Jaclyn Kottman Hittner (Girl Choir Artistic Director, Arioso teacher-conductor) is an alumna of Lawrence University (2012), where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in choral and general music education. She also holds a Master of Music degree in music education from Boston University, where her capstone research project focused on facilitating empowerment through the adolescent female/estrogen-affected voice change. She has been a member of the Girl Choir staff since 2011 as a manager, conducting intern, and teacher-conductor, and currently serves the mission of the program as its Artistic Director.
Hittner taught choral and general music in the Appleton Area School District for almost 10 years, where she was also a teacher-leader for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive (CLR) Teaching & Learning. She has served as Director of Operations for the Mile of Music Festival's Music Education Team, worked with pre-service music educators at Lawrence University, and enjoys supporting educators and secondary music programs near her home in Central Wisconsin as a substitute teacher, festival adjudicator, and curriculum coach. She has been a clinician and guest conductor for festival and honor choirs throughout Wisconsin and is a member of the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA) and the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (WCDA). Hittner is a previous Chair of WCDA’s Singing in Wisconsin Project and regularly presents at professional conferences on topics such as repertoire and strategies for adolescent estrogen-affected changing voices, holistic student engagement, and technology integration. An advocate for the Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance (CMP) teaching model, she is a recipient of WCDA’s Outstanding Young Choral Director Award and Lawrence University’s Pi Kappa Lambda Award for excellence in music education.
