“The work that we do as choral people matters. The art matters. The music is the engine that drives the experience for everybody. In community organizations, they yearn for high level artistry. They don’t want it to be a hobby. They want to be challenged and fulfilled. I want the experience for them to be fun, but I don’t want it to be ‘for fun.’ There’s no bench in a choir. Everyone is contributing all the time, and we need everybody’s best effort all the time.”

Dr. Matt Hill is a choral composer and conductor who specializes in community and collegiate ensembles. In a typical week he conducts five auditioned choirs, including a 7th-12th grade treble choir, undergraduate treble and mixed choirs, and two semi-professional adult ensembles, along with a volunteer church choir.

He founded Sing Omaha in 2007 and serves the nonprofit as Artistic and Executive Director. The organization now reaches approximately 500 musicians a year: roughly 350 singers across nine choirs from kindergarten through adult, plus a private lesson studio of 150 students at two locations. He is also Director of Choral Activities at Creighton University and Director of Worship Arts at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church.

His forthcoming book, The People-First Conductor, argues that choirs exceed every expectation placed on them when their singers are regarded as people first. Rather than a conducting primer or a repertoire guide, it offers a framework for designing the whole choral experience, from first rehearsal to final bow. The work that happens around the singing determines whether singers will invest in the process and risk the vulnerability that a meaningful social, spiritual, educational, and artistic experience demands.

Hill has twice been named Nebraska Choral Director of the Year, and serves as Executive Director of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association. He has represented community choirs on the national ACDA board since 2021, and has published six articles in Choral Journal.

As a composer he has been commissioned by ensembles across the country and was selected for the International Choral Composers Institute in 2026, where Great is the Sun! closed the final concert and will be published by Choristers Guild in 2027. His catalog with perusal scores and recordings is available at www.MattHill.music.

He lives in Omaha with his wife, Jen, and their 7-year-old son, Walter.

To get in touch with Matt, you can visit MattHill.music, email him at matthill@creighton.edu, or find him on Facebook (@MattHillComposer), Instagram (@matthillcomposer), or X (@matthillmusic).

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“My predecessor is very, very well-known, an amazing choral director, and he’s still in the area. I’m trying to establish myself as the new director following such a well-loved choral director. My colleagues and he himself set me up really well for that. How do I establish myself as somebody who knows what they’re doing and wants to honor what’s important to the community? I’m adjusting to traditions, learning to very gracefully sunset other traditions without ruffling too many feathers.”

Bella Garcia y Lauer is about to start her 3rd year of teaching 8-12 grade choir at Curtis High School and Curtis Junior High School in University Place, and her 5th year of teaching. Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she transplanted to Washington after graduating high school, and earned her Master in Teaching from Whitworth University after studying vocal performance and music education at Eastern Washington University. She is active in serving her local professional organizations in many different roles and currently works as a WMEA All State Honor Choirs group manager, is the Reading Session Coordinator for the Washington ACDA Board, and has served on the WA-ACDA Diversity Initiatives Committee since 2022. She is passionate about cultivating a strong and supportive choral culture in her program that broadens equity and opportunity for her students, and inspiring her students to love music and collaborative singing as a way to connect with each other and grow.

To get in touch with Bella, you can email her at bellaglauer@gmail.com or find her on Facebook (@bellawuskii).

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"The most important advice I ever received is that you cannot call a piece 'done' until you have sung through every part, beginning to end, and 90% of the time changed at least one thing because of that sing-through. I think I'm a good music reader, but I'm going to falter at the things that most people would on a first read. If I'm singing through my music and I struggle to find an interval, that immediately gets flagged: Is this worth keeping? Is there a way I can support this so that it becomes an easier interval to find?”

Ryan Main (b. 1984) is an award-winning composer, director, and clinician whose music for choirs and bands is performed at all levels worldwide. His compositions have been performed across the globe and extensively throughout the United States, frequently showcased at prestigious events such as national and regional American Choral Directors Association Conferences, festivals, Carnegie Hall, and other distinguished venues.

Born in the Kansas City, Missouri area, Ryan began his post-secondary music education at the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (2003–2006), earning a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition. He continued his studies at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University (2006–2009), completing dual Master of Music degrees in Music Composition and Music Education.

Passionate about ensuring access to quality music education for all, Ryan founded the Youth Chorus of Kansas City, a non-profit organization serving youth from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds throughout the Kansas City metro area. As artistic director, he leads the organization in providing meaningful musical opportunities to students who might not otherwise have access to them.

Beyond his work with young singers, Ryan is dedicated to fostering the next generation of composers. He mentors aspiring creators across the United States and serves as Professor of Choral Arranging at the University of Missouri–Kansas City's Conservatory of Music and Dance, where his students have gone on to successful careers in composing and arranging. He also founded Endeavor Music Publishing, a fair-pay publishing company that ensures composers receive the majority of proceeds from each sale.

To get in touch with Ryan, you can find him on Instagram (@ryanmainmusic) and Facebook: @ryanmain. You can also learn more by visiting ryanmain.com or endeavormusicpublishing.com. You can email Ryan about compositions at ryan@ryanmain.com or about publishing your works at ryan@endeavormusicpublishing.com.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson