Join us on Thursday, January 26th at 3:00pm for a special discussion about college music programs and more with Nicola Dedman and Aaron Humble.
Free online event. Please register in advance:
Nicola Bertoni Dedmon grew up in Washington, D.C., where she began studying classical music from a young age. She eventually went on to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where she first discovered her passion for choral music and conducting. After JMU, she began her graduate coursework at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she earned her Master of Music degree in choral conducting under the tutelage of Dr. Joe Miller and Dr. Amanda Quist. While at Westminster, Professor Dedmon served as the graduate conducting assistant of the Westminster Chapel Choir. Also during her time at Westminster, she sang in the internationally-renown Westminster Choir, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and Kantorei. Through her participation in these ensembles, she performed frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic under the batons of Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Alan Gilbert, Daniele Gati, Vladimir Yurowski, among others. She also spent two summers as a member of the choir-in-residence at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC. Most importantly, a winter Westminster Choir tour down the coast of California caused her to fall in love with the West Coast, and more specifically, Southern California.
Professor Dedmon currently serves at Fullerton College as the Coordinator of Choral Studies, where she directs the Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers. She just finished a yearlong temporary assignment as the Interim Dean of Fine Arts, which equipped her with useful knowledge of academic administration in the arts. She also served on the Board of American Choral Directors Association’s Western Division. She is an active choral clinician and adjudicator for regional choral festivals and honor choirs. She has a passion for cultivating music literacy in her students while also encouraging healthy, informed vocal technique. She is delighted to live and work in Fullerton amongst wonderful colleagues and students and is looking forward to the many exciting years ahead.
Described as remarkably virtuosic by the Columbus Republic and transcendent by the Daytona Beach News Journal, tenor and conductor Aaron Humble originally hails from Northeast Ohio. Aaron has enjoyed solo appearances with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Columbus Philharmonic, the Mankato Symphony, and the Boston Pops and chamber music appearances at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, Wolf Trap, and The Chautauqua Institute. During his tenure with Cantus, Aaron sang nearly 1000 concerts and recorded 10 albums with one of the nation’s premier vocal ensembles. Aaron has recently sung as a soloist and ensemble singer with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Tucson’s Grammy-nominated True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and The Grammy-Nominated South Dakota Chorale while also remaining active regionally and nationally as a soloist in recital and oratorio. An Assistant Professor of Music, Aaron was recently appointed to lead the vocal and choral area at California State University San Marcos.
A Graduate of Millikin University, Aaron holds the Doctor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. As Aaron directs his focus toward teaching, he continues to perform as a recital and concert singer as well as maintaining his work as a clinician in a variety of vocal and choral settings including his work as a cantor at St. Joseph Cathedral in San Diego. An avid gardener and home improvement devotee, Aaron and his husband Xu, make their home in New York and San Diego with their two cats, Chopstick and Toothpick.