Dr. Deanna Joseph is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Georgia State University School of Music where she conducts the University Singers and leads the master’s program in choral conducting. In 2015, she was the recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Outstanding Teacher Award at Georgia State, where she was selected out of a pool of over 800 faculty. A recent review of her work states, “[t]he choir sings with great musicality, excellent intonation, clear diction, and a healthy and beautiful pallet of tone colors…” (The Choral Scholar).

In May of 2017, the University Singers under Dr. Joseph’s leadership won first place in the renowned Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition while on a concert tour of Austria and Bavaria. In May of 2013, the University Singers competed in La Florilège Vocal de Tours where the choir placed second overall in the mixed choir category and Dr. Joseph was honored with the Prix du chef de choer (conducting prize). The Georgia State University Singers have been invited to perform at two Southern Division conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and at two conventions of the Georgia Music Educator’s Association during Dr. Joseph’s tenure at GSU, and the Georgia State University Choirs have been hired to sing two productions of David Bintley’s Carmina Burana with the Atlanta Ballet: in 2013 (North American premiere performances) and 2017. The choir’s professional recording, Evening Hymn (Gothic Records), is distributed internationally by Naxos and is available for purchase or streaming on all the major music distribution outlets including Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, etc. The American Record Guide review states “There are no runts in the repertory litter…[and] [t]he Georgia State choir of 40 is very good at all of it: radiant as dusk approaches, but hushed and sensitive to the coming darkness as shadows deepen and fall.” The disk has been featured several times on National Public Radio’s program, With Heart and Voice.

Dr. Joseph is an active guest conductor and headline clinician and has conducted all-state and honor choirs in more than twelve states. She is a frequent conductor of choral-orchestral repertoire, and has led performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven Mass in C, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation and Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert’s Mass in A-flatand Bruckner’s Mass in D Minor. She has prepared choirs to sing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, and Andrea Bocelli. One of her small ensembles was featured on a 2016 episode of “The Walking Dead”.

Dr. Joseph’s research in the area of 19th century choral-orchestral performance-practice has led to invited presentations on the topic at several division conferences of the American Choral Director’s Association and at the national convention for the National Collegiate Choral Organization. In October of 2012 she was selected as one of 25 presenters from ten countries to speak at the Lund Choral Festival in Sweden.

Prior to her appointment at Georgia State University, Dr. Joseph served on the faculties at Smith College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Dr. Joseph holds conducting degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Walter Hagen Conducting Prize. She is the founder and artistic director of the Atlanta Summer Conducting Institute (ASCI), a weeklong, summer conducting master class that draws conductors from across the country.

Conductor Robert J. Ambrose enjoys a highly successful and diverse career as a dynamic and engaging musician. His musical interests cross many genres and can be seen in the wide range of professional activities he pursues. Dr. Ambrose studied formally at Boston College, Boston University and Northwestern University, where he received the Doctor of Music degree in conducting. Dr. Ambrose currently serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Georgia State University a research institution of over 53,000 students located in Atlanta.

Dr. Ambrose is in constant demand as a guest conductor and has performed on four continents.  Recent engagements include performances in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan as well as across the United States.  In 2016, Dr. Ambrose was invited to spend ten days on tour as a guest conductor with the United States Army Field Band.  Ambrose is the only civilian in history to be invited to guest conduct a premiere American military band on tour.  This engagement led to the formation of the National Chamber Winds, a professional wind dectet based in Washington, D.C. for which he is Founder and Music Director.  Ambrose is also the Founder and Music Director of the Atlanta Chamber Winds and Ensemble ATL, ensembles comprising musicians from the Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Opera, and Atlanta Ballet Orchestras.

Dr. Ambrose is Founder and Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Atlanta Youth Wind Ensemble (MAYWE), a highly-select high school honor ensemble consisting of musicians from throughout the Atlanta area.  During his nine-year tenure as Music Director, nearly 1000 high school students participated in the MAYWE program and the ensemble was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall on two occasions.

Dr. Ambrose has strong ties to the Finnish music community.  He is frequently engaged in that country as a guest conductor, teacher, master clinician, and lecturer.  Recent guest conducting appearances include the Finnish Navy Band, the Helsinki Police Band, the STM Summer Music Festival Wind Orchestra, the Rauma Wind Band, and the youth wind bands of Kokkola, Kotka, and Rauma.  He has taught conducting workshops in Tampere, Rauma, Kuopio, and Kokkola, and has served as a guest lecturer at the Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy.

Ambrose is a prolific arranger with nearly two dozen publications to his credit.  His transcriptions and editions are published by Presser Music, Murphy Music Press, C. Alan Publications, Fennica Gehrman (Finland), and Edition Tilli (Finland).  His transcriptions appear on several state lists and have been performed around the world.

Emily Threinen is an Associate Professor of Music and serves as Director of Bands at the School of Music of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In this position, she conducts the acclaimed University Wind Ensemble, guides the graduate wind band conducting program, and provides administrative leadership for all aspects of the University of Minnesota-TC Band Program. Threinen began this post in 2016.

Prior to her appointment at Minnesota, Threinen served as Associate Professor, Director of Bands, and Artistic Director of Winds and Brass at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before her work in Philadelphia, Threinen served as Assistant Professor, Director of Bands at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia; Director of the Duke University Wind Symphony in Durham, North Carolina; Director of the Concordia University Wind Ensemble in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Conductor of the Dodworth Saxhorn Band in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Director of Bands and Instrumental Music at Harding High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received the Outstanding Teacher Award.

Threinen consistently works with composers, arrangers, and performing artists of varied disciplines. Residencies, projects with composers, and new compositions are integral to her creative work. In addition to contributions in several articles, interviews, and books, Threinen has been published in multiple volumes of the GIA “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” book series, where she has been recognized as a strong scholarly contributor. She is active across the nation and abroad (including work in Korea, Costa Rica, Australia, Spain, Brazil, and Canada), as a guest conductor, clinician, and conference presenter. Two highlights: Threinen served as a guest conductor and clinician for the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Conductors Workshop in 2023 and Threinen served as the conductor for the National Association for Music Education All-National High School Concert Band at the National Conference in Orlando, Florida in 2019.

Threinen has conducted and organized professional recordings with the Temple University Wind Symphony “Wind Concerti,” released in 2016 and the University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble “Alpenglow,” digitally released in 2023.Threinen is a strong advocate for music education and is proud to serve as a Yamaha Master Educator. She is an active member of these organizations: American Bandmasters Association (ABA), World Association for Symphonic Band and Ensembles (WASBE), College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), Big Ten Band Directors Association, National Band Association (NBA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Pi Kappa Lambda and Kappa Kappa Psi as an honorary member.

Threinen is a native of Minnesota and a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (1999), Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (2004), and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2007). She and her family live in a suburb outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota.