Education

In her thirty-ninth year as an educator, she has taught students at every level from kindergarten through college, and has been honored with teaching awards at four schools.

Under her direction, the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir and Spivey Hall Tour Choir have been featured in performances for state, regional, and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the national conference of the Orff-Schulwerk Association, and the 2010 national conference of Chorus America. Because of the artistry and mature vocal sound exhibited by her choirs, she has received numerous invitations as a clinician and guest conductor throughout the United States and abroad. Her choirs have been featured in nationally-syndicated public-radio broadcasts of Performance Today and From The Top, as well as in WABE FM broadcasts of Atlanta Music Scene.

For 13 years, Dr. Shaw taught at Shorter University. She also taught at the University of South Carolina, where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting with Larry Wyatt. Prior to her collegiate teaching, she was a music specialist for Atlanta’s Fulton County for 15 years. Studying with Donald Neuen, she earned a Master of Science in Music Education from the University of Tennessee. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Shorter College.

Craig Hurley is the conductor of the Spivey Hall Young Artists, the preparatory choir of the nationally renowned Spivey Hall Children’s Choir.  The Young Artists were proud to perform at the 2018 GMEA In-Service Conference in Athens, Georgia.  Dr. Hurley has served as a guest clinician for several honor choirs throughout the state including the 2019 GMEA Statewide Elementary Honor Choir.  He is also the artistic director of the annual Spivey Hall Summer Music Camp.

Dr. Hurley is the music specialist at Ford Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia.  He has presented sessions at the Music Educators Association in-service conferences for Georgia, Florida, and Alabama as well as other various teacher organizations.  Under his direction, the Ford Elementary Chorus has performed with the Atlanta Women’s Chorus, the Kennesaw State University Women’s Choir, and the 2015 GMEA In-Service Conference.  Dr. Hurley was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2002 and 2016.

Dr. Hurley’s research article Examining the Effect of Aural Preparation on Second Grade Students’ Music Literacy Rhythm Skills can be found in the 2018 edition of Research and Issues in Music Education. Research interests include: music literacy and expressive choral performance pedagogy.

Dr. Hurley holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Shorter College, a Master’s of Early Childhood Education from Berry College, and a doctorate in music education from The University of Georgia.

Now in her 24th year as Assistant Director and Accompanist of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, Judy Kerlin Mason holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Shorter College and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where she studied with Donald Neuen and Anthony Palmer. She has studied piano with the late Jay Fuller, Helen Ramsaur, and the late Powell Everhardt.

Mrs. Mason has accompanied state, regional, and national honor and all-state choruses as well as church choirs for over four decades. She serves as accompanist for Spivey Hall’s Honor Choir Workshops for both treble and high school singers. She appeared as a singer with the Memphis Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, recording numerous major works that have received worldwide acclaim. She has also appeared as a conductor at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling.

Mrs. Mason taught choral music, music theater, and music theory in the Atlanta City and Fulton County public schools for 10 years. Choirs under her direction have performed for U.S. presidents, vice presidents, and first ladies and have toured in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

Holding membership in the American Choral Directors Association, Mu Phi Epsilon, and Pi Kappa Lambda, Mrs. Mason serves as a church musician at Haven Fellowship Church in Conyers.

Marcena Kinney is the accompanist for the Spivey Hall Young Artists, the preparatory choir of the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir and is assistant director of the Spivey Hall Summer Music Camp each year.  Mrs. Kinney has served on the faculties of Paine College, Augusta State University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia Perimeter College as well as performing with the Shorter Chorus, Kennesaw University Wind Ensemble, Kennesaw Women’s Chorus and Chicago Children’s Choir.

Honored in Who’s Who of American Colleges and Universities, Mrs. Kinney was selected for Governor’s Honors, Rome Music Lover’s Award, and Steinway 2008 Educator Award. As an Elizabeth Buday Scholar, Mrs. Kinney received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Shorter College.  She was awarded a Graduate Assistantship as an Eckstein Scholar at Northwestern University where she earned her Master of Music and she studied piano with Laurence Davis and piano pedagogy with Elvina Truman Pearce and Frances Larimer. Since 1994, she has adjudicated for various piano festivals and competitions in Illinois and Georgia. In addition to collaborating with instrumentalists and vocalists, she completed her certification in 2010 to teach K-12. She has also taught preschool music at The Goddard School and The Sunshine House. Ms. Kinney has also served as church musician since her teenage years.

Presently, Ms. Kinney is a Collaborative pianist at Reinhardt University, and lives in north Georgia with her husband and three children.