Dr. Don Schade

Dr. Don Schade, a native of Pennsylvania, has had considerable experience as a conductor and music educator at both the higher education and public-school levels.  He received his Ph.D. in Music Education with a Choral Cognate and a M.M. in Choral Conducting from The Pennsylvania State University.  He has two undergraduate degrees from Susquehanna University, one in Music Education/Voice and the other in Percussion Performance.

Dr. Schade’s has taught at all grade levels (K-12) in public-school and has spent fifteen years teaching in higher education both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.  His choirs have been chosen for performances numerous times at national and state conferences of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA), and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).  His higher education instruction has included teaching the pedagogies of Dalcroze, Kodaly, Orff, Suzuki, and Gordon.  He has served as Student Teaching Supervisor in many of his higher education appointments.

Dr. Schade has been the choral conductor of the United States Music Ambassador Honors Performance Tour program since 1985.  He has conducted in twenty-two concert tours of Europe where he has performed in many of the world’s most outstanding concert venues including St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster Abbey, Eli Cathedral, La Salle de Musique in La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, Neuchatel Concert Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral, Strasbourg Cathedral, and Cologne Cathedral among others.  He has also done seven concert tours of Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands and has a particular interest in authentic Polynesian vocal and choral music.  Dr. Schade shares a professional relationship with the renowned King’s Singers, collaborating with them four times for events with his choirs.  He has also been active as a festival guest conductor in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States.

Dr. Schade’s public school experience includes the Annville-Cleona School District in Pennsylvania and Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland.  He has also served in choral positions at Susquehanna University, Franklin and Marshall College, Kutztown University, Lebanon Valley College, Bloomsburg University, and Westminster College.

Dr. Schade has served as a past PMEA district President, served for twenty years as the Choral Audition Chairman for PMEA District 7 choral festivals, and has served on the executive board of PMEA.  He has also been a member of the executive board of ACDA-PA until recently.

He received the Outstanding Leadership Citation reward from the Pennsylvania State Music Educators Association and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Lebanon PA Chamber of Commerce. Schade is an active member of the National Association for Music Education, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, the International Federation of Choral Music, and the International Society for Music Education.