Keynote Speaker:
Jessica Chichester, Ph.D
NVP, Collegiate Chapters
Jessica was initiated into SAI by the Sigma Omega chapter at Susquehanna University
in Selinsgrove, PA where she majored in Biochemistry and played the Euphonium in
the Symphonic Band.
Jessica’s service to SAI began as president of her collegiate chapter for which she
was awarded the Sword of Honor and Ruby Sword of Honor. After graduation, Jessica
affiliated with the Selinsgrove Alumnae Chapter while pursuing her doctorate in
Microbiology and Immunology at Thomas Jefferson University. While in graduate school,
she was elected Chi A Province Officer, a position she served in for six years. Jessica was then appointed Region VIII officer by the National President and was very honored and excited to be a part of this new organizational structure within our fraternity. She was grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity for an additional six years.
Jessica is currently serving her second term as National Vice-President, Collegiate Chapters, a position that she is honored and humbled to hold. For her years of service, Jessica was awarded the Rose of Honor, Wreath of Achievement and most recently the Ring of Excellence. She credits active leadership in Sigma Alpha Iota with allowing her to keep her passion for music alive in a career full of scientific experiments. Jessica currently lives in Glen Mills, PA and works for the Gene Therapy Program at the University of Pennsylvania as the Associate Director of Immunology. She continues to play the Euphonium in community ensembles.
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(Picture and biography retrieved from https://www.sai-national.org/about-sai/officers-and-directors/officers-and-project-directors/12-jessica-chichester.html )
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Workshop Sessions:
Vivian Torres: The Alexander Technique
A South Florida native, Vivian Torres is an active freelance violist, music educator and Alexander Technique practitioner. After receiving her BM,MM and AD in music performance from FIU and UM, Vivian began her Alexander Technique training in the Philadelphia School of the Alexander Technique in 2016. Currently, she works with children to high level performers, presenters and individuals that suffer from chronic pain and teaches them how to improve their overall quality of life using the Alexander Technique.
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Barbara Tagg: Choral Adjudication
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Conductor/music educator Dr. Barbara M. Tagg is a retired member of the music education faculty at Syracuse University (1980-2016) where she was conductor of
the S.U. Women’s Choir for twenty years, and Founder/Artistic Director Emerita of
the Syracuse Children’s Chorus (SCC) in residence at the university (1981-2010). She
is author of BEFORE THE SINGING published by Oxford University Press. Currently
she is SSAA/Women’s Choir Chair of Florida ACDA and continues to guest conduct,
adjudicate, and consult.
Dr. Tagg was the first nationally elected ACDA Repertoire & Standards Chair serving
two, four-year terms following her eight-year tenure as Chair of the ACDA National
Committee on Children’s Choirs. During her tenure as National R&S Chair she guest
edited three focus issues of The Choral Journal devoted to children’s choirs, repertoire and standards, and American music respectively, in addition to numerous articles. As a former ten-year board member of Chorus America she continues to serve on various committees and initiatives.
Throughout her career Dr. Tagg has guest conducted treble honors choirs, all state choirs, festivals, and presented workshops for universities and choral organizations throughout the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and China. She has presented concerts, research papers, and workshops in Greece, Great Britain, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, and China and across the U.S. She has prepared choirs for Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Dave Brubeck, Fabio Machetti, Daniel Hege, Doreen Rao, and the late Christopher Keene, Calvin Custer, and Gregg Smith. She prepared SCC for annual concerts with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for twenty-six years.
She has commissioned and/or premiered over ninety works for children’s and women’s choirs. With SCC she twice received the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming. Distinguished composers in residence for premieres with her choirs have included Libby Larsen, Bob Chilcott, David Brunner, Francisco Núñez, Jim Papoulis, Nick Page, Shawn Crouch, Gerald Cohen, among others, and the late Stephen Paulus, Calvin Custer, Liu Zhuang, and Gregg Smith.
For many years she was artistic director of the Keynote Arts Associates Children in Harmony Festivals in Orlando, FL, and the Adirondack Children’s Chorus at the Adirondack Festival of American Music in Saranac Lake, NY. She has been honored by ACDA, Syracuse University, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Society for New Music, and DisneyWorld. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota (currently affiliated with the Sarasota-Manatee Alumnae Chapter), holds the Choral Music Experience Artist-Teacher Certificate, and is a currently a member of the Gregg Smith Singers board of directors, and an honorary board member of the Ernst Bacon Foundation.
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