DIRECTOR-Craig Aamot
Craig Aamot joined the faculty at Texas State in 2013, and has led University Singers, Men’s
Choir, Treble Choir, and VocaLibre as well as lecturing in music literature and art history. Aamot
comes to San Marcos from Wisconsin, where he led one of the largest High School choral
programs in the Midwest. His choirs have performed at state and regional ACDA conventions,
National Intercollegiate Men’s Choir Association convention, throughout the U.S., Italy, Spain,
France, China, Australia, and Ireland. Aamot is active as a clinician, with recent appointments at
the Anchorage Choral Festival, the International Choral Festival in Sydney, Australia, and the
Craig Hella Johnson Choral Festival in Dublin and Belfast.
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Aamot is especially involved with exploring connections between the choral art, contemplative
science, community and the human experience through programming, process and audience
connection. In spring of 2011, he served as artistic director for the Appleton Compassion
Project, a district-wide, year-long collaborative. In 2021 his proposal of Compassion was chosen
for the Texas State Common Experience.
Aamot's father Mark led the choral program at Carroll University for 30 years, and his brother
Kirk leads the choral program at Montana State University. In addition to his work at Texas
State, Aamot leads one of the premier quarterback development summer programs in the
country.
ACCOMPANIST-Pat Gillory
As a four-year-old sitting beside the piano bench as her mother played her live piano music radio broadcast in Conroe, Pat Gillory's love for piano music began early. Known in Wimberley for her work as church pianist for St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Pat also enjoys singing with the WCC (when not accompanying), playing with the Wimberley Valley Big Band, and working with local high school and college students as they learn and perform competitive solos.
During her career as a high school English and writing teacher, Pat shared her love for music with The Woodlands-Conroe-Greater Houston area by teaching private lessons to both adults and young people and by playing for 12 musical-stage productions, Music Man, Cinderella, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Guys and Dolls, among others. She has also played and sung with her husband Doug Gillory, noted band leader and jazz clarinetist, on numerous occasions. Pat and Doug have 6 children and 5 wonderful "grands."