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 Indiana University, University of Southern California, University of California Los Angeles, Stanford, Harvard and the Manhattan School of Music. 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.

Wei Zhang, born in Qingdao city of China, started to learn the piano when she was 6 years old. She got her Master of Music degree from Eastern Michigan University, majoring in piano performance and piano pedagogy. She has had a great number of solo piano and chamber music recitals, and has collaborated with various singers, choirs, and string and wind ensembles at EMU. She won the first prize in the Graduate Performance Competition and was the winner of the Concerto Competition at Eastern Michigan University, performing with the EMU Symphony Orchestra in EMUSO concert in 2019.
She is currently working as a piano instructor and accompanist in the Bay Area.