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2026 ACDA Western Region Conference March 4-7, 2026 San Jose, California

Foothill High School Green Valley High School
Madrigal Singers Green NV

The Foothill High School Madrigal Singers is an au-
ditioned ensemble composed of students in grades nine
through twelve. Performing only the highest level of Green NV is the contemporary a cappella ensemble
choral repertoire, the Madrigal Singers regularly per- at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada.
form for events in their hometown of Tustin as well as They are a totally student-run ensemble. Green NV
an annual performance tour. During the holidays, they was featured in an interest session at the 2010 Western
sing at over twenty caroling engagements to fundraise ACDA Region Conference in Tucson, AZ, titled “Con-
for the choral music program. Each spring they are fea- temporary A Capella: From the Radio to the Class-
tured in Foothill’s Knights on Broadway, a fully cho- room.” They have received superior ratings in several
reographed production, now in its sixty-first year. They festivals, performed in Disneyland and Knott’s Berry
performed a solo concert in Carnegie Hall in 2013 and Farm, and host the annual Acapalooza, which features
were honored to perform for ACDA in 2014 and 2018. middle and high school a cappella groups in the Clark
County School District and surrounding areas.
Chelsea Dehn holds a BM in vocal per-
formance from UC, Irvine, and an MM Kimberly Barclay Ritzer is in her thir-
in choral conducting from CSULA. ty-fifth year as director of the Green Val-
Dehn is currently in her twentieth year ley High School Choirs in Henderson,
of teaching choral music at Foothill High Nevada, opening the school in 1991. She
School. She finds that serving the students and commu- is a 1990 graduate of UNLV, where she
nity of Tustin is a privilege, and she hopes to remain at received a BME, and a 2001 graduate of the Universi-
Foothill for the longevity of her career. In recognition ty of Phoenix with a master’s in educational adminis-
of her exceptional teaching, she was honored with the tration. Ritzer is currently the task force chair for high
Tustin Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year school choir and facility chair for the Clark County
Award in 2023. In addition to teaching high school, School District secondary fine arts programs. In ad-
Dehn directs the chancel choir at Our Saviour’s Lu- dition, Ritzer serves as the Green Valley High School
theran Church in Orange and has held this position Performing Arts Department chair and has taught sec-
proudly since 2003. ondary choral methods at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas.

CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5 183