David Moellenkamp, Director of Choral Activities at Los Alamitos High School in California, inspires his students to excel in the performing arts. Photo Credit: David Mellenkamp
All over the country, our young people are fortunate to have access to talented and dedicated performing arts teachers. One of these is David Moellenkamp, the Director of Choral Activities at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California.
During his 14 years at the school, David’s choir groups have been named Grand Champions over 175 times, and they have garnered no less than 12 National Grand Championship titles. Prior to coming to Los Alamitos, David spent the first 16 years of his teaching career in central Illinois. There he led the Sullivan Singers Show Choir program to over 100 first place wins, including four National Championships.
David’s choirs have recorded and performed with numerous famous artists, including Barry Manilow, Patti Lupone, and Foreigner. In 2013, he collaborated with the Los Alamitos Education Foundation to produce and direct the Xcite! Show Choir Camps.
In addition to directing school choirs, David spent 14 summers directing and choreographing students at Stagedoor Manor, a well-known performing arts training center in New York. As a result of his work there, more than 100 of his former students have performed on Broadway, appeared on network television, or starred in major motion pictures. David has also spent 14 summers presenting workshops at the Arizona and Missouri Music Educators All State Conventions, and he is a show choir adjudicator and clinician for festivals and schools around the world. And as if all that were not enough, he also teaches Music Education classes at Cal State Long Beach.
Throughout his 31-year career as an educator, David has earned many accolades. Playbill, the iconic Broadway magazine, named him one of the most influential educators inspiring Broadway’s youth. He was named the Kennedy Center Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher of the Year. In 2018, he received the Excellence in Special Education from SELPA. Also, the Fame National Show Choir Series awarded him their Aspire Choir Director of the Year in both 2015 and 2017. Also in 2017, he was named the Teacher of the Year for Los Alamitos School District. In addition, David was a finalist for the 2016 Grammy Teacher of the Year, and in 2015, he was named the Orange County Department of Education Outstanding Secondary Music Educator of the Year.
David earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and his Master’s degree in Administration from National University.
