Choir Clinicians
Margaret Jenks is the current chair of the Wisconsin Comprehensive Musicianship (CMP) Project and is committed to raising the bar for music education, both in her teaching of K-12 students and in her work mentoring and training teachers. Using strategies that promote critical thinking and self-reflection, and empowering students to see themselves as capable learners, listeners and creators are some of the ways Margaret strives to use her role as a music educator to create a more equitable society. Margaret has taught in a number of school districts over the last 33 years, including Waukesha, where she was the choral director at Butler MS and then North HS from 1995-2004. She has enjoyed working with students from kindergarten through adults and for the last decade, has loved teaching elementary general music. Margaret currently teaches choral music and theater at Velma Hamilton Middle School, a large and diverse school in the city center of Madison. She is the Special Projects Leader and Education Outreach coordinator for the Madison Youth Choirs, a community non-profit that serves over 500 children from around the greater Madison area. Since 2012, Margaret has been a regular presenter for Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, working with the Music Educator Workshops, Link Up, Play USA and most recently, Musical Explorers. Margaret is a frequent guest conductor for state and regional honor choirs and has directed choirs and led teacher workshops across the US, in Europe, and Southeast Asia. Madison Symphony Orchestra named Margaret its first “Music Educator of the Year” in 201 and in 2019 and 2021 she participated in the Yale Music Symposium, where she received the Yale University “Distinguished Music Educator” award. When not in her classroom (or working with students and educators online), Margaret enjoys kayaking on Madison’s many lakes, hanging out with her two boys, thinking of new ways to amuse her students, and walking her Great Pyrenees, Tallis.
Dr. Cera Babb is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she conducts the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Tenor/Bass Ensemble, and Treble Choir, and teaches courses in conducting and music education. An active clinician with honor choirs, all state choirs, and choral festivals around the country, Babb’s work focuses on fostering enriching, meaningful, and musically excellent experiences with musicians and their communities. Babb’s ensembles at UW-River Falls participate in international tours and festivals, world premiere performances, conference performances, choral exchanges, and much more. Before teaching at UW-River Falls, Babb taught choir and courses in music education at Alma College. She has also worked with nonprofit, community, intergenerational, and children’s choirs around the country, and values the impact communal music-making can have on communities of all kinds. Babb’s research interests include the impact of choral music on communities, active listening skills in conductors, the work of underrepresented musicians, developing choirs with the use of tuning forks, and student success at the post-secondary level. Her degrees include a Doctor of Musical Arts from Michigan State University, a Master of Music from the University of Oregon, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Delaware. Babb is the recipient of Alma College’s Phi Sigma Sigma Woman Professor of the Year, the Robert A. Harris Award for Excellence in Choral Performance, the Charles K. Smith Endowed Fellowship in Graduate Choral Conducting, the Graduate Employee Award of Excellence in Ensemble Teaching, and the Johns Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Randy Swiggum Besides conducting Britten with the Madison Youth Choirs, Randal Swiggum is the Arts Teacher Leader for the Madison Metropolitan School District, where he works with all K-12 music, art, theatre, and dance teachers as a coach and support. Randy was Artistic Director of the award-winning Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra (Chicago) for over twenty years. He has also served as education conductor for a number of professional orchestras including The Florida Orchestra, Elgin Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and Boise Philharmonic. With the Madison Symphony he has conducted concerts for young people, including Symphony Soup, the Fall Youth Concerts, and the Carnegie Hall Link-Up concerts. Each February, he had conducted the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a concert for young audiences, which over the years has featured masterworks such as the Faure Requiem, Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem, Poulenc Gloria, Bernstein Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Randy was Artistic Director of the Madison Children’s Choir from 1996-2000 and led the first international tour for Ragazzi and Cantabile to Brazil in 1998. He has also taught at Whitefish Bay High School, Verona High School, UW-Milwaukee, and Lawrence University. A frequent guest conductor of orchestral and choral festivals, he conducted the first ever Pennsylvania All-State Junior High Choir, as well as the MENC All-Northwest Honor Choir in Portland, New York City Interschool Choral Festival, Mansfield (PA) University Choral Festival, American Mennonite Schools Orchestra Festival, Northern Arizona Honors Orchestra, and both the Wisconsin Middle Level Honors Choir and Orchestra. Recently he has conducted orchestra or choral festivals in Aberdeen, Scotland; Seoul, Korea, and Singapore as well as the All-State Orchestras in Georgia and Illinois. He has conducted the Scottish National Youth Symphony, and the APAC Choral Festival in Seoul, Korea, co-conducted with colleague Margaret Jenks. He and Margaret also were invited to co-conduct ACDA Young Men’s Honor Choirs in Cincinnati (2010) and Madison (2012). A passionate advocate for a richer learning experience in the rehearsal, Randy serves on the Wisconsin CMP (Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance) Project. He has addressed the Pennsylvania MENC and ACDA, Minnesota ACDA, Iowa ACDA, Illinois ACDA and IMEA, Maryland MENC, the ACDA North Central Division and Eastern Division, the Texas Orchestra Directors Association, and MENC National Conventions in Phoenix and Kansas City. He often works with music teachers in workshops and in-services across the U.S. With colleague Margaret Jenks, he recently taught a CMP workshop in Hong Kong for teachers across southeast Asia. They both also continue to serve as faculty for the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop in New York City.Randy has led concert tours throughout Europe, Canada, and South America. He has music directed over thirty stage works including the 1991 premiere of the Theatre X opera, Liberace. He created the music for celebrated director Eric Simonsen’s new production of Moby Dick for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, named by TIME magazine as one of the 10 Best Theatrical Productions of 2002, and was Music Director for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre’s beloved annual “A Christmas Carol” for thirteen years. He is author of Strategies for Teaching High School Chorus (MENC 1998), and co-author of Shaping Sound Musicians (GIA 2003). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at UW-Madison.
Shawn Gudmunsen is in his 28th year of teaching and strives for excellence in his music programs at St. Croix Falls. Shawn received his Bachelor of Music Education and Masters in FIne Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin River Falls. His published project is entitled; “Musical Traditions of Uganda”. Shawn has taught at all age levels and is currently directing the Chamber Singers of St. Croix, St. Croix Falls Singing Saints concert choir, Freshman Choir, and also directs the seventh and eighth grade choirs. Shawn also conducts the Woodland Chorale Community Chorus. Shawn is active in the choral community. He can be seen judging for the Wisconsin School Music Association and is in demand as a clinician and workshop presenter. Shawn is the 2024 recipient of the Wisconsin Music Educators Associations “Music Teacher of Excellence” award for his continued dedication to music education and the “2024 Morton Schapiro Outstanding Secondary Educator” award from the University of Northwestern. This past summer, Shawn expanded his cultural music study with his dear friend of 30 years and Cultural Ambassador from Uganda Africa; Okello Kelo Sam. While there, the team collected music samples of indigenous music to bring back to their students. The entire project, entitled “The Pamoja Project” aims to open a new line of cultural experiences for communities and students in NW Wisconsin. Shawn has been married for 24 years to wife and teacher Paula, and is a proud father of two boys. He enjoys family time, golf, gardening and all things hunting.