Saucedo, Sengin lead National Honor Band & Choir
The Musicians Abroad National Honor Band & Choir is set to tour Europe in the summer of 2027. Two incredible educators will lead the group.
Richard Saucedo
Richard L. Saucedo retired in 2013 as Director of Bands and Chairman of the Performing Arts Department at the William H. Duke Center for the Performing Arts, Carmel HS (IN). During his 31-year tenure, the Carmel bands earned numerous state, regional and national honors in concert band, jazz band and marching band performance.
Under his leadership, the Carmel HS Wind Symphony I performed at the Music for All National Concert Band Festival in 1992, 1999 and 2004, and was named the Indiana State Champion Concert Band in 2013. The ensemble also appeared at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in 2005.
The Carmel Marching Greyhounds, under Saucedo’s direction, consistently placed among the nation’s best, finishing in the top 10 at the Bands of America (BOA) Grand National Championships for 17 years. The group won BOA National Championships in 2005 and 2012 and became one of the few programs to win a BOA National title and perform at the Midwest Clinic in the same year in 2005. Carmel also earned four Indiana Class A State Marching Band Championships during his tenure.
Saucedo’s contributions have been widely recognized. He was named Indiana Bandmasters Association Bandmaster of the Year in 1998–99 and the Indiana Music Educators Association Outstanding Music Educator in 2010. He was inducted into the Music for All Hall of Fame in 2015, the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame in 2022 and elected to membership of the American Bandmasters Association in 2023.
An internationally respected composer, arranger, conductor, clinician and adjudicator, Saucedo has written extensively for concert band, choir, orchestra and the marching arts. He currently serves as Music Ensemble Coordinator for the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps (CA) and Brass Arranger for The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps (AZ). From 1999 to 2008, he was Brass Arranger and Composer for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (IL), helping lead the ensemble to five Drum Corps International World Championships.
Dr. Jennifer Sengin
Jennifer Sengin is the Raymond R. Neevel/Missouri Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory (UMKC) where she leads the graduate choral conducting program and conducts the flagship ensemble, Conservatory Singers, and the Choral Union. In addition to ensembles, Dr. Sengin teaches graduate choral conducting and choral literature. She has mentored multiple graduate students who have been successfully placed in professional positions, admitted to graduate programs, accepted to invited conference presentations and selected to participate in conducting master classes. In the summer of 2024, Dr. Sengin received the inaugural Newcomer Award from the Missouri Choral Directors Association.
Prior to coming to UMKC, Dr. Sengin most recently served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Georgia State University (GSU). Under her direction, the GSU Treble Choir (formerly Women’s Chorus) won first place in The American Prize and Dr. Sengin received second place in conducting. The Treble Choir has been invited to perform at the National Collegiate Choral Organization Conference (2023) and twice at the Georgia Music Educators Association Conference (2020, 2023). While at GSU, Dr. Sengin received two university-wide awards –the 2022-23 Non-Tenure Track Faculty Achievement Award and the 2021-22 GSU Instructional Effectiveness Award.
An active guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Sengin has conducted honor choirs throughout the country and recently conducted the 2025 Georgia All-State Treble Choir, 2025 Wisconsin Treble-Clef Choir, 2024 South Carolina American Choral Director’s Association TTB Honor Choir, 2023 Texas All-State Treble Choir and additional regional honor choirs. Future engagements include guest conducting the Duruflé Requiem at Carnegie Hall with National Concerts and all-state and honor choirs in Florida, New York, California, Mississippi and Missouri among others.
She recently participated as a Conducting Fellow with the American Choral Directors Association International Conductor Exchange Program to Germany where she led workshops at the Hochshule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover and the Hochshule für Musik, Universität der Künste Berlin. Dr. Sengin has presented sessions and served as a panelist at international, national, regional and state conferences. In 2024, Dr. Sengin traveled to Helsinki, Finland to co-present at the International Society for Music Education World Conference. She currently serves on the National Board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization and is the Repertoire and Resource Chair for Youth and Student Activities for the ACDA Southwestern Region. She also sings in the award-winning professional ensemble, Mirabai.
Dr. Sengin holds degrees from The College of New Jersey (BM Music Education), Ithaca College (MM Choral Conducting) and Michigan State University (DMA Choral Conducting).
Saucedo and Sengin will be assisted by top instrumental and vocal educators.
For more information about our 2027 tour, faculty and venues, visit Musicians Abroad.
