Appointed Leadership
Adjudicator Chair, John Baker
Milwaukie, Oregon
John graduated from Oregon College of Education in the fall of 1979. On February 11, 1980 he stepped into the position as choir director at Rex Putnam High School located in Milwaukie, Oregon. John directed choral music at Rex Putnam H. S. for 32 years.
Web/Editor/Newsletter, Howard Meharg
Vancouver, WA 98661
360-609-3748
Howard Meharg built and maintained websites for as many as nine ACDA organizations at one time. He limits his ACDA website work nowadays to the state of Oregon. He retired from full-time choral work in the schools in 1996, He has remained active as a conductor. In 2009 he founded and conducted a 32-voice professional level choir called Chor Anno. Though he still prepares and conducts a work or two each year with the group, the principal role as conductor of Chor Anno since 2017 has been held by Dr. Nicole Lamartine.
Industry Representative, Katie Nishimori
J. W. Pepper
San Francisco, CA
Katie Nishimori is a member of the JW Pepper Northwestern region sales team. She joined the Pepper team in 2011 and dedicates her work to supporting music educators. She is located in the San Francisco Bay Area and plays tenor saxophone with many local community bands. She enjoys baking bread, practicing yoga, playing cribbage, and breweries.
Membership Chair, Danika Locey
Danika Locey is the choir director at Leslie Middle School in Salem, Oregon. She previously taught choir in Medford, Oregon. Danika has a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Oregon State University. She has served as Membership Chair since 2019.
ACDA/OMEA Liaison, Kathy Briggs
Ms. Kathy Briggs Kathy Briggs has over 20 years of conducting and teaching experience and has been at SMA since 2007. Ms. Briggs was awarded the 2016 Oregon American Choral Directors Association Podium Award for her contribution to the choral arts, was honored as a finalist in the OnPoint Excellence in Teaching Awards in 2011, and was the Mt. Hood Conference "Advisor of the Year"in 2009. Her research on movement in the choral rehearsal was published in the Choral Journal (Vol 52, No. 5), she has authored lesson plans for the National Association for Music Education and VH1 Music Studios, and she has presented at regional and state NAfME conferences. She is the 2018-2020 state president of the Oregon Music Education Association, was the 2017 state music conference chairperson, and is co-chair and founder of the OMEA state student composition contest. Ms. Briggs has met with leadership both in Salem and in Washington, DC to advocate for arts and education funding. Her award winning choirs have performed across the country and in Europe, highlighted by the honor of twice being invited to perform in the White House for President Obama and the First Lady. Ms. Briggs has a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Music Education in Choral Conducting from the University of St. Thomas. She also conducts the University of Portland’s Bel Canto choir. It is Ms. Briggs' lifelong dream to meet Julie Andrews.
OR ACDA Secretary, Kristen Caldwell
Kristen Caldwell is the Director of Choirs at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon where she has taught since 2018. She taught the first eight years of her career first in Portland Public Schools and then Scappoose High School, where she taught 7th-12th grade choir and musical theatre. Kristen also enjoyed a two-year stint at college directing, joining Dr Scott Tuomi as part of the choral and voice faculty at Pacific University. She holds a Bachelors of Musical Arts and a Masters of Music Education from the University of Oklahoma.