Judy Hanson - Director of Choral Programs

Judy Hanson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois and a Master of Music degree in Music Education from Northwestern University. As Director of Choral Programs for Chicago Children's Choir, Ms. Hanson is in charge of training and curriculum guidance for the conductors of the In-School and After-School Programs. She is the Conductor of DiMension, a choir for young men with changing voices. She is also the Associate Director and Choreographer for the Concert Choir, and Conductor and Choreographer for the Show Choir. She most recently received a 2006 Jeff Award nomination (Choral Choreography) for the Chicago Children's Choir’s original world musical, Sita Ram.

From 1985 through May 2001, she was the Director of Vocal Music at Eisenhower Junior High School in Darien, IL. There, she conducted six choirs. Eisenhower choirs performed at the 1996 Illinois ACDA Fall Convention, Walt Disney World and on three separate occasions in the Chicago production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring, Donny Osmond. From 1987through 1993, Ms Hanson was one of the directors of Young Naperville Singers Children’s Chorus.

A nationally known clinician, adjudicator and conductor, Ms. Hanson has presented sessions and workshops at IMEA, IL-ACDA, ACDA-PA, PMEA and at many universities. She has judged national show choir competitions and conducted choirs at Illinois Summer Youth Music at the University of Illinois, Show Choir Camps of America, IMEA District Festivals and Junior High/Middle School Honors Choirs for the ACDA in Illinois, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In February 2000, she served as the Junior High/Middle School Honors Choir conductor at the ACDA Eastern Division Convention in Baltimore, MD. She has also served as the Junior High/Middle School Repertoire and Standards Chair for Illinois ACDA. In 1993, Ms Hanson received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching, an award given to ten outstanding Chicago area teachers each year.