State Presidents
RYAN HOLDER
Arizona President
Ryan W. Holder is currently the Associate Director of Choral Studies at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ), where he directs the Vox Astra (Women’s Chorale), Northern Voices and High Altitude vocal jazz ensembles, teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting and choral methods, supervises choral student teachers, serves as the adviser for the NAU student chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the three contemporary a cappella groups. In addition, he is the coordinator of the annual Jazz Madrigal festival, which brings in over 120 high schools and 165 choirs every year.
Dr. Holder currently serves as the director of music at The Church of the Red Rocks in Sedona, Arizona where he conducts the Chancel Choir and Handbell Choir. Dr. Holder is also the founding artistic director of the Sedona Academy of Chamber Singers, choir-in-residence at The Church of the Red Rocks.
Ryan has given lectures and presentations at local, state, and regional ACDA and NAfME conventions. His vocal jazz ensembles have been invited to perform throughout the Southwest, including performances at state, regional, and national conferences. In June 2023, Dr. Holder made his Carnegie Hall debut, directing a world premiere of Lionteeth by Swedish composer Anders Edenroth.
Ryan served as the Arizona State ACDA President as well as the ACDA National Committee on Educational Technology. In 2020, Dr. Holder was awarded the Arizona ACDA Choral Director of the Year award.
Dr. Holder received his DMA degree from the University of Miami in addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Oregon University and University of Northern Colorado, respectively.
“Try Not. Do…or do not, there is no try”
Yoda
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
KRISTINA NAKAGAWA
California President
Kristina Nakagawa is the Executive Artistic Director for Vivace Youth Chorus in San Jose, and is also the founding artistic director of Resounding Achord, an adult mixed-voice auditioned community choir. Previously, Kristina directed the choirs at Saratoga High School and St. Francis Episcopal Church in Willow Glen, served as the Interim Director of Choral Activities at San José State University, and taught 7th–12th grade music at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills. Her choirs consistently received superior rankings at California Music Educators Association festivals and Gold awards at Heritage Festivals. She has prepared choirs for the Fauré Requiem, John Rutter’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, the Mozart Requiem, Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Kirke Mechem’s Befana, and the Bernstein Mass.
Ms. Nakagawa sang and served as the Assistant Conductor for The Choral Project from 2005 to 2012. During this time, The Choral Project won First Prize at the 2007 California International Choral Festival in San Luis Obispo and was invited to participate in the 2011 International Concorso Corale in Tolosa, Spain. She can be heard on their recordings Winter, One is the All, Tell the World, and Yuletide.
As a soloist, Ms. Nakagawa has performed cabaret shows at Society Cabaret in San Francisco and San José, Theatre on San Pedro Square in San José, and also at Limelight Theatre in Gilroy. She was featured in the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus production of Enchantingly Wicked with Stephen Schwartz at Davies Symphony Hall and has performed with Palo Alto Players, Tabard Theatre, Foothill Musical Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, and the Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus.
Ms. Nakagawa holds a bachelor of music degree in vocal performance from UC Irvine, where she studied with Mahlon Schanzenbach and Joséph Huszti. She received her master’s degree in choral conducting from San José State University under the direction of Dr. Charlene Archibeque, and has additional training in the Kodály method from Holy Names University. She is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, California Music Educators Association, Organization of American Kodály Educators, and Chorus America. She has served in multiple positions on the CCDA board since 2015. Kristina and her husband Ryan are the proud parents of a Vivace Youth Chorus student.
CHRISTOPHER SERRANO
Hawaii President
Mr. Christopher Serrano is the Music Instructor at Ala Wai Elementary School and currently serves as President, Elementary Festival Chair, and Webmaster for the Hawai‘i Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He holds a B.A. in General Music from Jacksonville State University, a PBSCE Certificate in K–12 Music Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and a Kaʻohekani Hawaiian Music Certificate from Windward Community College. He also holds certifications in both Kodály and Orff-Schulwerk approaches to music education. As a performer and conductor, Mr. Serrano has collaborated with a variety of ensembles, institutions, and organizations across Oʻahu, including the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Hawai‘i Pacific University, Central Union Church, Early Music Hawaiʻi, and, from 2022 to 2024, served as Music Director at Church of the Crossroads. His work in these settings reflects a wide-ranging repertoire that spans early, contemporary, and multicultural traditions. Mr. Serrano has been recognized for his leadership in both classroom and community settings. At Ala Wai Elementary, he has helped establish a comprehensive music curriculum for grades Pre-K through 5, actively contributes to school-wide initiatives supporting Hawaiian cultural education, and launched afterschool programs including the Menehune Singers, an auditioned elementary choir he founded in 2024. In recognition of his contributions, Mr. Serrano was named “2023-2024 Teacher of the Year” by the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, reflecting his commitment to culturally responsive pedagogy, creative exploration, and elemental music-making.
JENNIFER TIBBEN
Nevada President
Jennifer Tibben currently serves as the choir director and Department Chair for The Performing and Fine Arts Center at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, where she leads 4 choirs and teaches Dual Credit Music Theory through the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a recipient of the NMEA Music Educator of the year award in April, 2022. Jennie is a National Board-Certified Teacher in the area of HS Vocal Music.
Jennie is the Artistic Director and conductor of Bella Voce, a select community women’s choral ensemble. She has received a Sierra Arts Foundation grant for her work as conductor of Bella Voce. Bella Voce regularly commissions new choral works for treble ensembles, including works by Emma Lou Diemer, Gwyneth Walker, Joan Szymko and Reginal Wright, in addition to several new composers. Jennie serves as founding chorus director for the Reno Philharmonic Chorus since June, 2007. Their inaugural performance was met with great accolades, including a comment from a comment from the Philharmonic Conductor, Barry Jekowsky, that “this is the best prepared chorus I have had in Reno!” She has prepared choruses for Maestra Laura Jackson for over a dozen choral/orchestral masterworks including the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, Alexander Nevsky, Mozart Requiem, Carmina Burana, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, and the Verdi Requiem. She conducts the adult choir at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd.
She was a member of the faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno, serving as a voice, theory and choir instructor and Director of Choral Activities from 1996 – 2010. She received her MM in Vocal Performance from UNR in May 1997. She received her BA from Gustavus Adolphus College, May 1992, with majors in music and biology. She was a member of the Gustavus Choir, serving as frequent soloist and soprano section leader. Before moving to Reno, she sang professionally with the James Chorale in Chicago.
Ms. Tibben is active in the American Choral Directors Association, serving as the Nevada President and has past served as the Western Region R&R Chair for community choirs and as the R&R Chair for Women’s Choirs as well as site chair for two previous WR conferences held in Reno. Teachers include Dr. Bruce Mayhall-Rastrelli (UNR), Costanza Cucaro (Indiana University), Kathy Romey, John DeHaan and Clifton Ware (U of MN). She lives in Reno with her wife and loves hiking & camping, visiting MLB parks and seeing her adult children.
ROGER HALE
Utah President
Dr. Roger Hale is Director of Choral Studies and Chair of the Music Department at Utah Tech University in St. George, Utah. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in Choral Music Education from Florida State University. Dr. Hale has studied with distinguished educators including John Cooksey, André Thomas, Kevin Fenton, and Clifford Madsen.
He previously taught band and choir in Montpelier, Idaho, and served as Director of Choral Studies at Missouri Western State University. At Utah Tech, Dr. Hale was named Teacher of the Year in 2022 and was a finalist for Distinguished Professor in 2023. He also serves as assistant conductor of the St. George Chamber Singers.
Dr. Hale created solfasinger.com, a resource for singers worldwide, with over 7.5 million views and 130,000 YouTube subscribers to his choral and vocal demonstration videos. He has served as Western Division representative on the Council for Choral Education (NAfME) and on the editorial board for Teaching Music.
Dr. Hale lives in St. George with his wife, KayDe, and their five children, where they enjoy spending time outdoors.