  
 The Hound Dog Hill Boys are a six piece neo-traditional string band from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Founded in 2003 by banjo player and singer Cutch Tuttle, the Hound Dog Hill Boys use all acoustic instruments and draw their influence from the Valley's musical heritage. They have been featured on WHSV TV 3, WVLS Appalachian Radio, WXJM 88.1, & WTJU 91.1. In 2006, they released "Twisted Sneergrass", a self produced CD retrospective. In 2007, Hound Dog Hill was awarded several awards, including 1st place Best Original Song at the Appalachian Sting Band Festival and 2nd Place Neo-Traditional Band. Click here to visit hounddoghill.com.
 The Madison Singers are James Madison University's finest small choral ensemble and the SMF's chorus-in-residence. Dedicated to the art of small ensemble performance, The Madison Singers perform repertoire from medieval to contemporary; from Ockeghem to Bach to Copland. Participants in JMU's annual Contemporary Music Festival, they have performed works by Ofer Ben-Amots and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky. This is the featured ensemble at JMU's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Visit: orgs.jmu.edu/choirs.
 SMF Artistic Director Carsten Schmidt performs a repertoire ranging from the early Baroque to new works, of which he has premiered more than 100. He has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, International Schubert Festival in Amsterdam, the German Mozart Festival, Merkin Hall in NYC, Kennedy Center, and Kaleidoscope Festival in Moscow, and he has been heard in radio broadcasts worldwide. Since 2004 he has conducted opera productions of Handel and Purcell, and a concerto program at the Kuhmo Festival in Finland. He holds Artist Diplomas from the Folkwang Institute, Indiana University, and a doctorate from Yale. Since 1998 he has been Professor of Music at Sarah Lawrence College in NY.
 Patrick Walders is a professional vocalist, music educator, church musician, clinician, and conductor. As the Director of Choral Activities at JMU, he directs the JMU Chorale and the Madison Singers, and oversees the Men's Chorus, Women's Chorus and Treble Concert Choir. He is Associate Conductor of the National Philharmonic Chorale, and Artistic Director of the National Philharmonic Singers at Strathmore. Patrick has sung with the Westminster Choir directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, as well as the Westminster Symphonic Choir, performing with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. He is a founding member of Viri Animarum, a six-voice male chamber choir. |
