Classical Movements, Inc. - Rhapsody! Children's Music Festival

Guest Conductors

Dr. Janet Galván
Festival conductor in 2010

Dr. Janet Galván, Professor of Music at Ithaca College, conducts the Ithaca College Women's Chorale, the Ithaca College Chorus, and is Artistic Director for the Ithaca Children's Choir. Dr. Galván's contribution to choral music was recognized by her New York colleagues in 1995 when she received the New York Outstanding Choral Director Award. Dr. Galván has conducted national, regional, and all-state choruses throughout the United States in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Washington's Constitution Hall, Minneapolis' Symphony Hall, Salt Lake's Mormon Tabernacle, and Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. She was the sixth national honors choir conductor in the over 40-year history of ACDA. Dr. Galván is also the conductor of the North American Children's Chorale which performs annually in Carnegie Hall. She was honored to conduct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 2000. Her own choral groups have been chosen to perform at national, regional, and state professional music conferences as well as many invitational choral festivals. Dr. Galván has presented workshops at international, national and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM), Chorus America, and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). She has also been a featured clinician at workshops in Brazil, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Her expertise in treble repertoire led to an association with Roger Dean Publishing Company in the origin of the Janet Galván Women's Choir Series and Roots and Wings, a series for young voices. She is the series advisor to Latin Accents, a series with Boosey & Hawkes. She was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Robert Shaw Festival Chorus during Mr. Shaw's final years.

Joan Gregoryk
Festival conductor in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009

Joan Gregoryk, Founder and Artistic Director of the Children's Chorus of Washington, is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of children's vocal music. Ms. Gregoryk taught for many years at Chevy Chase Elementary School where her work with the school's chorus won her considerable acclaim within professional music organizations, as well as invitations to perform within the United States and Europe. She prepared members of the Chevy Chase Chorus for the Grammy Award-nominated compact disc and film soundtrack recording of Mussorgsky's Boris Gudunov with Mstislav Rostropovich and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has prepared CCW choruses for several conductors including, Leonard Slatkin, Yuri Termikanov, Helmuth Rilling, and Dante Anzolini. Ms. Gregoryk is in constant demand as a guest conductor throughout the United States. She has conducted numerous state children's honors choruses and in 2008 will conduct both the Southern and Southwestern ACDA Children's Honors Chorus. For the past five years she has been the guest conductor for Rhapsody! Prague Children's Music Festival, in Austria and the Czech Republic. Besides her exceptional work as a teacher, conductor and clinician, Ms. Gregoryk is also an accomplished writer and has written articles for several professional music organizations. Because of her achievements, Ms. Gregoryk has been awarded numerous honors by the Rockefeller Brothers Funds Awards in Arts Education, the Maryland Outstanding Elementary Music Educator, and the Conservatory Medal of Excellence from Shenandoah University. She holds both a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Music Education, and is an Artist-Teacher Associate at the Choral Music Experience Institute.

Francisco J. Núñez
Festival conductor in 2008

Born in New York City of Dominican descent, Francisco J. Núñez is a composer, conductor, a leading figure in music education, and a visionary, whose strongly held ideas have resulted in the critical and popular success of the Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC). Mr. Nunez formed the YPC in 1988 with two goals in mind: commitments to musical excellence and to providing an atmosphere where young people of diverse ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds could further their personal and artistic growth through the study and performance of music, and today he is often contacted by cities around the country for help in replicating the YPC success. For his exemplary work with children, Mr. Núñez has been presented with numerous awards, such as the Child Champion award from Child magazine, a Liberty Award from the New York Post, and a Luminary Award from Casita Maria. He was recently named as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics of 2005 by Hispanic Business magazine and selected for GMC's advertising campaign as an unsung Hispanic hero doing great work in his community.

An editor at Boosey & Hawkes, Chester Novello, and G. Schirmer publishing companies, Mr. Nunez is also a composer, whose award-winning works and arrangements for choirs, orchestras, and solo instruments are inspired by a wide range of Latin cultures and musical idioms. As a conductor, Mr. Núñez also leads the University Glee Club of New York City, the NYU University Singers, and NYU Women's Chorus, and is active as a guest conductor and master teacher for choral workshops, demonstrations, and festivals nationwide.

Dr. Doreen Rao
Festival conductor in 2002, 2003 and 2004

Dr. Rao, an internationally acclaimed conductor and teacher, holds the University of Toronto Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting. She heads the Faculty of Music graduate program in conducting, and serves as Artistic Director of the new Centre for Advance Studies in Choral Music, a university enrichment program of the Performance and Music Education Divisions. As Director of Choral Programs, Dr. Rao conducts the McMillan Singers, the University Women's Chorus, and the newly formed Master Chorale. She teaches advanced choral conducting and graduate courses in music education.

During her long association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Doreen Rao prepared choruses for concerts, tours, and recorded performances that won four Grammy Awards and a Grand Prix du Disque under Sir George Solti, Margaret Hillis, and James Levine. She regularly prepared choruses for Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony and Helmut Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festivals. She was Artistic Director of the award-winning Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus and is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on children and youth choirs.