24th Annual JMU ACDA Choralfest

Our biggest festival of the year is our ChoralFest weekend, held in September. During this time, more than 200 singers (high school and college level) rehearse together on the Forbes Center Concert Hall stage for two days, culminating in a final festival performance on Saturday. This event is sponsored by the JMU Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.

Features the JMU Choral Area and participating high schools from across Virginia. jmuacda.weebly.com/choralfest.html

We are excited to announce that our clinician for the 2025 ChoralFest is Dr. McKenna Stenson from Florida State University! As an innovative conductor, teacher, and vocalist, McKenna Stenson has built a career inspiring students to sing confidently and motivating communities to create lasting change through song. Her energetic demeanor permeates positivity throughout the ensemble, creating a community of compassion, trust, and resilience. 

Stenson currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education on the faculty at Florida State University. Stenson conducts Levana, an advanced treble choir, and teaches undergraduate choral methods, graduate conducting, and graduate seminars. Stenson enjoys serving as a guest conductor, clinician, presenter, and adjudicator for choirs throughout the United States and abroad. Prior to her appointment at Florida State University, Stenson served as Assistant Professor on faculty at the University of Kansas (KU) where she served as Associate Director of Choral Activities where she conducted the KU Glee Club and Oread Singers. 

Stenson currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education on the faculty at Florida State University. Stenson conducts Levana, an advanced treble choir, and teaches undergraduate choral methods, graduate conducting, and graduate seminars. Stenson enjoys serving as a guest conductor, clinician, presenter, and adjudicator for choirs throughout the United States and abroad. Prior to her appointment at Florida State University, Stenson served as Assistant Professor on faculty at the University of Kansas (KU) where she served as Associate Director of Choral Activities where she conducted the KU Glee Club and Oread Singers. 

Stenson enjoys serving as a guest conductor, clinician, presenter, and adjudicator for choirs throughout the United States and abroad. Recent engagements include teaching internationally with The Cornish-American Song Institute “Music Across the Pond”, where she taught seminars in choral conducting and choral masterclasses, adjudicating the Canadian Cantando Choral Festivals, and directing the KU Glee Club at the Kansas Music Educators Association State Conference. She has served in state leadership roles and presented sessions at state, regional, and international conferences including the World Symposium on Choral Music (Istanbul, 2023.) Stenson was nationally recognized as a Country Music Award Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence for 2020. She was recently named a National Finalist for the 2023 American Prize Conducting Competition and Choral Performance Competition. 

Stenson earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of North Texas, Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, and Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ohio State University. Stenson enjoyed serving as a public-school teacher as the Choral Director and CFPA Vocal Director at Charles J. Colgan High School. In her free time, she enjoys running, traveling with her son Luka and husband Bryan, and amplifying the voices of women conductors on her podcast conduct(her) with co-founder (and sister) Kyra Stahr. It is an incredible honor to have Dr. Stenson  as our guest conductor as we join forces within the Commonwealth of Virginia for this exciting 'side-by-side' collegiate/high school choral Festival!