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2026 ACDA Eastern Region Conference February 25-28, 2026 Providence, Rhode Island

and have extensive choral experience and/or degrees Jacob Collier. Recently, the Chamber Singers part-
in music. nered with Connecticut’s professional choir CONCO-
RA to present Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew
Andrew Howell is the Marion & Bill Palm Shepard throughout New England. The choir frequently
Music Director of the Chorus of Wester- collaborates with high school choirs across Connecticut
ly, appointed in 2012 as the second music and performs throughout the state.
director in the organization’s sixty-sev-
en-year history. In addition to his exten- Jamie Spillane is the director of choral
sive duties with the Chorus of Westerly, he also serves studies at UConn, where he oversees an
as music director for Mystic Congregational Church in active program that includes eight choirs
Mystic, Connecticut, and during the summer months and teaches conducting and choral litera-
at the Watch Hill Chapel in Westerly, Rhode Island. ture classes from undergraduate through
Howell received his BME and MM in choral con- doctoral degrees. Spillane has directed all-state and
ducting and organ performance from the University honor choirs throughout the United States and has pre-
of Rhode Island, where he previously conducted the sented interest sessions and conducted performances at
University Chorus and taught ear training and sight state and region conferences of ACDA and NAfME.
singing and music appreciation. He lives in Westerly, Recently he directed the national concerts in Carnegie
RI, with his wife, Emily, and their four children. Hall as well as the Indiana all-state vocal jazz choir. For
fourteen years, Spillane was chair of the Ledyard High
School Music Department. Spillane has earned degrees

University of Connecticut from Ithaca College, the University of Connecticut,
Chamber Singers and the University of Arizona, is the president-elect of
the Eastern ACDA Region, and recently received the
Lifetime Achievement Award from CT-ACDA.

University of Maryland
Chamber Singers

The University of Maryland Chamber Singers will
be a demonstration choir for this session. Their photo
and bio are on page 23.

Jason Max Ferdinand is the conductor of this choir.
His photo and bio are on page 23.

The University of Connecticut Chamber Singers is
the premier choral ensemble at the University of Con-
necticut, comprising twenty-six talented vocalists. The
ensemble presents a diverse repertoire spanning from
the sixteenth century to contemporary works, includ-
ing twenty-first-century commissions. The group has
toured nationally and internationally, collaborating
with renowned artists such as Kristin Chenoweth and

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5 15