Dr. James Kinchen is honored to represent the North Central Region. He is a veteran choral artist and educator who is “just as excited today by what I do as when I first stepped into the choral teaching space as a freshly hired 20-year-old.” Like many of us who do this activity in which we make incredible music with our voices — and at the same time intentionally create more emissions than in any other area of musical performance, everyone at University of Wisconsin-Parkside is trying to remain mindful of and, even, improve how we do that, while caring about our safety and the safety of those who sing with us and with whom we share our singing. And there are all the collateral effects of the pandemic that affect all of us no matter where we are. Yet, what we do when we gather to share in song is not bane, but balm! James leads three choirs on my campus, a community choir in Milwaukee about half an hour away, and is on his church’s music staff. He is the proud father of six children, each of whom, without prompting, embraced music in the way that seemed right for them under the tutelage of wonderful music educator colleagues and are each the richer for having done so!
