 Mr. Shaun
P. Cloonan is in his 8th year with the
North Hills School District, where
he teaches kindergarten through 6th grade vocal/general music at
West View Elementary School and 8th grade chorus at
North Hills Junior High School. He
also team teaches the junior high select Concert Choir, Boys & Girls
Ensembles, and co-directs the North Hills School District Children's Choir,
and is the director of the junior high Drama Club musical. He directed the pit
orchestra for the senior high musical in the spring of 2007 and 2008.
At the junior high, Mr.
Cloonan is the site host for
"Mucho Macho Music," a song festival for young men with changing voices sponsored
annually by the Southwest Region of the
American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania and
Westminster College. In April 2006, he
hosted the
PMEA District 1 West junior high chorus festival, which involved more than 175 students from nearly 50 schools
-- and he will host this festival again in April 2011.
Prior to joining the staff at North Hills, Mr. Cloonan taught elementary general music at Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh, serving as their spring musical director for two years (2001-2002).
Before Aquinas, he was a long-term substitute in chorus and
general music at O'Block Junior High in the Plum Borough School
District. He also worked with the cast and crew at Hampton High School as their Vocal Director and accompanist in 2003.
Mr. Cloonan holds the position of Director of Music at
First Presbyterian Church of Edgewood,
east of the city, where he directs the Sanctuary Choir, serves as
worship leader for their "emerging worship" service, and coordinates a concert series that involves a partnership with the
Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. He was the Tenor Soloist at the church for 3 years before taking over as music director. Mr. Cloonan also sang in the
Bach Choir of Pittsburgh as a professional core Tenor Section Leader for 3
seasons, and was Family Sessions Coordinator for their Summer Choral Institute
(Summers of 2001-2003).
Currently, Mr. Cloonan can be seen at performances with the
St. Maurice Masterworks Choir in Forest Hills, where he is
frequently a tenor soloist.
Holding a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education with a concentration in voice from
Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA,
Mr. Cloonan has completed almost all of the coursework for a Master of Music degree in Music Education from
Duquesne University. During his
time at Westminster, Mr. Cloonan was a director for two student
Chapel Drama musical productions, served as Field Commander of
the Westminster Titan Marching Band for 3 years, and was an
officer in the choir for 2 years. While at Duquesne, he had the opportunity to work as a
full-time graduate assistant in the choral department, studying
conducting, singing in the choirs, helping to rehearse and
direct the Concert Choir, and assisting in the organization of
the Chamber Singers' European tour to France, Germany, Italy, and Austria in
May 2002.
Mr. Cloonan was the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Young Conductor Award, presented by the
American Choral Directors Association of PA
(ACDA-PA) during their annual summer conference at Penn State in
August 2006.
(To read the article from the Tribune-Review,
click here; to read the story
in the Westminster College Weekly online news publication,
click here).
Mr. Cloonan holds positions in two professional
organizations: he is newsletter editor and webmaster for
PMEA
District 1; and he is the Southwest Region Chair and Web
Manager for
ACDA-PA.
As Southwest Region Chair, he oversees the Mucho Macho Music and
newly formed (2009) Sweet Harmony Festivals and serves as a liaison
to the state board on behalf of the 8-county region of the state. During the summer of 2007, he was chair of a vocal jazz honor choir
held at ACDA-PA's annual summer conference at Penn State; and for
the 2008 and 2009 conferences he designed all publicity and the
program booklet. In 2010, Mr. Cloonan will represent ACDA-PA
at the PMEA State Conference, presenting a choral reading session
for middle school repertoire and standards.
Mr. Cloonan is the oldest of
three. His younger brother and sister live with his mother,
 a cousin, and
their cat in Swissvale. He lives in the
South Side Works area of Pittsburgh, and is excited to be within
walking distance of such great places as
The Cheesecake Factory and the
Steelers practice field at the
UPMC Sports Complex! He enjoys biking on the
South Side trail, swimming at his grandmother's pool, weight training
at X Shadyside
Fitness (where he
also worked the front desk during summer 2007), and making
things look cool on the computer (if he hadn't become a music
teacher, he would have been a graphic designer!). He loves going
to see live musical performances, watching the Steelers and
Pens, (and maybe one day the Pirates again!) has a sick addiction to his DVR (current TV shows set to record: Smallville, Grey's Anatomy,
Heroes, Bones, Brothers & Sisters, and of course, GLEE!), and at some point plans to have a cat whose name he has already chosen as Skittles. One of his
future goals is to learn how to sail, and some day he plans to join the
American Coaster Enthusiasts
(forgot to mention that Kennywood Park was his first job
in college!).
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