Professor of Choral Music Education
Director of Concert Choir
Jessica Nápoles is Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of North Texas. She teaches undergraduate coursework in choral methods, conducts the Concert Choir, and mentors graduate students in research. Dr. Nápoles served as Interim division chair for Conducting & Ensembles in 2019-2020 and Interim division chair for Music Education in Fall of 2020. A native of Florida with a Cuban-American background, Dr. Napoles taught middle school chorus in the public schools of Miami and Orlando, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music Education, and PhD in Music Education from the Florida State University. Prior to her appointment at UNT, she taught at the University of Utah for 11 years.
Dr. Nápoles is an active conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, frequently engaging in guest conducting opportunities locally, regionally, and nationally. She has conducted All State and honor choirs in Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah. She has conducted the Southern, North Central/Central, and Western division honor choirs for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). In 2019, Dr. Nápoles made her Carnegie Hall debut as choral conductor for the WorldStrides OnStage Honors Performance Series. She was asked to return in 2020 and again in 2021.
In addition to her conducting invitations, Dr. Nápoles is a well known researcher, with numerous publications in journals such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and the International Journal of Music Education. She is currently serving 6-year terms on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education, the premier research journal in music education and the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, the ACDA research journal. Her research interests include music teacher education, testing practitioner practices empirically, expressive conducting, and teacher talk. She has presented at conferences on these topics nationally and internationally.
Dr. Nápoles is meaningfully engaged with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) at the national level. She is currently a member of the Research Standing Committee. Additionally, she served as Assistant Conference Chair for the 2019 Kansas City Conference and previously as the Honor Choir Coordinator for the 2015 conference in Salt Lake City and the 2017 conference in Minneapolis. Additionally, she served as Assistant Conference chair for the 2021 virtual conference and the 2019 Kansas City Conference, and previously led the writing team in drafting a COVID-19 task force for ACDA.
Publications
Nápoles, J., & MacLeod, R. B. (2020). Clifford K. Madsen Contributions to Music Education and Music Therapy. Love of Learning. Routledge.
Nápoles, J. (2020). Teacher Talk. In The Choral Conductor’s Companion (Ed. Brian Winnie). GIA Publications.
Springer, D. G., Silvey, B. A., Nápoles, J., & Warnet, V. (2021).
Effects of tonic drone accompaniments on the intonation of collegiate wind instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, doi: 10.1177/0022429420974389. Advance online publication.
Nápoles, J., Silvey, B. A., & Montemayor, M. (2020). The influences of facial expression and conducting gesture on college musicians’
perceptions of choral conductor and ensemble expressivity. International Journal of Music Education, https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761420926665. Advance online publication.
Nápoles, J., & Silveira, J. M. (2020). Preservice and inservice teachers’ perceptions of pacing. Journal of Music Teacher Education,
29(2), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083719882702
Nápoles, J., Springer, D. G., & Silvey, B. A., & Adams, K. (2019).
Effects of pitch source on pitch-matching and intonation accuracy of collegiate singers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 67 3), 270-285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429419863034
Silvey, B. A., Nápoles, J., & Springer, D. G. (2019). Effects of pre-tuning vocalization behaviors on the tuning accuracy of college instrumentalists.
Journal of Research in Music Education, 66(4), 392-407. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429418806304
Guest appearances
Other appearances
