dr. craig hurley
Craig Hurley is the Artistic Director of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir Program where he conducts both the Children’s Choir and Tour Choir. For 18 years, Dr. Hurley served as the director of the Spivey Hall Young Artists preparing young musicians to be active members in the older Spivey choirs. Under his direction, the Spivey Hall Young Artists performed at the 2018 GMEA In-Service Conference. Dr. Hurley has served as a guest clinician for honor choirs throughout the southeast for organizations such as GA-ACDA, AL-ACDA, and KY-ACDA. He currently serves as the president of Georgia ACDA and is the artistic director of the annual Spivey Hall Elementary Honor Choir.
Dr. Hurley is the music specialist at Ford Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia where he teaches general music to kindergarten to fifth graders and leads the school chorus and tone-chime ensemble. He has presented sessions at the Music Educators Association in-service conferences for Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, the Southern Division ACDA Conference, and the ACDA National Children’s and Community Youth Choir Conductor’s Retreat. Under his direction, the Ford Elementary Chorus performed at the 2015 GMEA In-Service Conference. Dr. Hurley was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2002, 2016, and was the 2020 Cobb County Elementary General Music Teacher of the Year, and the 2021 GMEA Georgia Music Educator of the Year.
Dr. Hurley has presented his research at both state and national conventions. His research has been published in the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, UPDATE: Application of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Research and Issues in Music Education, ChorTeach, and Teaching Music Magazine. Research interests include music literacy, the child’s singing voice, and expressive choral performance pedagogy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Shorter College, a Master’s of Early Childhood Education from Berry College, and a Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Georgia (GO DAWGS!). Dr. Hurley lives in Marietta, GA with his wife (also a music teacher), 3 kids, and dog.
Alex Gartner
Alex Gartner is the Artistic & Executive Director of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus (PCC). Under his leadership since 2016, PCC’s programs have expanded to include 14 unique choirs and unique musical initiatives that spread music throughout Northwest Florida and Southwest Alabama through innovative means of performance, creativity, and collaboration. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Gartner previously served as the Assistant Director of the Cincinnati Youth Choir. He is an active composer, clinician, and conductor. He has led honor choirs and led presentations throughout the United States, and his choirs have performed in esteemed concert halls across the country and internationally in China, Italy, Costa Rica, and Ireland. A prominent advocate for the arts in the United States, he presently serves on the national Advocacy & Collaboration Standing Committee of the American Choral Directors Association and previously served on the Arts Education Advisory Committee for Americans for the Arts. He is the co-author of The Business of Choir: A Choral Leader’s Guide for Organizational Growth, a resource for choir directors who seek to expand the scope and scale of their choral programs. Mr. Gartner earned his Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Florida, where he conducted research to identify successful methods to develop musicianship within the performance-driven environments among successful and respected children's and youth choirs. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he graduated summa cum laude and was the recipient of the 2012 John Leman Award for Outstanding Choral Leadership. He also holds a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice. Mr. Gartner has been recognized by Pensacola’s Inweekly as a Rising Star in 2017 and as Best Community Leader in 2023.