Choral Workshop Faculty
Instructors
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor, lecturer and clinician who has led performances and workshops on six continents. She is the National President-elect of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), having previously served on the Board of Directors of Chorus America, as well as ACDA central division president and ACDA Michigan state president. She is the chorus director of the Grand Rapids Symphony, a Grammy-nominated professional orchestra and Emerita Professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Appointed in 2022 as the Editor of Hinshaw Music, a major choral music publisher in North America, she also has a signature choral series with earthsongs and is the music editor of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Choral series published by GIA. She has conducted several times at Carnegie Hall and other major concert halls in the US and was an invited guest lecturer at the World Symposium for Choral Music held in Seoul, South Korea. Her guest conducting engagements regularly take her to Europe, Asia, and across North America.
Dr. Shangkuan has served on the jury of several international choral competitions in Europe and Asia and has led conducting masterclasses for the ACDA national conference, Chorus America conferences, the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois Choral Conducting Symposium among many prominent programs, institutions and organizations in the US. She has conducted numerous All State choirs, ACDA national and division honor choirs, and choral festivals nationally and internationally and has headlined several ACDA state and other professional conferences. She has commissioned and premiered numerous choral works and her choirs have performed at ACDA national, division and state conferences.
The Michigan YWCA honored her with its Arts Tribute Award in 2007. In 2013, Michigan ACDA honored her with the Maynard Klein Choral Award for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music.” In 2020, she received a Calvin University Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2023, the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) gave her its Honorary Life Member Award for “distinguished leadership and extraordinary service to the choral community, both nationally and internationally.”
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Dr. Joseph Han
Joseph Kyungjin Han is an active performer and has a well-established international career. His professional engagements have reached audiences throughout the United States, Italy, France, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. He made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall with the Philharmonia Boston Orchestra String Players and made an appearance at Lincoln Center.
Recently, Dr. Han was invited to conduct a masterclass at the prestigious National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, where he also provided instruction on Korean art song, diction, and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to the participants. Moreover, he collaborated with esteemed pianist Antonio Santoyo for a Schubert's Winterreise recital at the Conservatory de las Rosas in Morelia.
As an active choral conductor, he received honors as a guest conductor at the prestigious NYSSMA Area All-State Festival held at the Proctor Theater in Schenectady, NY. Furthermore, he served as a guest conductor, leading performances at All-County Music Festivals, including those in Fulton County, Montgomery County, and Schoharie County.
Beyond his artistic pursuits, he enjoys active involvement within the music community of the Capital Region. He currently serves as the interim President of the Eastern New York Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and actively participates in the American Choral Directors Association.
Previously, he served as an adjunct professor at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and also taught undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon University and SUNY Stony Brook. He received certificates in choral conducting and vocal pedagogy at Westminster Choir College. Currently, he holds the position of Assistant Professor and Director of Vocal and Choral Studies at SUNY Schenectady Community College and also teaches musical theatre singing as a Lecturer in Voice at the University at Albany (SUNY).