Our Leadership
ALICIA W. WALKER
FOUNDER & FACILITATOR
"My experiences as a conductor, teacher, and leader have afforded me the opportunity to mentor numerous young conductors through the years. These relationships have given me a keen interest in helping young women develop intentional leadership skills, so that they are able to reach their potential and their goals within the choral profession. FACETS was founded to facilitate leadership skills, professional growth, and mentoring relationships among women conductors."
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Alicia W. Walker is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she directs the Concert Choir and Garnet Chorale (SSAA) and supervises the graduate conducting program. Dr. Walker has taught continuing education workshops for choral directors in South Africa, and she is frequently invited to conduct and teach in the UK and in Taiwan. Dr. Walker has conducted at major venues including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Southwark and Canterbury Cathedrals in England, and St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Her choirs have been selected to perform for NCCO (2021, 2023), SCMEA (2016, 2018, 2022), and for South Carolina’s ACDA conference (2018, 2022, 2024). Dr. Walker’s pedagogy and professional interactions are marked by a commitment to excellence, collaboration, and inclusion.
An experienced music educator, Dr. Walker taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, followed by appointments at the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina, where she supervised Secondary Choral Music Education. She is a Past President of Southern Region ACDA (2015-2017) and Georgia ACDA (2009-2011), and she developed ChorTransform, ACDA’s service-learning initiative for student chapters. She was the Program Chair for the 2024 Southern Region ACDA Conference in Louisville, and South Carolina ACDA recognized her with the Leadership & Service to the Profession Award in 2024.
Her focus on professional mentoring led Dr. Walker to found Facets,™ a leadership retreat for women conductors. In Columbia, she conducts a chamber choir of music educators called Limited Time Only, and she maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator. A long-time church musician, Dr. Walker served churches in Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina. She was a committee chair for the development of Celebrating Grace, a hymnal published in 2010, and is a contributing author for Sacred Choral Music Repertoire: Insight for Conductors. Dr. Walker was guest editor of the February 2021 Choral Journal, ACDA’s focus issue on pedagogy. She is the author of “The Holistic Conductor,” an online graduate conducting text; her research interests include conducting pedagogy and choral composers of the English Musical Renaissance. She is a Life Member of ACDA and holds memberships in NAfME and NCCO.
CAROL JOY SPARKMAN
PROGRAM CHAIR
Carol Joy Sparkman is in her fourth year as Director of Choral Music at Clinton High School in Clinton, Mississippi, where she directs four choirs and a two contemporary a cappella ensembles. She began her career as a member of the Mississippi College music faculty, where she taught language diction, was vocal coach/accompanist, directed Mixed Company, a vocal jazz ensemble, and was Musical Director for The Mississippi College Opera/Musical Theater. Sparkman received the Bachelor of Music in Education and a Master of Music in Vocal Coaching/Accompanying degrees from Mississippi College.
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She is a member of the MS ACDA Board where she has served as Repertoire and Resource Chair for Vocal Jazz, Membership, and currently Contemporary and Commercial. As R&R Chair for Contemporary and Commercial, she began a contemporary a cappella workshop that is in its fourth year. She is an active member of the A Cappella Education Association, NAfME, and NATS. Sparkman is a member of team who has established Service-Learning partnerships for continuing education in choral music. Each summer the team travels to South Africa to work with music educators and choirs.
LINDSEY WEBB ESTERDAHL
REGISTRATION
Lindsey Webb Esterdahl is a dedicated and highly skilled music educator. She is pursuing a PhD in music education, with a minor in choral conducting, at the University of South Carolina, where she also serves as a Graduate Assistant. Her research focuses on the intersections of music education and disability studies, which she plans to explore in depth through her dissertation.
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Before pursuing her doctoral studies, Lindsey worked as a secondary choral music educator, where she had the privilege of teaching adaptive music to students with disabilities. During this time, she was a finalist for Teacher of the Year in 2021 and received the Young Outstanding Music Educator Award at the 2023 South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA) Annual Conference. Under her leadership, choirs consistently achieved superior ratings, and students were selected for state and national honor choirs. Most notably, in 2023, her ensemble, the Patriot Singers, was invited to perform at the SCMEA Annual Conference.
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Lindsey earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Lander University and a Master of Music Education from the University of South Carolina. She is an active member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA), and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), where she serves as the Secretary for the South Carolina chapter. Lindsey has also shared her expertise as a clinician for various honor choirs, including the upcoming Richland Two High School Honor Choir. In addition to her academic and professional pursuits, she enjoys performing at local churches and with the vocal ensemble Limited Time Only (LTO).
ASHLEE POOLE
RETREAT LOGISTICS
Ashlee Poole is a dedicated choral educator and music director, currently leading choral activities at Westwood High School in Blythewood, SC, and serving as Youth Music Director at Shandon Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC. She is also the lead vocal teacher for Sumter School District’s Gifted and Talented REACH program and previously directed choirs at Sumter High School, where she helped revitalize the music program.
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As a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s in Music Education and a Master’s in Conducting where she served as a Graduate Assistant, she gained invaluable experience that has shaped her approach to conducting and ensemble leadership. Ashlee’s choirs consistently earn top ratings in adjudicated events, and students under her direction continue to earn music scholarships to various colleges and universities. She is actively involved in music education, serving on the boards of SCMEA, and SCACDA, where she is Co-Coordinator for the High School All-State Choirs and chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
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Known for building strong relationships with students, Ashlee inspires growth both musically and personally. Outside the classroom, she is a choral scholar at Shandon Presbyterian Church and a member of the vocal ensemble Limited Time Only. She enjoys outdoor activities like kayaking and hiking and is a competitive member of the American Pool Association.
EMILY REEVES BOHL
DIGITAL CONTENT
Emily Reeves Bohl is the Director of Choral Activities at Berkeley Center for the Arts at Goose Creek High School. Choirs under her direction have consistently received superior ratings in adjudicated settings and have recently performed at the annual conferences of both SCACDA (2023) and SCMEA (2024). Emily serves on the SCMEA Choral Division All-State Committee, and as the SCACDA Chairperson for Treble Repertoire and Resources and Conference Performing Choirs. She has served as a guest conductor and clinician in various settings, and is active as a presenter, especially in the area of the Kodály concept and its applications to Choral Pedagogy. In October 2024, Emily was presented with the Emerging Scholar Award by SC ACDA for outstanding contributions to choral music in South Carolina in under ten years of service, and she was recently selected as the recipient of the 2025 SCMEA Outstanding Young Music Educator Award.
Emily has recently been appointed Artistic Director of the Singers of Summerville: she will make her conducting debut with the organization in March 2025. Outside the classroom and away from the podium, Emily maintains an active performing schedule throughout South Carolina. She can be heard regularly as staff soprano at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and with the ensembles of The King's Counterpoint. Emily holds the the Bachelor of Arts in Choral Music Education from Charleston Southern University, the Master of Education in Administration from The University of Oklahoma, and the Master of Music in Kodály Pedagogy from Holy Names University, where she was recipient of the Logan Fellowship in Education.