Enhanced by stunning artistic projections, this performance showcases Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare, performed by chorus and professional orchestra. Radiant and uplifting, the work traces a journey from darkness to light, celebrating hope, renewal, and the transformative power of illumination.

The first half of the concert will highlight the National Concert Chorus, including works by B.E. Boykin, Tracy Wong, Marques L. A. Garrett, and a world premiere by composer Kahan Taraporevala.

EDRYN COLEMAN, GUEST CONDUCTOR

Dr. Edryn J. Coleman currently teaches choir and piano at Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, MD. He has taught music at all levels: elementary, middle, and now high school. In addition to his public school teaching experiences he also brings years of higher education instruction from 3 universities. Each one of those experiences shaped his personal commitment to diversity in music education for every student at every level.

Dr. Coleman is a very active guest conductor, adjudicator, and lecturer. Including appearances at 2 national conferences for the American Choral Directors Association speaking on Black perspectives in choral music from teaching styles to repertoire selection. In addition, his choirs have also performed for state and local conferences.

Dr. Coleman currently serves as the Immediate Past President for the Maryland Choral Educators Association and the Maryland Choral Educators Association Representative on the Maryland/DC ACDA Chapter Board. A native of Montgomery, Alabama, he holds a BA in voice from Stillman College, an MME from Florida State University, and his DMA from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music at Shenandoah University. His teaching motto is “They’ll never care how much you know until they know how much you care!” (2023)

MARQUES L. A. GARRETT, GUEST CONDUCTOR

A Virginia native, Marques L. A. Garrett (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Music in Choral Activities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Glenn Korff School of Music. His responsibilities include conducting the auditioned Chamber Singers and non-auditioned University Chorale (soprano-alto) as well as teaching graduate choral literature. Before earning his PhD in Music Education (Choral Conducting) at Florida State University, he was the Director of Choral Activities at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he holds an MM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a BA from Hampton University.

An active conductor, Dr. Garrett is the artistic director of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus and founding conductor of the Nebraska Festival Singers. He serves as a guest conductor or clinician with school, church, community, and festival/honor choirs throughout the country. In addition to his conducting classes at UNL, he leads conducting workshops at other universities and conferences. His formal conducting studies were with Dr. André J. Thomas, Dr. Carole J. Ott, Dr. Carl G. Harris, Jr., and Mr. Royzell Dillard.

A versatile voice that performs both as a baritone and countertenor, Dr. Garrett has sung with several community, church, and university groups as both a chorister and soloist. He was the baritone soloist for the Germantown Concert Chorus’s performance of Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis. His premiere as a countertenor in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo served as the work’s European premiere in Limerick, Ireland. Additionally, he performed the role of Lil Lud in Bernstein’s White House Cantata with the Tallahassee Community Chorus. Currently, he sings with First-Plymouth Congregational Church, Festival Singers of Florida, and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers.

Dr. Garrett is an avid composer of choral and solo-vocal music whose compositions have been performed to acclaim by high school all-state, collegiate, and professional choirs including Seraphic Fire and the Oakwood University Aeolians. His music is available through more than ten publishers. He has been commissioned by organizations such as Harvard University and Westminster Choir College. Among his latest commissions is his largest work to date, Dreamland: Tulsa 1921. This collaborative work with librettist Sandra Seaton for tenor-bass chorus, soloists, and chamber orchestra was commissioned by the Turtle Creek Chorale to tell the story of the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As a researcher, his most advantageous topic is the non-idiomatic choral music of Black composers. His lectures at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and at other local and national venues afford him the opportunity to showcase this underrepresented area of music. He serves as co-editor of the “Out from the Shadows” Series with Gentry Publications.

Dr. Garrett holds membership in the American Choral Directors Association; American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; National Association of Negro Musicians; National Collegiate Choral Organization; and Pi Kappa Lambda. For more information, visit www.mlagmusic.com.

JEFFERY REDDING, GUEST CONDUCTOR

Jeffery Redding, the 2019 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Recipient, is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Dr. Redding has led his choirs in performances at national, regional, and state conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). His choirs have earned first place awards at Heritage Festivals of Gold in California, Chicago, New York and at the Festival of Spirituals in Washington D.C. While participating in the International Music Festival in Verona, Italy, his chorus from West Orange High School received the Gold Award for best choir, with Dr. Redding honored as top director.

Nationally, Dr. Redding is in demand as a guest conductor and clinician. He has conducted the ACDA National High School Honor Choir, the Central Division ACDA Honor Choir, and the North Central Division ACDA Honor Choir, the Eastern Division ACDA Honor Choir and All-State and Honor choirs in approximately forty states. In 2014, Dr. Redding was the only American adjudicator at the International Choral Festival, Verona, Italy. Additionally, he conducted at the TAISM Festival of Choirs in Muscat, Oman. He was the Artistic Director for Limerick Sings International Choral Festival in Limerick, Ireland in 2018. In 2019, he conducted the Alaska All-State Treble Choir, the NAfME Central Regional Elementary Honor Choir, the Morehead State University Honor Choir, and the Honors Young Adults Choir, at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. In 2020, he will conduct honor choirs and festivals across the country, including Carnegie Hall. He will also hold the position of Artistic Director for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary in Vienna, Austria and be an adjudicator for the World Choir Games in Belgium, Germany.

Previously Director of Choral Activities at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida and West Virginia University (WVU), Dr. Redding has been featured as guest conductor at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, and Orchestra Hall on numerous occasions. He was also honored to give the prestigious TEDx Talk. He is also one of the conductors for Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional at Epcot.

Recognized for his achievements and service in the profession, Dr. Redding was awarded the R. Wayne Hugoboom Distinguished Service Award for dedicated service, leadership, and excellence by the Florida Chapter of ACDA.

Dr. Redding is founder and Artistic Director of the Garden Community Choir and Voci del Cuore (Voices of the Heart) in Winter Garden, Florida. Dr. Redding is also the Executive & Artistic Director of the Orlando Choral Society, founded in 2019. He also serves as the Director of Worship Arts for the First United Methodist Church of Orlando. Formerly with the Moses Hogan Singers, he remains active as a singer in the professional male singing group, "Brethren." The Jeffery Redding Passion and Purpose Choral Series is a compilation of new choral music by various composers, published by Colla Voce Music, Inc.

Dr. Redding holds a Ph.D. in Choral Conducting/Music Education and a Master of Music Education, both from the Florida State University, and a B.S. in Music Education from Florida A&M University. He is a member of ACDA, NAfME, FVA, NATS, and Chorus America. He has served his profession in numerous capacities, as District 8 Chair for the Florida Vocal Association (FVA), as State R&R Chair for Ethnic Music/Multicultural Affairs, R&R Chair for Youth/Student Activities, and High School Mixed Honor Choir co-chair for Florida ACDA, and as R&R Chair for Community Choirs for Southern Division ACDA. Currently, he is R&R Lifelong Coordinator (Community, Music and Worship) for Florida ACDA.

KAHAN TARAPOREVALA, COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE

Kahan Taraporevala is an award-winning composer, a producer, and an educator. Born in 1999 and growing up in Mumbai and Singapore, he studied the piano from age five. Striving to bring people together through the transformative power of music, Kahan's compositions aim to engender meaningful conversations that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Kahan's works have been performed by choirs and ensembles in the United States, Canada, and India. Kahan has a BM in Music Composition (Founders Scholar) with a Minor in Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (2022) and an MM in Music Composition from the University of North Texas (UNT) College of Music (2024). He is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at UNT.

At IU he studied under Dr. Don Freund, Dr. Claude Baker, Dr. David Dzubay, and Dr. P. Q. Phan. Kahan completed a MM at UNT under Dr. Drew Schnurr, Dr. Kirsten Soriano, and Dr. Sungji Hong.

Kahan learned the piano from the age of five in Mumbai, training for a number of years under Tatyana Dichenko (graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory). He spent his formative teenage years in Singapore where he trained under Jonathan Shin (graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore).

Kahan sang as a Tenor in the University Singers choir at the University of North Texas (2022-2024) directed first by Dr. Kristina MacMullen (2022-2023) and then by Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett (2023-2024). He has also been part of the NOTUS Ensemble at Indiana University (2021-2022) directed by Dr. Dominick DiOrio, University Chorale at Indiana University (2018-2021) directed by Dr. Betsy Burleigh, and the Signing Tree Choirs at the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation (2005-2010, 2014-2016) directed at different times by Coomi Wadia and Salome Rebello.

In Mumbai and later in Singapore, from the ages of seven to sixteen Kahan trained as a ballet dancer. He performed in annual ballet performances and completed with distinction exams administered by the Royal Academy of Dance, U.K., up to the Intermediate level. His ballet training has contributed to successful collaborative dance projects with choreographers Keith Newman and Emily Moorer.

As a young piano player and music student in India, Kahan was an assistant teacher in the early music program of the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation, Mumbai for children aged two to six, and trained under Naheed Cruickshank, Founder and Director of the Reel Kids Music Club (CIC), Glasgow, Scotland. At the University of North Texas, Kahan had a Teaching Fellowship, teaching the course “Introduction to Digital Audio Workstations” to two sections of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level students. Kahan is continuing to teach while pursuing Doctoral studies in composition and is part of the CEMI Team at UNT.

In the current global landscape, Kahan sees music making of paramount importance. He believes that music has the power to rise above cultural and linguistic boundaries, resonating with audiences on deeply emotional and intellectual levels. Kahan contributes through his compositions, working alongside dancers and artists, and his teaching positions.

PROGRAM

Sunday March 22, 2026 at 8:00 PM
CARNEGIE HALL

National Concert Chorus 
Marques L. A. Garrett, guest conductor 
Edryn J. Coleman, guest conductor

Arr. EDRYN COLEMAN Lift Ev’ry Voice
MARQUES L. A. GARRETT Your Hand and Mine
REUBEN BURROWS Hashkiveinu
KAHAN TARAPOREVALA Commissioned Piece (World Premiere)
ROSEPHANYE POWELL The Word Was God 
TRACY WONG Riuh (Chaotic Joy!)

National Masterwork Chorus 
Jeffery Redding, guest conductor 

ELAINE HAGENBERG Illuminare