Senior Division

NCC Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone is a renowned and respected conductor on the national and international choral scene, where her expertise and innovative approach to singing have empowered performers of all ages to achieve the highest level of excellence in musicianship, performance, vocal technique and artistic creativity. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Blackstone began her training as a pianist, violinist, singer and dancer. Exemplifying unique musical and technical mastery, she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and graduated valedictorian from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas (KU), under the tutelage of Dr. Jack Winerock and Claude Frank. During her time at KU, Dr. Blackstone attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School, studying piano and chamber music with Rita Sloan. Dr. Blackstone’s love for the choral art form led her to pursue a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, under the direction of Dr. Eph Ehly. Following her passion for teaching, Dr. Blackstone became the Director of Choral Activities at Westark College in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and emerged as one of the Midwest region’s most sought-after choral clinicians, judges, and show-choir choreographers. Completing her formal education, Dr. Blackstone received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of California Los Angeles with Dr. Donald Neuen. As part of her tenure, she won various competition and scholarship awards from organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association and the Choral Conductors Guild.

Dr. Blackstone has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles-based Angeles Chorale, and has taught vocal and choral music at UCLA, Santa Ana College, and church organizations across the nation. Her conducting appearances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royce Hall and The Broad Stage, with international appearances in Oxford and London, England; Beijing and Xian, China; Rome, Florence and Venice, Italy, including the Vatican City; Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest; as well as the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Seoul, South Korea, and Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. This summer’s performances will include Portugal and Spain. Throughout her career, her long-standing philosophy has been “performance excellence through personal excellence.” Combined with her expertise in the healing arts profession, Dr. Blackstone has advocated for an integrated, holistic approach to music education that embodies an eclectic array of modalities and methodologies, enriching her students mentally, emotionally and kinesthetically. In addition, Dr. Blackstone’s awe-inspiring energy revered as “positively contagious” has established her as an invaluable vocal instructor and in-demand performance coach on both coasts. Recent students have been accepted with scholarships at top-level programs across the country, including the University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Mannes School of Music, Boston Conservatory, University of Michigan, Peabody Institute, Indiana University, Stanford and Harvard. Her pupils have also enjoyed noteworthy success in the areas of film, theatre and the recording studio.

Julia Morris is a conductor and vocalist native to the San Francisco Bay Area. She started her musical journey with the flute at age 7 and has since found her niche in song and the choral ensemble. Ms. Morris works closely with Ming Luke as Assistant Conductor for Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (BCCO), a position designed as a conducting mentorship program to guide promising young conductors. This summer she had the pleasure of touring the Baltic countries with BCCO, and she made her international conducting debut in their final performance of Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in the Konserthuset Stockholm in Sweden. As an educator, Ms. Morris works as an Artist-in-Residence in the vocal department of the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA), where she enjoys directing the treble ensemble Tempo Tantrums, coaching classical singers in preparing art songs for auditions and performances, and instructing student conductors. Since 2017, she has served as Conducting Scholar at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco, where Eric Choate mentors her in conducting and musicianship. Seeking additional growth as a choral director and educator, she has participated in two summer Choral Artistry Institutes at Eastman School of Music under the direction of Dr. William Weinert. Choral singing has always been the focal point of Julia’s life, and she continues to nurture her love of singing as a member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. Ms. Morris graduated cum laude from Kenyon College in Ohio where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in music (graduated with departmental distinction) and psychology. She plans to pursue higher education in choral arts in the future.

San Francisco born and based educator, entertainer, and composer, Cole Thomason-Redus has spent the last quarter-century serving the music industry in many diverse ways, highlighting his vast array of skill-sets. Currently, Cole is a Program Manager in the Department of Diversity, Equity & Community at the San Francisco Opera. He is also an Associate Conductor for the National Children’s Chorus and recently served as Director of Education for the GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble, CHANTICLEER. Prior to this, Cole served a seven-year tenure as Curator of Classical Music at Apple, Inc., after having worked for three years as a Classical Music Analyst for the Music Genome Project at Pandora Media, Inc. Schools and organizations for which he has taught include the San Francisco Boys Chorus, Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, and San Francisco Arts Education Project. He was a co-founding director of International Orange Choral and has sung with numerous ensembles throughout the Bay Area.

NCC Associate Artistic Director Dr. Pamela Blackstone is a renowned and respected conductor on the national and international choral scene, where her expertise and innovative approach to singing have empowered performers of all ages to achieve the highest level of excellence in musicianship, performance, vocal technique and artistic creativity. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Blackstone began her training as a pianist, violinist, singer and dancer. Exemplifying unique musical and technical mastery, she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and graduated valedictorian from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas (KU), under the tutelage of Dr. Jack Winerock and Claude Frank. During her time at KU, Dr. Blackstone attended the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School, studying piano and chamber music with Rita Sloan. Dr. Blackstone’s love for the choral art form led her to pursue a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, under the direction of Dr. Eph Ehly. Following her passion for teaching, Dr. Blackstone became the Director of Choral Activities at Westark College in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and emerged as one of the Midwest region’s most sought-after choral clinicians, judges, and show-choir choreographers. Completing her formal education, Dr. Blackstone received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of California Los Angeles with Dr. Donald Neuen. As part of her tenure, she won various competition and scholarship awards from organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association and the Choral Conductors Guild.

Dr. Blackstone has served as the Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles-based Angeles Chorale, and has taught vocal and choral music at UCLA, Santa Ana College, and church organizations across the nation. Her conducting appearances include concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royce Hall and The Broad Stage, with international appearances in Oxford and London, England; Beijing and Xian, China; Rome, Florence and Venice, Italy, including the Vatican City; Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest; as well as the Korean Demilitarized Zone, Seoul, South Korea, and Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. This summer’s performances will include Portugal and Spain. Throughout her career, her long-standing philosophy has been “performance excellence through personal excellence.” Combined with her expertise in the healing arts profession, Dr. Blackstone has advocated for an integrated, holistic approach to music education that embodies an eclectic array of modalities and methodologies, enriching her students mentally, emotionally and kinesthetically. In addition, Dr. Blackstone’s awe-inspiring energy revered as “positively contagious” has established her as an invaluable vocal instructor and in-demand performance coach on both coasts. Recent students have been accepted with scholarships at top-level programs across the country, including the University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Mannes School of Music, Boston Conservatory, University of Michigan, Peabody Institute, Indiana University, Stanford and Harvard. Her pupils have also enjoyed noteworthy success in the areas of film, theatre and the recording studio.

American conductor Luke McEndarfer is emerging as one of the most compelling forces in the choral world today, with a dynamic career shaped by ambitious innovation, artistic creativity and musical excellence. Currently, he serves as Artistic Director, President and CEO of the National Children’s Chorus, one of the fastest-growing and most successful youth arts organizations in the United States. His artistic collaborations include work with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Youth Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera Company, New York City Master Chorale, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, Opera Parallèle, Kronos String Quartet, and Stephen Petronio Dance Company. Over the years, he has prepared choruses and soloists for Gustavo Dudamel, Grant Gershon, James Conlon, Stephen Layton, David Alan Miller, Ibrahim Maalouf, John Rutter, Helmuth Rilling, David Willcocks, Eric Whitacre and the late Paul Salamunovich, among others. To date, his premiere conducting performances include music by Morten Lauridsen, Sharon Farber, James Wright, Stephen Cohn, Thomas Hewitt Jones, Daniel Brewbaker, Sage Lewis, Shawn Kirchner, Paul Gibson, Rufus Wainwright, and Nico Muhly.

In 2004, McEndarfer was appointed director of the acclaimed Paulist Choristers, and in 2008 his vision to create the National Children’s Chorus took flight. Since then, the NCC has grown from only sixteen families in Los Angeles to nearly eight hundred in the cities of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., offering its students cutting-edge training and extraordinary musical experiences. Under McEndarfer’s leadership, the NCC has built an unparalleled educational platform, mindfully leading young singers from the age of five, and guiding them through to the college level. McEndarfer’s advanced vocal ensembles in the NCC are among the most accomplished youth choruses, with recent performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Royce Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. International debuts have taken place throughout Europe, including Oxford, London, the Vatican City, Rome, Florence, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest; and in Asia, Beijing, Xi’an, the Korean DMZ, Seoul, Tokyo and Kyoto. In the summer of 2020, students will perform in Portugal and Spain.

Though the National Children’s Chorus has been his primary focus the last several years, McEndarfer’s background and experience encompass numerous conducting appearances on both coasts featuring adult choral and symphonic masterworks. Upcoming plans include the launch of new programs within this genre of choral music as a natural extension of his expanding scope of work with the NCC, and deep passion for the full choral repertoire. Equally at home in the studio, he has worked on several motion picture soundtracks, such as Escape from Tomorrow, Snowmen, and Paramount Pictures’ feature film Imagine That, starring Eddie Murphy. Television credits include conducting performances and studio appearances with CNN, CBS, ABC, and Fox, as well as NBC’s former Tonight Show with Jay Leno. McEndarfer has also conducted in performance with Josh Groban, and on Entertainment Tonight for the Oscars in 2014. At charity events featuring fashion shows by Oscar de la Renta, he has arranged musical presentations for Princess Charlene of Monaco, former First Lady Laura Bush, and other distinguished honorees.

Since the age of six, McEndarfer has studied piano extensively, winning competitions and musical honors with the Music Teachers’ Association of California. He is a two-time graduate of UCLA, holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and a Master of Music degree in conducting, the latter with full scholarship under the tutelage of Donald Neuen. Studying privately, McEndarfer was the conducting pupil of Kenneth Kiesler and Marianne Ploger at the University of Michigan, Lucinda Carver at USC, and the late Paul Salamunovich. September through June, McEndarfer manages a demanding bicoastal work and travel schedule that requires his presence in all NCC cities of operation.