Ronnie Sanders, D.M.A. (ABD)

info@ronniesanders.net

Vitae

EDUCATION

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS: Music Education D.M.A. (ABD)

Boston University - Boston, Massachusetts

Anticipated Completion - 2013

MASTERS IN CHORAL CONDUCTING

University of Houston – Houston, Texas

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE - GENERAL STUDIES

Charter Oak State College – New Britain, Connecticut

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE

HEAD CHOIR DIRECTOR

Thomas Jefferson High School

San Antonio, Texas

Fall 2006 - present

Region 11 Choir Clinician, November 2013
Region 4 Choir Clinician, November 2012.
Region 17 Choir Clinician, November 2011
Received Grammy "Signature Enterprise" Award for excellence in music education, May 20, 2010.
Region 22 Choir Clinician, Fall 2010.
Region 16 Choir Clinician, Fall 2010
UIL Concert/Sight-Reading judge for Regions 4, 17, 14, 15, 22.
Oversee all aspects of the Fine Arts Magnet Academy's Vocal Division
Earned numerous Sweepstakes and Superior Ratings at UIL Concert and Sight singing competitions.
Traveled to New York with students to perform Mozart's Requiem in Lincoln Center
Invent an innovative and creative recruiting program designed to attract the finest middle school singers to Jefferson
Conductor - San Antonio Independent School District's Middle School Honor Choir
Founder - Region 12 Middle School Choir Camp
Supervise staff
Oversee and administer multiple budgets
Founder - Texas Middle School Master Chorale

CHOIR DIRECTOR

New Braunfels Middle School

New Braunfels, Texas

Fall 2005 - Spring 2006

Oversee all aspects of Middle School choral activities for students grades 6 - 8
Earned Sweepstakes Trophy in UIL Concert/Sightreading competition
Six students earned seats in the Texas All-Region Choir
Administer multiple budgets
Work closely with faculty and administration

DIRECTOR OF CHORAL ACTIVITIES

Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas

Artistic Director, Corpus Christi Chorale

Fall 2004 - Spring 2005

Created a recruiting campaign that saw the Chorale choir grow from 34 to 167 in less than 6 months
Conducted Fauré's Requiem and Rutter's Mass of the Children from memory with three local high schools and the Corpus Christi Youth Symphony
Conducted three college ensembles
Recruited high school students from across Texas

CHOIR DIRECTOR

Blinn College, Brenham, Texas

Fall 2003 - Spring 2004

Director - Brenham Chorale, Blinn Choral Union

Organized and distributed enlistment posters
Awarded over $4000.00 in foundation grant money to hire full orchestras for choral concerts.
Selected, rehearsed, and conducted major choral works
Hired orchestra
Worked closely with the administration and other faculty member
Instilled vision in the choir members

CHOIR DIRECTOR

University of Houston, Houston, Texas

Teaching Fellow - Fall of 2002

Director: University of Houston Men's Chorus, University Chamber Singers

Select concert repertoire
Conduct rehearsals and concerts
Audition and place students
Administer grades

CHOIR DIRECTOR

First Baptist Church, Bellaire, Texas

Associate Pastor; Minister of Music and Worship

June 1994 - February 2003

Provide leadership and vision using current as well as traditional styles of music
Lead the congregation in a worship-oriented ministry of music using a choir and full orchestra each Sunday
Actively recruit membership; choir grew from seven to forty, orchestra grew from three to twenty while church attendance was two hundred fifty
Assist the choir and orchestra through individual vocal and instrumental coaching
Reach out to the community through fully staged pageants consisting of choir, orchestra, drama, sets, lights, make-up, and choreography
Compose worship songs as needed for appropriate sermon messages. Arrange, produce the church's first CD project, Thou, Oh Lord, Art Exalted
Submit and maintain multiple operating budgets
Train sound technicians in the operation of the soundboard

CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA DIRECTOR

Alamo City Baptist Church, San Antonio, Texas

March 1989 - June 1994

Conduct the choir of seventy to eighty members.
Saw the orchestra grow from seven to twenty-two.
Select music, prepare chorus.
Increase the musical skill level of participants.
Oversee all aspects of the church's tape ministry.

CHOIR DIRECTOR

St. Marks United Methodist Church, San Antonio, Texas

Minister of Music, June 1986 - February 1989

Select music, rehearse and prepare choir.
Conduct anthems every week.
Conduct Vivaldi’s Gloria with full orchestra.
Conduct Gian-Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors at Colonial Hills United Methodist church.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

Compiled Data for TMEA "A Revised Comparison of All-State Choir ENTRIES vs MEMBERS by School Classification - 2008 - 2013." Revised March 2013

Workshop Presenter - Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention "Future Music Educators - How to Start and Maintain a Club." February, 2013, San Antonio, Texas.

Workshop Presenter - Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention "AP Music Theory - the Nuts and Bolts." February, 2012, San Antonio, Texas.

Appointed to the Texas Commission on the Arts by Governor Rick Perry, September 2011.

Article, "What Will Inspire the Next Generation of Artists?" published by the San Antonio Express-News, October 21, 2011

Carnegie Hall conducting debut, June 13, 2005, New York City, conducted Gabriel Faure's Requiem from memory.

Presented an all-day workshop to all secondary choral directors in Mission, Texas. Topics covered:

Warm-ups that Work,
Sight-Reading tips,
New Music on the UIL List,
Challenges to Title I Choral Programs,
Effective Urban Choral Music Teachers,
Measuring Success in your Choir Program,
Effective SAB Choice pieces,
Motivating the Unmotivated,
Bloom’s Taxonomy for Choir Directors - Breaking it down,
A Bag of Sticks, New UIL Rules-What you NEED to know, and
Recruiting.

Article "Fine Arts Can Teach Crucial Life Lessons" published in the San Antonio Express News, April 10, 2011.

Article "San Antonio Students Mark Major Artistic Accomplishment" published in the San Antonio Express News, Monday, May 31, 2010.

Article "May I Have the Definition, Please?" published in Texas Sings! official publication of the Texas Choral Directors Association, May 2010.

Featured Contributing Writer, San Antonio Express News, Sunday Journal.

Invited to conduct Rutter's Mass of the Children in March of 2009 in Lincoln Center, New York City.

Presenter - "The Choral Music of Tarik O'Regan" for "We Are Teachers," Texas Music Educators Association Convention, February 2009.

Contributor - "The Choral Warm-Up Collection" edited by Sally Albrecht, Alfred Music Publishing.

Article "Motivation - Either You've got it or You've Got it" published in Texas Sings! official publication of the Texas Choral Directors Association.

Review published, "Locus Iste by Tarik O'Regan" Choral Journal, American Choral Directors Association Magazine, June - July 2008.

Board of Directors - Vice-President Church/Community Division of the Texas Choral Directors Association 2004 - 2006.

Arranger/Orchestrator - Will you Worship? Choral collection, published by Prism Music.

Guest Artist - conducted selections from Handel's Messiah on the podium of Houston's Symphony North Orchestra - December 2002.

Associate Conductor - San Antonio Choral Society, 1986 – 1989.

Columnist - Houston Community College Newspaper, 1996 - 1999, received the Excellence in Journalism award by the Texas Inter-Collegiate Press Association.

Rehearsal techniques published by Southern Music Company and Alfred Music Company.

Adjudicator - judged for many local high school, district, region, area, and all-state competitions

REPRESENTATIVE MAJOR WORKS CONDUCTED

Fauré's Requiem

John Rutter's Gloria and Mass of the Children

Beethoven's Egmont Overture

Haydn's Te Deum

Schubert's Mass in G

Mozart's Requiem

Brahms' Requiem

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (excerpts)

Carl Orff's Carmina Burana