Anthony Sievert is the Director of Music Ministry at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Land O' Lakes, Florida. In addition to coordinating the liturgical music for a 3000+ family parish, Anthony is also active with the Tampa AGO chapter and the Diocesan NPM chapter. He's a graduate of the Rensselaer Program of Liturgy and Music at St. Joseph's College. He and his wife live in Land O' Lakes with their three children.

Christopher Ferraro is the Director of Music at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Lindenhurst, NY and directs the Liturgical Music Institute at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, NY. Chris has served NPM in many capacities. He was the director of the Rockville Centre Chapter for four years and has been as an at-large member of the NPM Council, member of the National Committee for Chapters, chair of the Pastoral Liturgy Interest Section and recently chaired the NPM 2.0 committee that redesigned NPM’s Structure and Governance. He is also a frequent presenter at NPM conventions. Chris also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions where he also represents Region 2, New York State.

For over three decades PAUL FRENCH has worked in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago, and since 2001 he has been the Director of Music at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church where he leads a thriving choral program of adult and children's voices. He served as Music Director of the William Ferris Chorale from 2005-2016, in that time establishing it on the professional choral scene as the premier ensemble for breathing life into works of lesser-known and living composers. His 2015 performances of the early 20th century Requiem Masses of Ildebrando Pizzetti and Bonventura Somma were hailed as one of the Top Ten Performances of the Year by the Chicago Classical Review, with critic Lawrence Johnson proclaiming. "French and his singers provided glowing and deeply felt advocacy to these beautiful, neglected works". Mr. French studied composition, conducting, chant and organ at St. John’s University, Northwestern University, the Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra in Rome, and privately with William Ferris. A composer of more than 200 instrumental and choral works, he was the Director of Choral Recordings for World Library Publications for 20 years and is also the editor of a series of choral works for children’s choirs, under the distinguished banner of the American Federation Pueri Cantores and published by GIA-WLP). Mr. French also serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the American Federation Pueri Cantores, the official student-choral organization of the Roman Catholic Church. For over ten years he served as a faculty member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Choir Director Institutes. Stepping in at the last moment for an indisposed Christopher Bell, Mr. French conducted a concert of the Grant Park Apprentice Chorale, a program which was webcast world-wide by radio station WFMT on their Dame Myra Hess Concert Series. Mr. French was commissioned to create Fanfares and Alleluias for the recent papal visit of Pope Francis to the U. S. in 2015. Another of his works, Concertato on Grosser Gott, was performed for the papal visits of both Pope Francis (2015) and Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. Mr. French’s published music is available through MorningStar Music, Paraclete Press, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, CanticaNOVA Publications, World Library Publications, GIA Publications, and Oregon Catholic Press.

Teresa Cobarrubia Yoder was born in Virginia where she pursued studies in Music Composition and Theory. She taught AP Music Theory, Chorus and Madrigals at the high school level at Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg, VA and is the soon to-be retired director of music ministries (May 2021) at Immaculate Conception Church, Hampton, VA. Her choruses performed internationally - including China, Canada, Vatican City, Italy, Ireland and England. She served on boards in a number of music professional organizations and the Diocese of Richmond Liturgical Commission. Ms. Yoder’s compositions reflect an eclectic range of musical styles and levels. She incorporates her expansive pedagogical knowledge as a teacher and pastoral musician to compose music promoting the works of love, mercy, peace, justice and the environment. She and her husband, Gene, live in Williamsburg, in their home they built together. Upon retirement, they will begin an extensive road trip in their RV of many of the national and state parks in the USA. Ms. Yoder is published with GIA/WLP, Oregon Catholic Press, and Paraclete Publications. Additionally, she has a number of self-published works for pianists, string quartets/orchestras and brass ensembles. Her hymns, Mass of the Chesapeake and Mass of Divine Love are available for assembly reprint on One License.

Author and liturgical composer Kathleen M. Basi is mother to three active boys (read that: always breaking something) and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Because she doesn’t have enough to do in COVID world, this year she published her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, which follows a pastoral musician on a road trip across America. Her books on faith formation are available from Liguori and Our Sunday Visitor, and her music for Catholic worship is available through WLP/GIA and Simply Liturgical Music. She is the founder of intentional-catholic.com, a web-based ministry seeking to connect our Catholic faith to the real, practical situations of daily life. If, after attending her presentations, you still think she has her act together, invite her to share an evening of prayer, reflection, and song at your parish. www.kathleenbasi.com/

Lorraine Hess is a nationally published Catholic singer, songwriter, and recording artist with World Library Publications, a division of GIA Publications. Born and raised in New Orleans, she grew up in an environment of Jazz, Cajun, Gospel, and Classical musicians, and her writing is strongly influenced by her eclectic background. She has a BS from Louisiana State University, and her Masters in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, New Orleans. She has served the church in music since age 16, and she is the Director of Music Ministry at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. She has released six solo albums of original liturgical and sacred music, and she has performed at multiple national Catholic conferences and events. Lorraine has also performed in John Angotti’s original musical, JOB, The NOW Testament, and has appeared on the nationally televised shows The Power of Love hosted by the late Fr. Michael Manning, SVD and Live With Passion with Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P. Lorraine and her husband, Rob, have been married since 1990, and are proud parents of four sons, her greatest vocation. lorrainehess.com.

Dr. Barbara Stahl Leyden recently retired as Director of Music Ministry for St. Joseph Catholic Church, a large parish in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She began playing the organ every Sunday at her small rural church as a teen, and has since played keyboards, sung, or directed liturgical music in nearly every conceivable setting. In addition to her broad experience in Catholic and other Christian music, Dr. Leyden has lived and taught music from ages preschool through college in places as varied as Lenexa, Kansas, an inner-city school outside Washington, DC; Arizona, Hawaii, Korea and Germany. She has taught in public and private schools, colleges, universities, community education programs, workshops, state music conventions and in her own private studio. While working, she also sang in community amateur and semi-professional groups of varied sizes, musical styles and location, ranging from symphony choruses to a vocal jazz ensemble. She has earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Sacred Music Conducting from the American Conservatory, a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona and a BS in Music Education degree from North Dakota State University. Her doctoral conducting included a well-received series of five concerts featuring classical choral works sung in a liturgical setting using singers recruited from the entire Kansas City metro area. Her doctoral paper is a complete reference guide to music in Catholic liturgy, including hymn and choral suggestions for the entire 3-year scriptural cycle. Her master’s paper on the child voice is one of the most complete references to be found on that topic. Her husband is COL Richard Leyden, U.S. Army (Retired) and Dr Leyden is retired as a LTC in the U. S. Army Reserve. They have three adult children, Cassandra, Brianna and Nicholas.

Blessed with an extraordinary voice, ValLimar Jansen is a highly regarded inspirational/catechetical speaker, singer, composer and recording artist. She is also a college professor, a leader of worship and prayer, and a workshop presenter at conferences across the US and abroad. ValLimar has a long history of singing sacred music, starting from the age of five. She received most of her training in music and performance from Howard University in Washington, DC. She holds professional degrees in the arts from California State University, San Bernardino, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. ValLimar sings a broad range of styles from traditional to contemporary. In 2005, she released her first solo collection, You Gotta Move. Other collections include Anointing, Psalms from the Soul and Give God the Glory. Her most recent collection, Spirit & Soul, features popular contemporary songs from fellow Spirit & Song composers produced and sung with ValLimar's signature style. ValLimar tours regionally, nationally and internationally as an inspirational speaker, author, storyteller, psalmist, song leader, principal vocalist and emcee. ValLimar has been a keynote speaker and presenter at many major events. She participated in several events, concerts and catechetical sites during World Youth Day 2019, which took place in Panama City, Panama. ValLimar is an excellent choice for concerts and faith formation workshops. She works with youth and educators on the subjects of music and liturgy. ValLimar composes much of her music with the help of her husband, Frank. They live in California and have three children.

E. Louis Canter, OEF has been a music minister for 40 years and composing music for 30 years. With a BA in Religious Studies and Music, a master’s degree in music and post-grad work in theology and music, he’s a celebrated authority on liturgical music composition and practice. Currently he serves as the music minister at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Orlando, Florida, area. Whether arranging new psalm settings or composing a full-length instrumental piece, Canter’s beautiful music comes straight from his heart. Believing strongly that, “writing music is a form of prayer and reflection, ” he focuses on how the texts he’s working with relate to life experiences—whether his own or others’. Canter has worked with a myriad of OCP artists including ValLimar Jansen (Psalms from the Soul) and travels the U.S. taking his ministry of hope and harmony to parishes near and far. He specializes in presentations around Mass settings in light of the new Roman Missal, Psalmody and Organ concert workshops. Additionally he has been a part of the successful "Instituto” event series helping parishes understand and explore the “Sing to the Lord/Cantemos al Señor” document. Most recently, Canter has created a retreat and parish mission based on the Psalms, which he hopes will, “continue to aid others to worship in full, active and conscious participation in the Liturgy.”

Teresa Cobarrubia Yoder was born in Virginia where she pursued studies in Music Composition and Theory. She taught AP Music Theory, Chorus and Madrigals at the high school level at Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg, VA and is the soon to-be retired director of music ministries (May 2021) at Immaculate Conception Church, Hampton, VA. Her choruses performed internationally - including China, Canada, Vatican City, Italy, Ireland and England. She served on boards in a number of music professional organizations and the Diocese of Richmond Liturgical Commission. Ms. Yoder’s compositions reflect an eclectic range of musical styles and levels. She incorporates her expansive pedagogical knowledge as a teacher and pastoral musician to compose music promoting the works of love, mercy, peace, justice and the environment. She and her husband, Gene, live in Williamsburg, in their home they built together. Upon retirement, they will begin an extensive road trip in their RV of many of the national and state parks in the USA. Ms. Yoder is published with GIA/WLP, Oregon Catholic Press, and Paraclete Publications. Additionally, she has a number of self-published works for pianists, string quartets/orchestras and brass ensembles. Her hymns, Mass of the Chesapeake and Mass of Divine Love are available for assembly reprint on One License.

Tim Sharp is Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association, the world’s largest association of choral conductors, teachers, students, scholars, composers, and choral industry representatives. Dr. Sharp has pursued an aggressive agenda of strategic planning and progressive and innovative initiatives to keep the American Choral Directors Association energized and relevant in the 21st century. He represents choral activity in the United States as a member of the Board of the International Federation for Choral Music, and is Vice-President of Musica International. Sharp appears regularly as guest conductor and clinician throughout the world, with recent performances in Austria, Thailand, Greece, Italy, Ireland, England, and China. Tim is approaching his ninth season as Artistic Director of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Tulsa, OK, where critics characterize his performances as “impressively polished”, and having “stunning power” and “great passion and precision”. In a recent review of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus’ performance of Mozart’s Requiem, arts critic James Watts stated, “The Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, prepared by its artistic director Tim Sharp, was in excellent form, summoning up rafter-shaking power…and showing great sensitivity ….” In the summer of 2016, Sharp conducted the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus as the Festival Choir for the 28th International Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. In 2011, Sharp served as Principal Guest Conductor at the International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece, where TOC was the featured chorus in the production of Verdi’s La Traviata, and performed Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. He made his New York City Alice Tully Hall debut in 2014 conducting Handel's Messiah. Tim returned to Carnegie Hall in May of 2015 for the seventh time conducting his own composition Come Away to the Skies: A High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass resulting it what one critic called a “dynamic, crowd-pleasing performance”, and characterized the composition as “…unfailingly true to itself, lacking in pretense, simple, direct, and heartfelt.” In 2016 Tim conducted the work at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. Before coming to ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, where he conducted the Rhodes Singers and MasterSingers Chorale. In 2003, Sharp’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi won an Ostrander Award, Memphis’ annual award for excellence in theater. Prior to his position in Memphis, he conducted the Belmont University Chorale and Oratorio Chorus, Nashville, TN, where he received choral credits on the Grammy Nominated and Dove Award winning recording, A Glen Campbell Christmas. Dr. Sharp’s publications include Mentoring in the Ensemble Arts, Precision Conducting, Up Front! Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor, Achieving Choral Blend and Balance, Memphis Music Before the Blues, Nashville Music Before Country, Jubilate! Amen!, The German Songbook in the 19th Century, A Short History of the American Choral Directors Association, Collaborative Creativity, and a wide variety of published articles, essays, and CD liner notes for recordings by Helmuth Rilling, Iona Brown, Neville Marriner, and The King’s Singers. His most recent book publications include the historical-critical edition Johannes Herbst: Hymns to be Sung at the Pianoforte, published by Steglein, and Collaborating in the Ensemble Arts: Working and Playing Well With Others, published by GIA. In 2017, GIA released Tim’s third book in his ensemble series, Innovation in the Ensemble Arts: Sustaining Creativity.

Bishop Fernand Cheri is the Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans. A Franciscan Friar of the St. Louis Province for 25 years, he has been ordained for 39 years. He served at Our Lady of Lourdes, NO; St. Joseph the Worker, Marrero, LA; St. Francis de Sales, NO; and St. Vincent de Paul, Nashville, TN. He taught at St. Augustine High School, NO; Hales Franciscan HS, Chicago; and at Althoff Catholic High, Belleville, IL. He was a Campus Minister at Xavier University and at Quincy University, Quincy, IL. He is the Episcopal Moderator for the Catholic Campus Ministry Association; the Episcopal Liaison for the Black & Indian Mission Office African American Newsletter; and the convener of the African American Bishops. He received his M. Div from Notre Dame Seminary, and a M.Th from Xavier University. He is an archivist of Black religious music with over 6,000 recordings of gospel music with books and files of gospel music. He wrote "Songs of the Soul and the Soil: the History of Black Religious Music;" compiled two 9-volume Gospel Music Discographies; wrote "Black Catholic Liturgy" in the book TELL IT LIKE IT IS; "Mass of Thanksgiving" in FREEING THE SPIRIT magazine; and the contributing author to SWEET, SWEET SPIRIT: Prayer Services from the Black Catholic Church. Due to his great interest in liturgy, Bishop Cheri served on the Bishops' Subcommittee on Black Catholic Worship. He works with the Archbishop James P. Lyke Liturgical Conferences; and is a member of the Lyke Foundation, dedicated to the development of Black Catholic Worship. He began the Youth Gospel Choirs at Our Lady of Lourdes; St. Joseph the Worker; the Althoff Gospel Crusaders, and at St. Augustine of Hippo, East St. Louis, IL. He served as a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commissions of Nashville, TN and of Belleville, IL. He is the convener of Go Down Moses Retreats for African American Young Men and worked with KUJENGA Youth Leadership in Chicago and the St. Louis/Belleville area. He is a revivalist and preacher, whose testimony is, "My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection" (2Cor 12:9).

Dr. Barbara Stahl Leyden recently retired as Director of Music Ministry for St. Joseph Catholic Church, a large parish in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She began playing the organ every Sunday at her small rural church as a teen, and has since played keyboards, sung, or directed liturgical music in nearly every conceivable setting. In addition to her broad experience in Catholic and other Christian music, Dr. Leyden has lived and taught music from ages preschool through college in places as varied as Lenexa, Kansas, an inner-city school outside Washington, DC; Arizona, Hawaii, Korea and Germany. She has taught in public and private schools, colleges, universities, community education programs, workshops, state music conventions and in her own private studio. While working, she also sang in community amateur and semi-professional groups of varied sizes, musical styles and location, ranging from symphony choruses to a vocal jazz ensemble. She has earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Sacred Music Conducting from the American Conservatory, a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona and a BS in Music Education degree from North Dakota State University. Her doctoral conducting included a well-received series of five concerts featuring classical choral works sung in a liturgical setting using singers recruited from the entire Kansas City metro area. Her doctoral paper is a complete reference guide to music in Catholic liturgy, including hymn and choral suggestions for the entire 3-year scriptural cycle. Her master’s paper on the child voice is one of the most complete references to be found on that topic. Her husband is COL Richard Leyden, U.S. Army (Retired) and Dr Leyden is retired as a LTC in the U. S. Army Reserve. They have three adult children, Cassandra, Brianna and Nicholas.

Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSP, Ph.D. is a Paulist priest, a composer, theologian, and author. He is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Catholic Music Composer of the Year Award by the Association of Catholic Publishers, and the 2018 Pastoral Musician of the Year Award by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He studied composition and piano at the Manhattan School of Music, theology at the Washington Theological Union (WTU), and liturgy, culture, and sociology at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley, CA. Fr. Manalo is a theological consultor for the USCCB and a co-author of the national pastoral plan for U.S. Asian Pacific Catholics, Encountering Christ in Harmony (2018), as well as the recent USCCB statement on Racism and Xenophobia (May 5, 2020). He remains an advisor to the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church and the Committee on Divine Worship. As a missionary priest, Fr. Manalo has been to 6 of the 7 continents to do a variety of presentations, from academic lectures, keynotes, and pastoral workshops, to preaching, presiding, and giving concerts. In addition to 48 U.S. states, he has been invited to the following international cities: Abu Dhabi, Al-Ayn, Amsterdam, Auckland and Wellington (New Zealand), Beijing, Dubai, Guam, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Hua Hin (Thailand), London (UK), London (Ontario, Canada), Manila and Malolos (The Philippines), Nairobi (Kenya), Niagara Falls (Canada), Sidney, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, and Wurzburg (Germany). When he is not traveling throughout the world, he resides at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City.

Lorraine Hess is a nationally published Catholic singer, songwriter, and recording artist with World Library Publications, a division of GIA Publications. Born and raised in New Orleans, she grew up in an environment of Jazz, Cajun, Gospel, and Classical musicians, and her writing is strongly influenced by her eclectic background. She has a BS from Louisiana State University, and her Masters in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, New Orleans. She has served the church in music since age 16, and she is the Director of Music Ministry at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. She has released six solo albums of original liturgical and sacred music, and she has performed at multiple national Catholic conferences and events. Lorraine has also performed in John Angotti’s original musical, JOB, The NOW Testament, and has appeared on the nationally televised shows The Power of Love hosted by the late Fr. Michael Manning, SVD and Live With Passion with Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P. Lorraine and her husband, Rob, have been married since 1990, and are proud parents of four sons, her greatest vocation. lorrainehess.com.

Michael Ruzicki is the director of music ministry at St. John Berchmans Parish in Chicago and serves as the training and events manager at Liturgy Training Publications. He is the coordinator and emcee of the National Gathering on Christian Initiation and frequent presenter on the topics of liturgy, catechumenal ministry, music, and evangelization. Prior to these roles, he served as a parish pastoral associate, the diocesan director of music ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and a team member on the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. Michael is the author and composer of A Light for My Path: Praying the Psalms on the Way of the Cross (LTP, 2015) and the author of Guide for Training Initiation Ministers: An Introduction to the RCIA (LTP, 2018). Michael studied at The Catholic University of America and the Washington Theological Union.

Editor and Liturgical Training Consultant for Liturgy Training Publications. Former Worship office Director and national workshop presenter.

John F. Baldovin is Professor of Historical and Liturgical Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He is a priest of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus. He received his BA from the College of the Holy Cross, an MDiv from Weston School of Theology, an MA, MPhil and PhD from Yale University. Fr. Baldovin has taught at Fordham University, the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, and, since 1999 at Weston and now BC’s STM. He has also been visiting professor at The University of Notre Dame and St. John Vianney National Seminary in Pretoria, South Africa. He served on the advisory committee for the Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy of the USCCB (1989-1993) as well as the advisory committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) from 1994-2002. His fields of expertise are the history and theology of the liturgy, sacramental theology and the theology of ministry ordained and lay. Fr. Baldovin has a number of presentations with Now You Know Media, the latest of which, The History of the Mass, has recently been released as a DVD. His latest books are Living Bread, Saving Cup: Understanding the Mass (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), Reforming the Liturgy: A Response to the Critics (Liturgical Press, 2008) and Catholic Sacraments, edited with David Turnbloom (Paulist Press, 2015). He has also co-edited a commentary on the revised Order of Mass with Mary Collins, Edward Foley, and Joanne Pierce (2009).