President-Elect Candidates

Below you will find biographical information for two candidates for KCDA President-Elect! Please vote for the choral director you believe will best represent our organization. We have two highly-qualified professionals interested in leading our board! 

Brandon Wade

Brandon Wade is in his 14th year of teaching and is the choral director at Pratt High School and Liberty Middle School in Pratt, KS. His groups consistently receive top ratings at District and State Festivals and are well represented in the KMEA Honor Choirs. He has had the privilege of  his groups performing at the KMEA State Convention, and in March of 2022, Carnegie Hall in New York City. During the summer, Brandon enjoys teaching classes on musical theater, vocal percussion, and arranging contemporary acapella music. He also serves as the music director for the Pratt High musicals, which have had the honor of winning multiple Jester awards from the Music Theater of Wichita. Brandon has been an active member of the Kansas Music Educators Association, has served as the SW District High School Choir Chair, and the SW District President. He also serves as the SW District Representative for KCDA and has served as the Kansas Representative for the A Cappella Education Association. Brandon has had the honor and privilege of being a guest clinician for honor groups all around the state of Kansas. Brandon received his Bachelors in Music Education from Pittsburg State University in 2009 and his Masters degree from Kansas State University in 2020. In addition to teaching, Brandon enjoys being an active musician, but most of all, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Amanda, and their two sons, Naise and Asher.

Kerry Kuplic

Kerry Kuplic is Associate Professor of Vocal Music and Fine Arts Division Chair at Dodge City Community College. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay and the Peck School of the Arts, where he studied with Kurt Ollmann. He has undertaken further studies through the Eastman School of Music and the University of Chicago. He gave his European debut with L’Opéra-Studio de Genève in the role of Marullo (Rigoletto) and in the title role in Franz Curti’s Reinhardt von Ufenau at the 2011 Festival Europa Musa in France. Kerry played pivotal roles in Jean Marie Curti’s Tic Tac Rousseau, which premiered in Geneva in 2012. He has performed to acclaim with Grand Théâtre de Genève, OperaCoast (UK), Festival September Musicale (Switzerland), Estivales de Brou and Festival Musique au Paradis (France), The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, as well as concert, operatic, and recital engagements throughout the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the US. He sings on the Florentine Opera’s Grammy Award-winning recording of Elmer Gantry. Kerry is organist and choirmaster of St. Cornelius’ Episcopal Church, and headed the Organ Committee which commissioned the Casavant Frères Opus 3935 Pipe Organ. He has been a professional church musician for over 20 years, serving Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal parishes. He was a Choral Scholar at All Saints Cathedral in Milwaukee, WI, and served as Assistant Chapel Organist and Master of the Choristers at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. Kerry has conducted ensembles throughout Kansas, Wisconsin, Texas, and Germany, and has led travel courses to Italy and Ireland for DC3 students. As acknowledgement of his dedication to international education and the preservation of cultural heritage, Kerry was elected an expert of the Fondazione Romualdo del Bianco of Florence, Italy, in March of 2015. Kerry is an active master teacher, clinician, and speaker through the region, and was a delegate to the 2017 International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association of Voice Teachers, the National Association for Music Education, the American Guild of Organists, and represents two-year colleges on the board of the Kansas Choral Directors Association.