Panel Discussion III – At the Intersection of Gender and Race

MODERATOR:

B.E. Boykin (Georgia Institute of Technology)

PANELISTS:

Lily Ling (Music Director/Conductor, Hamilton)

Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin (Director of Wind Band Studies, The Pennsylvania State University)

Brittney Boykin (B.E. Boykin) is a native of Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from Spelman College in 2011 with a B.A. in Music, Ms. Boykin continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. She continued to compose music during her time at Westminster and was awarded the R & R Young Composition Prize just a few months shy of graduating. In May of 2013, Ms. Boykin graduated from Westminster Choir College with a M.M. in Sacred Music with a concentration in choral studies.

Lily Ling is a Toronto based musician and the current Music Director and Conductor for the And Peggy tour of Hamilton. She is the first female to hold the title of Music Director and also the first East Asian to conduct the show. Previously, she served as the Associate Conductor for the Philip (2nd national) Tour.

Other credits include the Music Director and Conductor for 20th Anniversary Off-Broadway revival of john & jen; Associate Music Director and Vocal Coach for the Chinese language premiere of The Lion King in Shanghai; Music Supervisor for the Chinese premiere of A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder; numerous productions in Canada including Kinky Boots, Next To Normal, Once On This Island, and the Canadian premieres of The Light In The Piazza, Parade, High Fidelity, Jerry Spring: The Opera, and Reefer Madness.

Lily is a graduate of Penn State University’s MFA in Music Direction.

Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin is Director of Wind Band Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at The Pennsylvania State University. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, overseeing the graduate wind conducting program, teaching courses in wind band literature and wind conducting, she oversees all aspects of the concert band programs. Her appointment at PSU follows three years as Assistant Director of Bands and Associate Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her tenure at UofSC, she taught at Valdosta State University. She has a diverse background as a clinician, adjudicator, educator, and speaker. She is a frequent guest conductor and advocate for new music, women in music, and diverse voices. Mitchell-Spradlin serves as the National Vice President of Professional Relations for Tau Beta Sigma: National Honorary Band Sorority. She also holds memberships in Kappa Kappa Psi, the College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education, Women Band Directors International, and the Association of Black Women Band Directors.

Dr. Kiernan Marlene Steiner (she/her/siya) is a public academic, choral conductor, scholar-activist, and entrepreneur.  She is from the Ilocos region of the Philippines, the British Isles, and Germanic Europe.  Kiernan was born, raised, and nourished on Ho-Chunk Nation territory in Southwestern Wisconsin.  Most recently, Kiernan completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at Arizona State University.  In 2020, she publicly began her decolonization path to reclaim her Filipinx ethnic identity, by naming and identifying oppressive and dehumanizing structures, in order to reconceptualize and create equitable singing communities for the next generation of artists.  Follow her journey on Instagram @decolonizing_kiki.