B.P. Herrington, Phd
Our Guest Speaker
Composer B. P. Herrington was born and raised in the Big Thicket of Texas and his music is rooted in the folk ballads and rural music of this unique region. His works have been performed by artists such as soprano Tony Arnold, conductor James Baker, Ensemble Linea, El Perro Andaluz, the London Sinfonietta, the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra, the New York Youth Symphony, the BBC Singers, in venues such as Rothko Chapel, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, and London’s Purcell Room.
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Herrington earned a Ph.D. in music composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, on an Overseas Research Scholarship where he studied with Simon Bainbridge. He also studied with Marc Satterwhite and Steve Rouse at the University of Louisville, and with Frank Felice and Joe L. Alexander at Lamar University.
Young Voices of Colorado
Guest Performers
Jena Dickey
Founder and Artistic Director
Young Voices of Colorado
Our founder has always had a burning desire to inspire people with vocal music, and what better way to do so than by leading an organization that gives thousands of children the skills necessary to develop their voices and musical talent? Her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Texas (Austin) and her Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado (Boulder) formally prepared Jena for this mission. Her postgraduate study through Choral Music Experience (Doreen Rao), the Kodály Institute (in both the U.S. and Hungary), Toronto Children’s Chorus Symposia (Jean Ashworth Bartle), Creating Artistry (Henry Leck) and other specialized courses has propelled her to the forefront of children’s choral organization leadership. She has prepared children’s choruses and soloists for many of the leading choral and instrumental conductors in the state. As a leader in the field, Jena has served the Colorado chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) as R &S chair for Children’s Choirs and the Organization of American Kodály Educators as a member of the National Children’s Choir Committee. She is currently ACDA’s Southwestern Division Children’s Choir R&S Chair. Her moments of greatest joy are found in the highs of rehearsals and performances of the Young Voices choirs and the Sing A Mile High International Children’s Choral Festival.
Young Voices of Colorado
Based out of the Denver area, Young Voices has over 130 participants, and their commitment to inclusion and excellence has allowed them to perform at festivals throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand in addition to appearing on some of the biggest stages across the United States, and placed in several major international competitions. The students regularly participate in events and masterclasses with other children’s choirs in Toronto, Berlin, Edinburgh, Cape Town and Mumbai. They have even developed a close friendship with a music school in the Republic of Georgia, which will visit Denver this summer for YVC’s international festival Sing A Mile High. They’ve been featured on CBS Colorado and performed in Carnegie Hall and at Notre Dame in the heart of Paris.