Choir Fam Podcast

"For years, I felt that there was no connection with my hands and the sound. My perception of conducting at the time was that everything needs to be free and relaxed, no tension - and no tension when you sing. There has to be tension when you sing and conduct, because if there's no tension in the body, you're basically bones and skin on the ground. It's a matter of where the tension is. Is it good tension? Is it bad tension? There's an idea of feeling a sense of weight in the gesture, in the breath."

Dr. Gary Seighman is a Professor, Director of Choral Activities, and Chair of the Music Department at Trinity University. Under his leadership, Trinity’s choirs have earned numerous accolades, including invited performances at state and national conferences, tours across the United States and abroad, unique artistic collaborations, and commercial recordings. A charismatic and passionate artist, Seighman is highly sought after as a clinician, guest conductor, and speaker. He received the 2023 Innovative Concert Programming Award from the Texas Choral Directors Association and, more recently, the Guy H. Ranson Memorial Award for excellence in teaching, research, and service from the Carlos Alvarez School of Arts and Humanities. He is honored to conduct the 2025–2026 Texas Private School All-State Choir.

Since 2015, he has conducted in East Asia six times, including leading the Peking University Summer Opera Program, offering graduate masterclasses in Taiwan, and participating in engagements in Japan. In 2019, he was artist-in-residence at University College Dublin, with additional work in London, Cambridge, and Liverpool. He served as chorusmaster at the Classical Music Festival in Vienna (2018) and led the TU Chamber Singers on a 2024 tour of the U.K. and France, featuring a live-broadcast evensong from Winchester Cathedral. His Carnegie Hall conducting debut came in 2022, followed by returns in 2023 and 2025 to conduct the National Honor Choir.

In 2021–2022, Seighman served as a TU Public Humanities Faculty Fellow. He has authored over a dozen publications in book chapters and peer-reviewed journals, released a published conducting  masterclass video with Forward Motion, and presented more than thirty sessions at conferences nationwide. Always eager to explore new artistic and creative outlets, Seighman has been signed as a model and actor with Avant Agency since 2018, appearing in print, online, on billboards, and in radio and television. His new book The Choir Playbook: Tools for the Imaginative Conductor is available from GIA Publications. In his spare time, he coaches soccer, softball, and baseball for his children, Gabrielle and Justin.

To get in touch with Gary, you can find him on Instagram (@gary_seighman) or Facebook (@gary.seighman) or email him at gseighma@trinity.edu.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“We really wanted our choirs to be more embedded in the community. When I moved to Syracuse, I thought, ‘what does that mean for me?’ There are a lot of teachers out there who are just itching for a professional or pre-professional experience. They’ve been teaching notes all day. You know they want to come and sing, do something meaningful for their community.”

Dr. Wendy K. Moy is a conductor, soprano, educator, and nonprofit founder whose work centers on the culture of choral communities and the power of singing to foster belonging. She serves as Associate Professor and Chair of Music Education at Syracuse University, where she teaches conducting, choral literature, and music education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and directs the Syracuse University Oratorio Society.

Dr. Moy is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Chorosynthesis Singers, the 2024 American Prize winners in Choral Performance, and the founder and artistic director of Ensemble Sonora, a semi-professional treble choir dedicated to performing music that engages with the issues and stories shaping our communities. Her research on singing communities is published in Resurrecting Song (Routledge) and in Oxford University Press's Together in Music. A third-place American Prize winner in Choral Conducting, she has led ensembles across the United States, Brazil, and China.

To get in touch with Wendy, you can visit her website, wendymoy.com, or find her on Instagram (@maestramoy) or Facebook (@wendy.moy1).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“I really care a lot about what the student wants to get out of our time together: finding a nice, healthy, balanced phonation that they identify with, that they feel is their true sound, not something I’m forcing them to sound like. More than anything I want my students to feel confident and empowered in making their own voice sound out loud. I just want people to feel joyful and confident participating in the creation of art with their voice.”

Mandy Matthews is an active Brooklyn based cross-genre singer and teacher. She performs regularly in musical theater cabaret nights, pop and jazz a cappella small groups, and sings with multiple choirs including The Marble Choir (NYC), The Young New Yorker's Chorus, and The Sedona Academy of Chamber Singers. Throughout her undergrad and master’s studies, she appeared regularly in operatic, cabaret, and musical productions. ​Mandy has music directed multiple youth music theater productions around the country, served as a high school choral director, maintained a private voice, piano, and theory studio since 2016, and has guest taught at various academies, universities, and conservatories. In 2023, she co-founded Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory’s first ever student chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She graduated with her masters of music in vocal pedagogy from The Boston Conservatory in 2024, and a bachelors in voice performance from Northern Arizona University in 2018.

To get in touch with Mandy, you can visit her website, mandymatthews.com,  find her on Instagram (@mandymatthews_voice), or email her at outloudmusiclessons@gmail.com.

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“I shortlisted it to about 10 or 11 poems. I printed them all out on big pieces of paper, and I did visual sketches of what the piece might look like. I would lay them out on the ground, mix them around, and play with what kind of arc it would look like. I’d decide which texts would be the big, climactic moments in the piece, and once I have those two or three big moments, I look at what kind of vibe or style fits between those, and I take my best stab at making that transition."

Dylan Trần (1994—) is an artist based between Vietnam and the U.S. He views music as a form of world-building, poignantly evoking nuanced atmospheres in a way that is both intimately expressive and boldly energetic. His compositional practice strikes a balance between welcoming and challenging, having curated a unique musical language that is equally rewarding to performers and audiences.

Born in a rural parish hospital, one of eleven children, and raised in a double-wide trailer in central Louisiana, Dylan’s first dream was to be a rockstar / actor / tennis pro / and  Pokémon-trainer. At 14 years old, he put those dreams on hold and joined his high school choir. Since then, he has been commissioned by HULU, the Oxford American Journal, TAAF, and more. He has conducted and coached ensembles throughout the U.S. and in Europe and has volunteered for music programs across the country and in Vietnam. His pieces have been performed all over the U.S. and his arrangements have been performed in Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, India, and the U.K.

Prioritizing ethical, equitable community engagement and well-being, Dylan insists on leaving a positive, tangible impact wherever he works. He has developed and is constantly refining an artistic practice that involves the ongoing redistribution of funds, resources, and recognition.

To get in touch with Dylan, you can find him on Instagram (@dylantranmusic) or visit his website (dylantranmusic.com)

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

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Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

“There’s three things we have in music: the choir, the rehearsals, and the concerts. We put the people first, not the product. There’s a lot of coaches who have this collateral damage thing about winning, and we choral directors have this collateral damage thing about getting a superior rating. It just doesn’t work that way. I put the kids first, and it’s amazing how my rehearsals changed.”

Dr. J. Edmund Hughes [b.1947] retired from the Music Faculty of Chandler-Gilbert Community College in August, 2011 after a teaching career which began in 1971.  While at CGCC, he taught choir, music theory, conducting, and organized two on-campus choral festivals per year. From 1990 - 2011, he was the Director of Music at Velda Rose United Methodist Church in Mesa. Prior to his appointment at CGCC, he taught at Tucson High School, California State University-Fresno and Phoenix College. Most recently he was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA), where he directed the Chorale.

His choirs have had the distinction of performing at ACDA, NAfME, and Arizona MEA conventions. In April, 2017 he directed “Requiem” by John Rutter, in his Carnegie Hall debut.

He has also presented lectures and demonstrations on special interest sessions at ACDA and AMEA conventions. In 2002 he received the Arizona Outstanding Choral Educator Award by ACDA, and in 2005 he was honored as the Arizona Music Educator of the Year by AMEA.  He received the first Lifetime Achievement Award granted by the University of Arizona Choral Music Department (December, 2011) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from AMEA (February 2012). Most recently (2024) he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Arizona School of Music, and in 2026 the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Choral Educators.

Dr. Hughes is a past President of Arizona ACDA, has served AMEA in numerous capacities. Dr. Hughes has over 40 choral compositions in print, which are published with Santa Barbara Music Publishing Co., Walton Music, Pavane Publishing, and Colla Voce Music, Inc. He received his Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate Degrees from the University of Arizona with doctoral studies at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Hughes now lives in Eugene, OR with his wife, Carole, and their rescue dog, Bailey.  He has 3 children.  His hobbies are weight lifting, biking and jogging. He remains quite active in the choral field by adjudicating, directing honor choirs, presenting workshops, clinics and composing. 

To get in touch with Ed, you can email him at jedmundhughes@gmail.com or find him on Facebook (@jedmund.hughes5).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

Podcast music from Podcast.co
Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson