Dr. Christina Svec is currently the Associate Professor of Music Education at Iowa State University where she teaches courses in elementary and secondary choral music methods. She received her PhD and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music Education degree from Michigan State University. She has also earned three levels of certification in Music Learning Theory and three levels in Kodály. Before coming to Iowa State and the Ames Children’s Choirs, Dr. Svec taught elementary music for six years and has been involved with early childhood music for nearly twenty-three years. Her research interests include research methodology, research pedagogy, and singing voice development. Her publications can be found in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Contributions in Music Education Kodály Envoy, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Visions of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, Journal of Music Teacher Education, and Psychology of Music.

Dr. Jason D. Jones, a native of the Appalachia region, is an Assistant Professor of Music Education at UTRGV on the Brownsville campus. From conducting the Eastman Women’s Chorus to singing shape note songs at a goth bar, Jones’ performance experience is as varied as his teaching and research interests. He earned a Ph.D. in Music Education at the Eastman School of Music where he earned the Shetler Prize. Jones holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Master of Education from Emory & Henry College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and French from Emory & Henry College in Emory, VA. Jones is certified in Eurhythmics and Kodàly. He has eight years of experience teaching elementary general music, choir, and strings to children in urban and suburban areas. He is a recipient of the SAISD Foundation Inspire award for his work with urban elementary school children and was recognized for his significant contributions to the SAISD elementary strings project. He has presented workshops, research, and clinics on several topics for school districts, state, national, and international conferences, non-profits, and universities. His research interests include motivation in music classrooms, cross-cultural and intergenerational relationships between teachers and students, Sacred Harp traditions and transmission, differentiated music classrooms, and differently-abled students in elementary music. His work has been published in the Journal of General Music Education, Oxford University Press, the book Kaleidoscope: A Collection of Standards-Based Lessons for the K-7 General Music Classroom, and by the American Eurhythmics Society.