Welcome to Our Next Showcase!

DYLAN SUEHIRO (Conductor) was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i. He serves as MTAA’s Conductor and Communications Director.  As a performer, he is an active freelance musician and multi-instrumentalist, performing with Tempe Winds and the MTAA Orchestra, in addition to regular engagements with churches and the Phoenix Gay Men’s Chorus. Jesus Christ Superstar marks Dylan’s eleventh Showcase; he previously conducted The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Pajama Game, The Sound of Music, Annie Get Your Gun, Spamalot, and Fiddler on the Roof, and he played in the pit for Titanic, A Little Night Music, Big Fish, and The Pirates of Penzance.

Dylan holds degrees from Indiana University and ASU in music education and conducting. Since moving to Arizona in 2013, he has taught at multiple schools in the Paradise Valley Unified School District, in addition to serving as a clinician and adjudicator for bands and orchestras around the Valley. 

Outside of his professional work, Dylan enjoys baking and actively participates in the local food community. He is a member of Emerging Leaders and volunteers at the Desert Botanical Garden. He lives in Phoenix with his husband, Kyle.

DR. SHARON A. HANSEN (Chorus Director), Professor Emerita of Conducting at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, is an internationally acclaimed conductor and teacher. She has led ensembles including the Romanian National Radio Choir, Gächinger Kantorei, Stockholm Conservatory Chamber Choir, and University of Regensburg Symphony Orchestra. Her choirs have performed at ACDA and NAfME conferences, and she has guest-conducted in over forty states.

Hansen founded the Milwaukee Choral Artists, known for expressive performances and premiering innovative works for treble voices. She is also an accomplished author, with publications including Helmuth Rilling: Conductor Teacher and essays on gender dynamics in conducting.

She served 25 years on ACDA’s Choral Journal editorial board, founding the “On the Voice” series. Her research on choral vocal pedagogy was published in ACDA’s monograph series and featured in Choral Journal and the Choralosophy Podcast.

Now in Tempe, Hansen serves on the Arizona ACDA board as Community Choirs liaison and is a founding MTAA board member and chair of the Artistic Committee. She previously conducted Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and The Pirates of Penzance.

KERRIE CHRISTIE (Staging Director) has been in love with MTAA and its people since its beginning. Jesus Christ Superstar marks her 17th Showcase, recently appearing as Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music and stage directing The Pirates of Penzance and Annie Get Your Gun. She is a member of the Education and Community Engagement Committee, and anyone who has met her has heard all about MTAA!

Kerri studied acting in Seattle at Northwest Actors Studio, Studio East, and with the brilliant Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, before training at California Institute of the Arts School of Theater. She moved to the Valley in 2011 and is the Artistic Director of Arizona Homeschool Theatre Group (AZHT). She has directed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (’16, ’23), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (’17, ’24), Picture Book Theatre (’17, ’18, ’20, ’22), Charlotte’s Web, Through the Looking Glass, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (’19 and ’24), Shakespeare Zoom!, The Importance of Being Earnest, Annie JR, As You Like It – 80s Teen Edition, The Wizard of Oz, and Seussical JR for AZHT. She also loves supporting her two young actors, and helping families as a board-certified lactation consultant at Arizona Breastfeeding Medicine and Wellness.