“We ended up forming a new string orchestra at the high school, and I led every rehearsal and conducted every concert. I remember the very first day. I looked at my teacher and said, ‘how do you start them? Do I breathe?’ I tried something, and it didn’t work. Then I did the sniff, and everyone came in. Now I teach conducting, and what I want to give the students is a sandbox where they can make mistakes and figure out what works for them.”

Conductor Albert Pinsonneault is the Associate Director of Choral Studies at the University of Wisconsin, where he teaches choir, conducting, and the graduate choral literature seminar. He is also founder and artistic director of the Madison Choral Project, a 24-voice professional chamber choir based in Madison, Wisconsin. A fierce advocate for new music, he has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works for choir. He received second place in the American Prize for Professional Choirs in 2020, performed at Midwestern ACDA Regional conferences (2018, 2020), presented at ACDA National in 2017, and headlined the Iowa Choral Directors Association state conference in 2024. His booklet Choral Intonation is published through Graphite and in active use at over 150 high schools, universities, churches, and community choruses.

Dr. Pinsonneault was Director of Choral Activities at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where he oversaw a large undergraduate choral program involving 200 student musicians, a nationally televised Christmas program, and a history of international travel. From 2015-2019 he was Associate Director of Choral Organizations at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where he helped administer a distinguished doctoral program in choral conducting, led two choirs, taught the graduate choral literature sequence, and served on dissertation committees.

A native of Minnesota, Dr. Pinsonneault attended St. Olaf College (BM Piano Performance) and the University of Minnesota (MM Choral Conducting) before completing his studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (DMA Choral Conducting, minor in Music Theory).

To get in touch with Bert, you can e-mail him at bert.pinsonneault@wisc.edu.

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“Everything changed for the gay choral movement because they had twins: music and mission. They weren’t just there for the music, and they weren’t just there for the mission. I’ve been feeding my twins every day, and I feed them equally. Audiences that are interested in just music for music making are dying out. There are a lot more reasons to get them in: many concerts can reach into the community and be of service.”

Tim Seelig is a conductor, speaker, author and educator. He is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, Texas. He serves as founding conductor of the Portland Sage Singers.

Dr. Seelig holds four degrees, including a Diploma from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas. He has eight books and DVDs on choral technique published by Hal Leonard Music, several of which are best-sellers. His memoir, Tale of Two Tims, was published in 2020. He made his operatic debut in St. Gallen, Switzerland and solo debut at Carnegie Hall. He has been conducting at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center for 30 years, including an upcoming appearance at Lincoln Center in November 2025.

He has conducted over 60 recordings which have been on Billboard Top Ten and iTunes Top Ten classical charts. His choruses have been the topic of three documentaries. The first PBS documentary was awarded the national Emmy for best documentary. The most recent had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, won the Audience Favorite and is streaming on Paramount +.

He has commissioned major choral works for 35 years. Some of these include the first AIDS Requiem, When We No Longer Touch; Sing for the Cure for the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation featuring Dr. Maya Angelou; “Testimony,” by Stephen Schwartz and the 2022 “Songs of the Phoenix” by Andrew Lippa, Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim.

Aside from guest-conducting, he is often seen trading in his podium for the speaking stage. He won the Moth Grand Slam and his recent TEDx Talk has passed 100K views.

Fun facts: he conducted the Guinness Book of World Records Longest Choral Concert and carried the Olympic torch as a community Hero. He has not run since.

He is the proud grandfather of the amazing Clara Skye, Eden Mae, Cora Rose, and Ivy Hope.

To get in touch with Tim, you can find him on Facebook (@tim.seelig) or email him at tgseelig@gmail.com.

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"I start every morning at the junior high, and we co-teach together. It's great for alignment in the program, for familiarity with the students and getting to know them and hopefully continuing in choir. Our students see that we collaborate. I like that they can see that because it shows them how to go about relationships. People need be modeled how to treat each other and work together and talk to each other.” -Daniel Gutierrez

"It was super rewarding to be so invested in those pieces, and that's something that our middle schoolers are getting with conference performances. They're getting a set of songs for an extended period of time. We try to get our students to really invest so it can have an impact on them and in turn have an impact on the audience. That journey is just something that the kids don't forget, and that's why I keep submitting for conferences." - Blake Richter

Daniel Gutierrez, the head choir director at Nixa High School, is an acclaimed conductor, clinician, and speaker nationwide. He has earned several prestigious awards, including Teacher of the Year for Springfield Public Schools, a finalist for the state award, the Springfield Rotary Award for Community Service, and honors from the Springfield Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. Daniel has received the Missouri Choral Directors Association Podium Award. His choirs are renowned, frequently winning at music festivals and performing at notable conferences, including regional and national ACDA events and the National Conference for MS/JH Choral Music.

Blake Richter is a middle school choir director in his hometown of Nixa, Missouri. Blake directs over 250 seventh and eighth grade students in his various ensembles at Nixa Junior High. Blake’s choirs have been selected to perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference multiple times. In 2017, Blake was named one of Missouri’s 32 Regional Teachers of the Year, in 2019, Blake was awarded the Prelude Award from the Missouri Choral Directors Association for demonstrating exemplary work as a young choral professional, and in 2020, Blake was named a Semifinalist for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award. In his spare time, Blake runs his Blake Richter Productions business which specializes in video production, audio engineering, photography, and music composition.

To get in touch with the Choir Guys, you can find them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. You can find Danny on Instagram and find Blake on X, TikTok, and Instagram (@drrichternixa).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson