Dr. Cari Earnhart serves as the Director of Choral Activities at California State
University, Fresno, where she conducts the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Masterworks
Chorus, and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting. Dr. Earnhart combines careers
as conductor, teacher, and singer.
In 2022, under her direction, the Fresno State Concert Choir was selected to perform
at the California All-State Music Educators Conference (CASMEC), and in April 2017,
the Fresno State Chamber Singers were invited to perform at the Library of Congress
to honor the 21st US Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera. Her choirs maintain an active
performing profile. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she is in high demand
as an adjudicator, clinician, guest conductor, and presenter. Earnhart has worked
with choirs in the US and abroad. As a conductor abroad, she served as Director of
Choral Activities at the American University of Sharjah and conductor of Nassim al Saba, an Arabic choral music ensemble. She made guest conducting appearances with the
Budapesti Vándor Kórus in Budapest, Hungary; served as Maestro of Ensemble Vocale Tempus Floridum and as Maestro Collaboratore of Coro dell’ Accademia del Diletto and Coro Polofonico del Caricentro, all in Florence. She worked as musical director for Speech Bubbles theater group,
based in Istanbul from 2010-2013 and as guest conductor for the Istanbul International
Chamber Choir. Earnhart was the first female Conductor of the UNT Men’s Chorus and
served as Assistant Conductor of Schola Cantorum of Texas in Ft. Worth. In addition,
she has conducted honor choirs and served as clinician for choral festivals in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
Texas, and Vancouver, Canada. She has presented workshops on Arabic choral music,
vocal pedagogy/epidemiology, conducting, and community building at state, national,
and international conferences. In Fall 2022, she was selected to present her research
at the International Federation of Choral Music (IFCM)/Singers EXchange conference
in Lisbon, Portugal. Earnhart has served on the choral faculty of the Oklahoma Summer
Arts Institute since 2018, serving as the Institute Chorus conductor in 2021. From
2016-2020, she served on the ACDA Western Region Board as R & R Repertoire Specific
Chair, as Conference Chair for the 2022 Western Region Conference in Long Beach, CA
and the 2024 Western Region Conference held in Pasadena, CA. She currently serves
as Conference Chair for the 2026 Western Region Conference scheduled in March 2026
in San Jose, CA. Earnhart also currently serves as Education and Student Outreach
Director on the California Choral Directors Association (CCDA) Board, formerly serving
as the CCDA Central Region Representative and as President on the Fresno Madera County
Music Educators Association (FMCMEA) Board of Directors.
An accomplished vocalist, Earnhart has appeared as a guest artist with university,
professional, and community choirs throughout the country and overseas. She began
her professional singing career in New York City and has performed in the US, Europe
and the Middle East. Earnhart has performed with several professional choirs, including:
Coro Cameristico Fiorentino (Florence, Italy), New World Voices (Dallas, TX), the New York Virtuoso Singers,
The Choral Pickup (Seattle, WA and Atlanta, GA), and with Conspirare (Austin, TX).
Earnhart holds a DMA in Choral Conducting with related field studies in Vocal Pedagogy
from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, an MM in Vocal Performance and
Pedagogy, and a BM in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater,
OK. She has taught at the American University of Sharjah (UAE), the University of
North Texas, BT Müzik Evi (Istanbul), Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Oklahoma
State University, and in the Texas public schools.
