Thank you for your interest in our upcoming TBDetermined! event!
Information for this year’s program will be updated soon.
PLU TBDetermined!
Thursday, January 14, 2027
Mary Baker Russell Music Center | Raul Dominguez, Director
In partnership with the Tacoma Youth Choruses, PLU will host the first TBDetermined on January 14, 2027 from 9:00 – 1:00pm. Bring your tenor/bass singers of all abilities to campus for the day for a large high school and middle school TB experience. Learn the repertoire with us on the beautiful PLU campus with Brian Galante, Judy Herrington, Raul Dominguez, and Alonso Brizuela.
Dates to keep in mind:
- Registration window: October 1, 2026 at 8am – December 1, 2026 at 11:59pm
- Performance Concert: January 14, 2027 at 12:30pm
Registration Details
- Entry fee: $20 – Registration and Payment Deadline: December 1, 2026 at 11:59pm
- Your fee will cover a T-shirt and lunch
Please note that no refunds will be allowed after event registration has been completed, and no registration or payment will be accepted following the deadline of December 1, 2026 at 11:59pm.
Performance Details:
Preliminary Schedule:
- 8-9am – Check in
- 9-11:30am – Varied rehearsals and break
- 11:30-12:15pm – Lunch on PLU campus
- 12:15-12:30pm – Combined rehearsal
- 12:30-1pm – Concert
Repertoire and Ranges:
- TBD
- No prior preparation required
- PLU to cover the cost of the music
Festival Clinicians:
Dr. Galante is Associate Dean of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and Director of Choral Studies at PLU. In Fall 2022, he became the seventh conductor of the Choir of the West. During his time at PLU, Dr. Galante also conducted Chorale, University Singers (SA) and Knights Chorus (TB), and taught undergraduate courses in Vocal Pedagogy for the Choral Music Educator, Choral Methods and Choral Literature.
Dr. Galante continues to find success and acclaim as a composer and arranger. His compositions are published by GalanteMusic, Walton, Colla Voce Music, and Pavane Publishing; have been performed by professional, collegiate, and advanced high school choirs throughout the United States and Europe; and recorded for commercial release by Delos, Centaur Records, MSR Classic, and PLU Media. He is the recipient of multiple ASCAP Plus awards, and a regular composer-in-residence for the Taylor Festival Choir (Charleston, SC).
Galante received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting, with a related field in Voice Science and Pedagogy, from the University of North Texas. He holds Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from Louisiana State University. Previous choral appointments include Visiting Associate Director of Choral Studies at Louisiana State University; Conductor of the UNT Men’s Chorus and Conducting Associate of the UNT A Cappella Choir; Director of Choral Music/Coordinator of K-12 Music at Highland Park High School, Dallas, Texas; Director of Choirs at Episcopal High School and Director of Music at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church, both in Baton Rouge.
Choirs under Galante’s direction have offered invitational performances in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York; the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas; Notre Dame Cathedral and Sacre Coeur, Paris; the 2010 Washington Music Educators Association conference; the 2011 Northwest MENC Conference; and the 2012 Northwest Division ACDA Conference.
Frequently in demand as a clinician and adjudicator, Galante has conducted honor choirs at all levels. He served as President of Louisiana ACDA from 2001-2003, and remains an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Washington ACDA, and the Washington Music Educators Association. He served as Conference Chair of the 2020 Northwest ACDA Region Conference, Program Chair of the 2010 and 2018 Conferences, on the National Technology Committee (2007-2001), and Associate Conference Chair of the 2013 National ACDA Conference. He is Past-President of the Northwestern ACDA Region.
Raul Dominguez is the Associate Director of Choral Studies at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) in the Tacoma, WA area where he leads their University Chorale, University Singers, and teaches courses in Secondary Methods and the Conducting sequence. He is also the Associate Conductor for Choral Union, PLU’s community ensemble. His research focus is the choral music of the United Mexican States and seeks to provide choral directors the necessary means to create artful performances of this repertoire.
Prior to PLU, he served as the Director of Choral Activities at Regis University, in Denver, CO, where he conducted the Regis University Singers, led the Voice Area, mentored music education students, and taught a Fine Arts course, Mexican Music: Purpose & Identity. During his time in Denver, he also led Timberline, the elementary segment of Denver Children’s Choir alongside fabulous musicians, Festival Chorus at CU Boulder, and was the Associate Artistic Director of the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus.
In 2022, Raul graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and Literature from CU Boulder with Dr. Gregory Gentry and Dr. Elizabeth Swanson. Prior, he earned his Master of Music from Ithaca College in New York in 2019 where he studied with Dr. Janet Galván. He taught at Clear Lake High School for four years in his hometown of Houston, TX after graduating from Oklahoma City University with his Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Vocal Performance with Dr. Randi von Ellefson and Judith Willoughby. His ensembles have sung with the Houston Symphony, Houston Chamber Choir, at Carnegie Hall, on the balcony of the Colorado State Capitol for the inauguration of Governor Jared Polis, and alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race season 11 winner, Yvie Oddly.
Raul lives in the beautiful Tacoma, WA area with his wonderful husband Kevin and their two cats, Luci and Ahsoka.
Judy Herrington is Founder and Artistic Director of the highly acclaimed Tacoma Youth Chorus. She brings more than 40 years of teaching and conducting experience to her work at Charles Wright Academy, Tacoma, is a recipient of the Inspirational Faculty Award and is the Murray Foundation Chair for Teaching Excellence. A University of Oregon graduate, she earned her Master of Education degree from Lewis and Clark College. She held several leadership positions for the Washington American Choral Directors Board, receiving its 2011 Leadership and Service Award.
An inaugural member of Pacific Lutheran University’s School of Arts and Communication Advisory Board, Judith is highly regarded as a guest conductor and workshop, state and regional honor choir conductor. She served as visiting faculty at VanderCook College of Music. A noted composer and arranger, Judith publishes through Pavane Publishing, Hal Leonard Publishing and Colla Voce Publishing and edits choral series for Pavane Publishing.
Alonso Brizuela is pursuing an Masters of Music in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington. Since his graduation from Pacific Lutheran University in 2014 (BME), Alonso taught choir and guitar for two years at Ridgeline Middle School in Yelm, WA, and is currently in his second year conducting the Men’s Choir with Tacoma Youth Chorus in Tacoma, WA.
Mr. Brizuela is an active member of the choral community in the Tacoma area singing in PLU’s Choral Union, and a member of local ACDA, WMEA, and NAfME chapters.
For Questions:
Raul Dominguez, Associate Director of Choral Studies
School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Pacific Lutheran University
(253) 535-7613 e-mail: domingr@plu.edu
Abby Deskins, Coordinator of Educational Outreach Programs
College of Professional Studies; Pacific Lutheran University
(253) 535-7877 e-mail: adeskins@plu.edu
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