2023 Winter Conference Clinicians

Natalie Cummings, DMA, is a teacher and performer based in the Austin area. Equally interested in solo and choral singing, she recently was awarded the Joan Frey Boytim Award for Independent Teachers from NATS as well as serving as a section leader for the TMEA All State treble choir. Her research interests include the alignment of studio and choral pedagogy, voice science, and issues of gender and race in vocal pedagogy. A two-time Houston District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards and National Semi-Finalist of that same competition, Dr. Cummings is an active performer and recitalist. Her students are frequently named to the TMEA All-State Choir and admitted to universities and conservatories across the country to study vocal performance, music education, and musical theater. They have won awards at numerous competitions, including NATS, YoungArts, Hal Leonard, Schmidt, and Classical Singer. She is honored to be a part of the Vandegrift High School Choir teaching faculty, where her students have received multiple invitations to perform at National and Southwest ACDA and TMEA conventions.

 Julie Derges, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Chair of Music Education at the University of Houston, where she specializes in elementary and secondary general music. Her research explores informal, vernacular, and popular music learning. Previously, she taught EC-6 general music in Virginia and Michigan.

Dale Duncan taught public school for a total of 30 years in North Carolina, New Jersey and Georgia. During his career as a public school educator, his students consistently received Superior Ratings at the state Large Group Performance events in both performance and in sight reading, and created and performed “live” song and dance musical revue events each spring in addition to many other choral performances over the years. Dale is also known by the choral music educator community worldwide as the creator of the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners. During his career, Dale was honored as “Life Changer of the Year” by the National Life Group for his work and was also honored as a “Grammy Music Educator Semi-Finalist”. One of Dale’s most important life’s missions is to help middle school chorus teachers. Known by his peers as “Mr. D”, Dale has a blog and a large social media presence aimed at helping middle school chorus teachers thrive as they teach this age group. Now that Dale has retired from public education, he is conducting Honors Chorus/Allstate events, teaching teachers at conventions and adjudicating choral performance events whenever he is invited!

Anne Guess graduated from the Moores School of Music; University of Houston with Honors. She is in her twenty-first year of teaching and is the Head Choir Director at WoodCreek Junior High in Katy ISD.  Her choirs earn consistent awards at local, state, and national contests, and her driving philosophy is that every child deserves a fantastic music education and a champion, and every music educator has the responsibility to love them enough to give them both. 

Mrs. Guess is an ING Grant recipient, a two-time GRAMMY Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist, and is a WoodCreek Junior High PTA Honorary Life Member. She presented her clinic Retention is Recruiting at the TMEA in 2016 and authored an article of the same name.  She serves TMEA Region 23 as UIL C&SR Evaluation Host and as the current Vice President. Mrs. Guess considers the students who maintain a love of singing and those relationships as her greatest achievements.

Mrs. Guess is an active adjudicator and clinician, but her family is her strength.  She’s married to Bobby, Head Band Director; WoodCreek Junior High and her daughters are Zoe who sings in the Katy High School Choir, and Vasileia who attends Bryant Elementary School.

Clinton Ray Hardy is in his fourteenth year of directing choral music, and is the head choral director at Trinity Springs Middle School in Keller ISD. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Texas Christian University and earned his Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas. He strives to first teach his students how to be the best humans possible and then to be excellent musicians.

At Trinity Springs, Mr. Hardy directs seven choirs and serves as the head of the fine arts department. Mr. Hardy’s Varsity Treble Choir was invited to perform at the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Convention. In addition that choir has previously performed at Southwestern ACDA in 2022, the 2019 TMEA Convention and in 2018 his Varsity Treble Choir performed at the MS/JH National Cambiata Institute Convention. His Varsity Tenor-Bass Choir has also performed at the 2021 National American Choral Directors Association Convention.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Hardy currently serves as the National ACDA JH/MS R&R Chair and is frequently requested to be a clinician/conductor for All-City, All-Region, and All-State Choirs. He is an adjudicator for UIL and is a member of TMEA, TCDA, ACDA and TMAA.

Kelsey Helton is the music specialist at Silbernagel Elementary in Dickinson ISD and the choir director at Fanfare Lutheran Music Academy in Galveston. She is a proud graduate of Kansas State University and holds certificates in Feierabend First Steps in Music, World Music Drumming and Pedagogy, and Mariachi. She strives to incorporate SEL, Literature and World Cultures into the classroom. She is a member of TMEA, TCDA, TBS, NAfME and P.E.O.

Courtney Munsart (formerly Wagner) is the head choir director at Bonnette Junior High in Deer Park ISD. She is a proud Deer Park HS graduate, and is excited to be back in her hometown.

She holds a Bachelor of Music with a concentration in All Level Choral, Summa Cum Laude, from Sam Houston State University. Prior to teaching at Bonnette, she opened Oak Hills JH Montgomery ISD in 2017 as the first choir director. She has experience teaching 6th-12th grade, but teaching junior high is her passion.

She is a member of TCDA, TMEA, and TMAA. Choirs under her direction consistently receive Sweepstakes at UIL, placement in their Region Choir, and in the TCDA Elementary and Junior High All State Choirs.

 Janwin Overstreet-Goode is a secondary choral music consultant, following 36 years as a high school choral director. She holds BM and BME degrees from Murray State University and an MM from the University of Kentucky. Choirs under her direction twice performed for the Texas Music Educators Association convention (Sam Rayburn HS Chorale Women in 2001; Friendswood HS Campus Singers in 2008). While at Friendswood HS, Goode was twice recognized for Best Musical Direction by the Houston-area Tommy Tune Awards: in 2010 for Oklahoma, and in 2017 for Les Miserables.

Overstreet-Goode served on the Executive Board of the Texas Music Educators Association from 2011-2016 and served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas Choral Directors Association from 2007-2009. Overstreet-Goode was honored by the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Fidelity FutureStage as the 2008 Outstanding Music Educator in the Field of Choral Music. She was the conductor/ clinician of the 2006 Kentucky All-State Women’s Choir.

She currently serves as manager and rehearsal conductor for the Houston Symphony Chorus and also serves as the Coordinator of Student Teaching and Certification for the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music.

Eric Posada is the Director of Choral Activities at Angelo State University. Previous academic appointments include Visiting Professor of Choral Music at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Director of Choral Music at Tyler Junior College, Associate Director of Choral Activities at Texas A&M University, and Lecturer at Texas Tech University. He has presented sessions for twenty-three regional and state music conferences. In addition to his work in academia, Dr. Posada has served fifteen years as a Director of Music in liturgical settings, the highlight of which was a performance at Notre-Dame de Paris. Additionally, Posada has held conducting posts with community choruses such as the East Texas Symphony Chorus, Brazos Valley Chorale, The Lubbock Chorale, and in 2022-2023 his newly founded San Angelo Chorus will host its inaugural season. A champion of philanthropic work, Dr. Posada’s professional chorus and non-profit organization, Pasión, provides the highest artistic product and administers to the counties of South Texas. The choir won third place in The American Prize for two categories, Choral Performance and the Performance of American Music, and was selected through refereed audition as Performing Choir for the 2021 Texas Choral Directors Association Summer Conference.