Meet our Conducting Tutors
Jono Palmer is a dynamic and enterprising conductor from Auckland. His choirs have won national and international acclaim, including two Gold Medals at the 2015 Grand Prix of Nations in Magdeburg, Germany, and many awards at regional and national festivals of The Big Sing. As a conductor, Jono has been selected for masterclasses at the 2017 World Symposium of Choral Music and the 2017 National Collegiate Choral Organization National Conference. In October 2018, he was a finalist in the inaugural London International Choral Conducting Competition. In 2022, Jono took up the position of musical director for the Auckland Chamber Choir based at the University of Auckland, where he also lectures in conducting and music theory. Jono earned a MM in Choral Conducting from Indiana University, a BMus(hons) in Performance Voice, and a BA in Ancient History from the University of Auckland. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Choral Conducting at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Jono recently co-presented a paper with Elise Bradley titled The Voices of Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (Oceania) at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Istanbul in April 2023.
Dr Andrew Withington has a PhD in Choral Pedagogy and a Masters in Choral Conducting Performance with First Class Honours. During his doctoral studies he created an approach to improve tuning in choirs which was published in the American Choral Directors’ Association’s Choral Journal.
Andrew has recently returned from the United States where he was Assistant Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities and Voice Area Head at Westminster College. In 2020, he was voted “Professor of the Year” at the College.
For 10 years, Andrew was Artistic Director of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir. He is a registered teacher, and is currently freelancing as a conductor, choral consultant, teacher educator and mentor for beginning teachers.
David completed his undergraduate study at the University of Auckland, with an emphasis on conducting and composition, later graduating with a Master of Music degree with first class honours in choral conducting.
Current chair of the New Zealand Association of Choral Directors, David is also a national conducting advisor and tutor, and served as a governance board member of the New Zealand Choral Federation for nine years. He is in demand around the world as a clinician, educator, guest conductor and adjudicator, and is the choral director for the International Schools Choral Music Society.