District Chairs
Name: Joseph Osowski
Position: Northeast District Chair
Workplace: Anoka High School
Counties Served: Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Chisago, Cook, Isanti, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Pine, Mille Lacs, St. Louis, Sherburne, Washington
H: 701.361.7044
O: 763.506.6372
joseph.osowski@anoka.k12.mn.us
Background: I am currently finishing my second year at Anoka High School, and my fifth year of teaching overall. I graduated from North Dakota State University in 2006 and I am pursuing my masters degree from the same institution. I also work as the director of the Tidings Choir at Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka and serve on the staff at the Rene Clausen Choral School in Moorhead. My wife Clara (the real musician in the family) and I recently purchased a home in Brooklyn Center and live there with our cat Gus.
Message to Colleagues: I am thrilled to serve an organization that is so vital to so many musicians in our state. I am not alone when I say that ACDA-MN is a lifeline to many of us conductors. The experiences and opportunities ACDA-MN affords its members provide mountaintop experiences for us and more importantly, our students. I look forward to contributing to this legacy. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you!
Name: Bonnie Nelson
Position: Northwest District Chair
Workplace: Sauk Centre High School, Sauk Centre
Counties Served: Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Morrison, Norman, Ottertail, Pennington, Polk, Pope, Red Lake, Roseau, Sterns, Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena, Wilkin
H: 320.732.6954
O: 320.352.2258
bonnie_nelson@isd743.k12.mn.us
Background: I grew up on a dairy farm in Redwood Falls, MN. My family has always sung together and music was central to my growing up years. I attended Southwest State University in Marshall with a double major in music and elementary education. I have a Master’s Degree from Mankato State University in Gifted Education. I have taught for 30 years, twenty-six of those as the 7-12 high school choir director in Sauk Centre. I have two daughters who are also teachers and three grandsons. Being a grandmother is my new favorite thing.
Message to Colleagues: I feel that ACDA-MN has two major roles. One is to bring choral directors together to learn from and to support each other. The second role is to provide opportunities for musicians of all ages to experience the joy of music making. In the current economy, these roles are becoming even more important. We will need the support of each other as we face the future and opportunities for our students that the schools may no longer be able to provide.
Name: Chris Harris
Position: Southeast District Chair
Workplace: Owatonna High School, Owatonna
Counties served: Blue Earth, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, LeSueur, Mower, Olmstead, Rice, Scott, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, Winona
H: 507.446.0934
O: 507.444.8869
cmharris11@charter.net
Background: Greetings Southeast ACDA-MN members! It was such a pleasure to see many of you again at the Summer Dialogue and to meet new Southeast members. If you are not aware, I was elected as your new ACDA-MN Southeast District Chair, and I feel honored to work with you to support one another and our organization.
This fall, I will be starting by 17th year of teaching, my 8th at Owatonna High School. Prior to that, I got my B.M. at UMD and my M.M.E. at the conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I have a wife Cathy and two young boys.
Message to Colleagues: As far as my position goes, I’m sure I have the same triumphs, joys, struggles and problems as many of you do. That’s why I am making a push for our district to do a few things to make ACDA-MN a network of supportive colleagues who truly are there to support one another. I will be contacting you this fall via email with a few items we discussed at our District meeting this past summer. If you weren’t there, that’s ok! We’ll catch you up! Until then, enjoy your time as your “hit the ground running” this fall!
Name: Gregory J. Aune
Position: Southwest District Chair
Workplace: Gustavus Adolphus College
Counties served: Big Stone, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Swift, Watonwan, Wright, Yellow Medicine
H: 507.934.4550
O: 507.933.7347
Background: Greetings colleagues and fellow members of ACDA! I am pleased to be able to introduce myself to all of us as the Southwest District Chair. I was raised in Grand Rapids MN, and choral music was a way of life in our household. My love of choirs drew me to Concordia College in Moorhead, eventually leading to graduate degrees at the University of Iowa. I now am completing my 16th year of teaching and conducting at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, and feel incredibly blessed with my work and the wonderful students that I am priviledged to teach and mentor.
Message to Colleagues: I am looking forward to serving as Southwest District Chair, and encourage active and open communication with all my colleagues in our District and state. We in ACDA-MN are all fortunate in that our profession continues to thrive at numerous levels, and our organization enjoys superb leadership. All the best!
Name: Marie Spar Dymit
Position: Metro East District Chair
Workplace: White Bear Lake Area High School, White Bear Lake
Counties served: Dakota and Ramsey
H: 612.724.5304
O: 651.773.6248
msdymi@wbl.whitebear.k12.mn.us
Background: Greetings! I am happy to be starting my term as the Metro East District Chair for ACDA-MN. I will be starting my 27th year of teaching in the fall of 2010, all of which have been in White Bear Lake. I am currently teaching high school vocal music, but for 15 years taught and LOVED teaching middle school choir and classroom music. I am a graduate of St. Olaf College and also hold a Master’s Degree in vocal performance pedagogy from Arizona State University.
Message to Colleagues: I am eager to pitch in and do whatever I can to further this great organization. I have learned and gained so much from ACDA since the beginning of my career, and now it’s my turn to “pay it forward”, which I happily do!
Name: Paula Holmberg
Position: Metro West District Chair
Workplace: Minnetonka High School and Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park
County served: Hennepin
H: 952.470.6949
O: 952.401.5809
paula.holmberg@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Background: Having been born and raised in the northwest corner of North Dakota, I earned a BS degree at Minot State University and a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Minnesota. I have directed choirs at Minnetonka High School since 1994. Previous teaching experience includes eight years at Robbinsdale-Cooper High School and three years in the Watertown-Mayer Public Schools. I began singing in the Westwood Lutheran Church choir in 1981, and just last year began conducting the ensemble. It has been a particular joy to share my passion of music with my husband Andrew and our two children, A.J. and Kaatrin—all of whom have sung in my choir! When I’m not in rehearsal or on stage, I enjoy the outdoors—gardening, hiking, biking, and boating.
Message to Colleagues: I look forward to serving ACDA-MN and its members. An enthusiastic and capable board awaits, and I am priviledged to join them in a continuing mission to support choral directors and singers of all ages. A myriad of events and opportunities are already in place for the coming year. Please take advantage of them and additionally, communicate with me regarding your ideas and suggestions to further enhance our programming. Let’s work together to expand, simplify, dream and ACT! Your involvement is crucial to our organization and I am eager to partner with you.
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