Laura Odden Quaintance is in her 18th year as a vocal music educator. She currently directs the Concert Choir and Voice Ensemble. She teaches private voice lessons, sight singing & ear training, and various music history courses at Minnesota State Community & Technical College Fergus Falls. Prior to joining the M State faculty, she spent 12 years in the Milaca Public School District, directing the 6th through 12th grade choirs and Chamber Choir.  

Quaintance is a 2002 graduate of Fergus Falls High School, where she was a member of three State Honor Choirs and sang in the A Cappella Choir and Chamber Singers. She began college at Fergus Falls Community College (now M State Fergus Falls), earning her Associate of Arts degree in 2004. She performed her first formal recital in the spring of 2004 under the training of Teresa Ashworth.  

She went on to pursue her love of music by earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocal and Classroom Music Education from Minnesota State University Moorhead, graduating in 2007. While at MSUM, Quaintance sang in numerous choirs, competed in solo vocal contests and was one of the lead singers for a vocal jazz percussion ensemble, Fuego Tropical. She was the winner of the college-level North Dakota National Association of Teachers in Singing competition and the Tri-College winner and soloist with the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra in 2006. Following graduation, she was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society. After teaching for several years, she completed her Master of Music Education at North Dakota State University in 2013.  

Quaintance is an active member of the National Association for Music Educators and the American Choral Directors Association, where she has co- chaired the Grade 9-10 All-State SSAA Honor Choir since 2013 and chaired the organization’s Northwest District for the State of Minnesota. In November of 2015, she was named the “Outstanding Young Choral Director” of the year. She is often sought out as a guest conductor and adjudicator for choirs and singers in North Dakota and Minnesota.  

Assistant Principal, Osgood Elementary- West Fargo, ND. 

Artistic Director of the Fargo Moorhead Youth Choir

Josh Dahl of Fargo, ND, has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Concordia College, Moorhead, a Masters of Education from Southwest Minnesota State, a Masters in Educational Leadership from MSUM, as well as Kodaly certification from MSUM and Orff training from NDSU.  Mr. Dahl spent over 15 years teaching classroom music and choir in elementary schools in Grand Forks, ND, Lake Park, MN, and most recently in Fargo, ND.  Mr. Dahl currently serves as an elementary assistant principal in West Fargo, ND.  Mr. Dahl also works as the artistic director of the Fargo Moorhead Youth Choir and has directed a variety of festival choirs in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska.  

Dr. Michael J. Johnson serves as Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Music Education at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He directs the Concert Choir, University Choir, and Solfire while also teaching a range of choral and general music education courses. Previously, Dr. Johnson conducted choirs and taught conducting classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with a Composition minor. While at the University of Wisconsin, his doctoral research centered on the modern choral music of social justice. He also holds a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Denver and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from Luther College. Dr. Johnson has taught K-12 music and choir in Minnesota and within an array of community, collegiate, and church choirs around the country. Dr. Johnson was the recipient of the 2020 Mullen Prize for composition and took first place in the 2018 ACDA conducting competition in Oklahoma City. He studied with Stefan Parkman as a 2019 Conducting Fellow for the International Choral Conducting Masterclass at Baylor University and was named a 2019 University of Wisconsin-Madison Honored Instructor by his students. He spends his free time biking, composing, and enjoying life with his wife Kelsey, son Shea, daughter Summer, and French bulldog Dot.

Bio taken from: https://www.mnstate.edu/academics/majors/music/faculty-staff/