehearsals, we work really hard at intense French and German sounds. A lot of composers who aren't familiar with the language set the text in ways that don't make sense and change the meaning. I'd like to keep working at repairing the positionality of Spanish in academic places.”

Dr. Ryan R. Fellman is an American conductor based out of the greater Atlanta area. At Kennesaw State University he conducts the Chamber Singers, University Chorale, Men's Ensemble, and Community and Alumni Chorus. He also teaches courses in conducting and choral literature.

A recent graduate from Michigan State University, Fellman studied under Drs. David Rayl, Sandra Snow, Jonathan Reed, and Derrick Fox. There he served as assistant conductor to several prominent university ensembles including the University Chorale, Choral Union, Singing Spartans, and the Opera Theatre program. Prior to his time at Michigan State, Fellman earned a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Ithaca College, studying under Dr. Janet Galván.

From 2013-2019, he served as Director of Choirs at Oñate High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico, significantly expanding the program's enrollment and fostering collaborations with notable choral artists and composers.

Fellman has guest conducted choirs and orchestras across the United States in California, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. He was selected as a conducting fellow for the Chorus America Choral-Orchestral Conducting Academy in 2023 and 2025.

Fellman holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota where he sang in The Concordia Choir under the direction of Dr. René Clausen.

Outside of his career, Fellman enjoys traveling and spending time with his beautiful Heeler-Lab companion, Shadow.

To get in touch with Ryan, you can find him on Facebook (@rrfellman) or Instagram (@ryanrfellman)

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson