Holly Hammond is the Vocal Department Chair at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. She directs Prima Voce (advanced treble ensemble), Vox Nova (beginning/intermediate treble ensemble), and Silhouettes (mixed vocal jazz ensemble). She also teaches Beginning and Advanced Group Vocal Technique classes. She is a Jacksonville native, mezzo-soprano, choral conductor, and a 2010 alumna of Douglas Anderson. Mrs. Hammond is a member of the Florida Vocal Association, Florida Music Educator’s Association, and the American Choral Director’s Association.

Mrs. Hammond attended Stetson University during her freshman year of college, studying with Dr. Jane Christenson and becoming a member of Sigma Alpha Iota, International Professional Music Fraternity for Women. She transferred to the University of North Florida in her sophomore year to study classical voice with Dr. James Hall, earning her Bachelor of Music degree in 2014. During this time, she was the Chorus Manager for all major choral ensembles, an active member of the UNF American Choral Director’s Association Student Chapter, as well as being the Lead Ambassador for UNF’s annual Jacksonville SINGS! High School Choral Invitational. 

She attended UNF for her Master of Music degree as well, and studied Choral Conducting with Dr. Cara Tasher, earning her diploma in the spring of 2019. She was awarded the choral graduate assistantship both years, was Instructor of Record for the Osprey Treble Chorus, and was promoted from Lead Student Ambassador to Lead Administrator for the Jacksonville SINGS! Invitational.

Following her graduation, Mrs. Hammond accepted an adjunct teaching position with the UNF to allow Dr. Tasher to take her sabbatical. During her time as an adjunct professor, she taught Advanced Choral Literature, continued conducting the Osprey Treble Chorus, prepared the UNF Chamber Singers for a performance with guest artists Rick Bjella and Simon Carrington, and prepared the UNF Chorale to sing with the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus in their production of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, all prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, Mrs. Hammond was invited to be the guest clinician for the Clay All-County High School Treble Chorus.

Mrs. Hammond has been teaching small-group voice lessons on Monday evenings with the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus since 2022 and was recently asked to begin teaching the Young Singers Exploration Class for 2023-2024. She has also been seen singing with the JCC’s Voices of Jacksonville as a soprano substitute. She previously taught private voice, and music theory, and began piano with Ronan’s School of Music from 2017-2019.

Some of her previous singing endeavors include being a soloist in the UNF productions of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, as well as Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio with St. Pauls by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. She has previously been hired as a choral scholar for a number of churches throughout Florida as both an alto and soprano. Mrs. Hammond was privileged to be a member of the Festival Singers of Florida, under the direction of Dr. Kevin Fenton, for their 2018-2019 season.

Mrs. Hammond lives with her husband, Graham, and her two adorable grey tabbies, Mario and Luigi. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing on her Nintendo Switch, and trying out new restaurants with her friends.

Joshua Cook is a Vocal Teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Cook directs the Chorale, the Men’s Ensemble, the SSAA vocal jazz ensemble, and co-directs the Treble Choir. He also teaches Vocal Techniques and Vocal Music Theory and works with the Musical Theater Department on the annual fall musical.

Before his appointment in the Duval County Public Schools District, Mr. Cook spent two years in the St. Johns County School District building a choral program at a brand-new high school, Tocoi Creek, in addition to teaching choir at Nease High School. He worked with the theater director as musical director for Tocoi Creek’s productions of Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey’s Next to Normal, Benny Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus’ Mamma Mia!, and Daniel Messé’s Amélie.

Prior to becoming a teacher, Mr. Cook finished his coursework for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Southern Mississippi and will be completing his dissertation soon to receive his completed doctorate. While at USM, he was chosen to lead Tenebrae and Spirit of Southern, the TTBB a cappella and pop a cappella ensembles. This appointment was part of a competitive audition process. He also served as assistant conductor of the Concert Choir and the Southern Chorale and was a rehearsal conductor for the USM Symphony Orchestra. In these roles, Mr. Cook prepared choruses for several masterworks and large works with orchestra.

Before completing his doctoral work, Mr. Cook earned a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Georgia Southern University. During his time at GSU, he led rehearsals and sectionals for the premier ensemble, Southern Chorale, and directed the Southern Gentlemen, a TTBB barbershop ensemble. Mr. Cook also prepared choruses for collaboration with the Hilton Head Symphony taught private lessons in voice, directed a church choir, and maintained involvement with the Georgia Southern theatre department and with the Averitt Center for the Arts as a musical theatre director. He directed Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, Bernard Sahlins’ Mysteries: The Creation Cycle, and John Kander & Fred Ebb’s Chicago.

As a singer, Mr. Cook has performed with Opera Mississippi, Southern Opera & Musical Company, and Georgia Southern Opera Theater. His roles include Osmin in John Davies’ The Billy Goat’s Gruff, Dr. Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’esir D’amour, Harry in Sondheim’s Company, and Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Mr. Cook is a native of Bainbridge, a small town in South Georgia. He grew up surrounded by music and felt its constant pull from a young age. His well-rounded education and background have allowed him to learn and perform a wide variety of music from heavy metal to opera, and everything in between. This open approach to music afforded him opportunities to perform both nationally and internationally and has given him rare insight into many aspects of music scholarship and performance. Mr. Cook lives at home with his cat, Lupin.

John E. Citrone is the Songwriting instructor and Electronic Music teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. He uses both of these classes in tandem — coupled with what the vocal students are learning in their choral ensembles — to prepare his students for careers in the modern musical world.

Mr. Citrone is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and playwright. He currently performs in the British Invasion band Command Performance at EPCOT’s UK Pavilion, in the alt-math rock group Greenness, and in various other regional musical projects. He has also performed as a Xandarian in EPCOT's Guardians of the Galaxy: Mixtape 2, with national Southern punk band All Night Wolves and the international Frank Zappa tribute band Bogus Pomp. John is also the founder of his original performance-art project Dovetonsil. He has trained with Blue Man Group and Stomp, teaches music in his home studio, and hosts various percussion and body rhythm workshops at schools and art camps around Jacksonville.

Mr. Citrone composes music for theme park rides, films, stage, and commercials as well. He recently scored the Volkanu thrill ride at Lost Island Waterpark in Waterloo, Iowa, and the Haunted Hotel ride at Funtown/Splashtown USA in Saco, Maine. He has also composed music and scripts for an automated penguin exhibit at Chimelong Panda Hotel in Guangzhou, China. John wrote the full-scale musical, "Another Sign,” and composed and performed scores for silent films (“The Flying Ace,” “Zoro”), contributed musical pieces for the soundtrack to the documentary surfing film “Pororoca,” wrote the music for the Jennifer Chase musical “La Caroline,” and has written music for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mr. Citrone also directed Chase’s historical musical “Majigeen,” and has written and directed his own work (“All About Charlie” at Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre). He has acted in numerous plays and short films including "The Aligned" (local short), “A Painless Life” (24 Hour Film Fest), Sartre’s “No Exit” (Combustible Theater), “A Stone Carver” (Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre), “Tony ‘N’ Tina’s Wedding” (Artificial Intelligence) and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (Theater Jacksonville).

Mr. Citrone owns and operates Dog Haus Studio in Jacksonville, FL, where he produces independent bands, writes music for film and television, and works in tandem with video production house Red Bird Studio to create live performance, industrial, and promotional videos.