Houston Chamber Choir speaks with Pearland High School Choir Director, Michael Kessler. Michael received his B.M. in Music Education at the University of Houston in 2011, and has been teaching ever since. Choirs under Michael consistently receive superior ratings at UIL Concert and Sightreading as well as other state and national music festivals. Just recently, he had 22 students move on to the third round of Texas All-State Choir auditions!
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About April Harris:
April joins our team from the East Coast, where her 10-year Arts Management career blossomed and immersed her into several artistic disciplines such as classical theater, musical theater, instrumental music, and visual art. You’ll consistently find April volunteering with arts programs in her surrounding communities to ensure that exposure to artistic creation and performance continues with the next generations. She credits her commitment to supporting the arts to her own early exposure to performance art in school and extracurricular activities.
April Matthew Hazzard:
Matthew Hazzard is an award-winning Filipino-American conductor and composer. He earned his M.M. in Choral Conducting from the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University Long Beach, and his M.A.T. and B.M. in Music Composition from East Carolina University. Prior to graduate studies, Hazzard taught high school for four years where his choirs received consistently superior ratings. At CSULB, Hazzard directed the Bel Canto treble ensemble, the Cantus tenor-bass ensemble, and the Bob Cole Chamber Choir. He conducted CSULB choirs at regional festivals, and received the top University Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity. Hazzard is in his final year of the Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Houston, where he directed the University Women’s Chorus and Soundscape treble ensemble. For the last two seasons, he has served as a rehearsal conductor for the Houston Symphony Chorus.
About Michael Kessler:
Michael Kessler graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston's Moores School of Music in 2011. While there he performed in the choruses of the Moores Opera Center productions of The Saint of Bleecker Street, Orpheus in the Underworld, La Vie Parisienne, Florencia en el Amazonas, the Grapes of Wrath, and Il Viaggio a Reims.
In 2016, Michael became the Head Choir Director at Pearland High School. The choirs at Pearland High School have consistently received superior ratings at UIL Concert and Sightreading as well as other state and national music festivals. In 2017, they received the Best in Class and Best in Festival awards at Festival Disney. His select chamber choir, Kantorei, has either placed or recieved a Performance of Distinction at the Madrigal Festival every year that they have participated.
Outside of his teaching career, Michael remains active as a singer in the Houston community.
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Education Spotlight:
Hosts and Co-Producers: April Harris and Matthew Hazzard
Associate Producer: Carolina Borja
Video Editor: Nhu Tran
Contributing Editor: Blair Doerge
Education Consultants: Sally Schott and Eddie Quaid
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Also available on the following platforms:
Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/7eLesBjMHfGlY5kqcYcY0b
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-one-accord/id1513230854
Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xNmI2ZTlmOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw%3D%3D
YouTube Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLefU9MRPEBJn38tq4KoWqyJEjXN8xVlpl
Houston Chamber Choir Digital Stage: https://www.houstonchamberchoir.tv/with-one-accord
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