Choral Staff

Aaron Childress is in his 16th year as a music and theater educator and is honored to be the Director of Choirs at Huntington North High School this year.  He is a 2002 graduate of Wabash College where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music and theater, and holds a Master of Music degree and Initial Certification License from the University of Kentucky as well.

Mr. Childress began his teaching career in Austin, IN, where he created the school's first competitive show choir in 2005, a group that continues to thrive still today in the competition circuit in Indiana and Ohio.  For the past 5 years, Childress served as the competition circuit in Indiana and Ohio. For 5 years, Childress served as the director of choirs and musicals at Churubusco Jr.-Sr. High School, where he founded the award-winning junior high group New Generation, which has consistently ranked as one of the best show choirs of its kind throughout competitions in Indiana since 2015.  He also led New Era, the advanced high school show choir to 2 ISSMA State Runner-Up titles in 2016 & 2018, as well as numerous Grand Champion honors and caption awards for outstanding choreography and vocals during his tenure at the school. 

In addition to his choral career, Mr. Childress has had the pleasure to produce, direct, choreograph, and stage more than 15 plays and musicals throughout his time as an educator. He is also proud to serve as the music director for Churubusco United Methodist Church where he leads the traditional Chancel Choir as well as the contemporary Praise team. In his free time, Childress likes to sleep, but he also enjoys spending time with his family in southern Indiana and spoiling his beautiful and musically talented niece Hartleigh Nichole. 

Danielle Webb is a 25-year veteran teacher of Huntington Community Schools.  She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Ball State University.  She was a music teacher at the Salamonie School for 10 years and then moved to Riverview where she spent 15 years working with students and building an outstanding feeder program for HNHS.  In her time at Riverview, she started Riverview Singers (now RC Singers) middle school show choir as well as directed several Junior musicals such as Addams Family, Wizard of Oz, Annie, Shrek, Bye Bye Birdie, Willie Wonka, Lion King, and Matilda to name a few.  For the past two summers, she was the musical director for Willie Wonka with the Huntington Theatre Guild and Into the Woods with Pulse Opera House. Recently, Mrs. Webb was the 2023 Recipient of the HCCSC Secondary Teacher of the Year Award.  She is excited to be a part of the HNHS Show Choir program and looks forward to an exciting competition season.  In addition, she would like to thank her family (Robert, Alaina, Sam, and Parker), the show choir parents, and the Huntington community in general for all of their continued support and patronage.

Jason Johnson is a professional singer, dancer, and choreographer.  He is a graduate of Ball State University where he received his Bachelor's degree in both Choral and Instrumental Music Education. While at Ball State he was a five-year member, choreographer, and dance captain of the nationally renowned Ball State Singers under the direction of Dr. Fritz Mountford. This season will mark Jason's 31st year choreographing competitive show choirs, and during this time his groups have consistently been finalists, as well as honored with "Grand Champion" and "Best Choreography" awards. In addition to choreographing high school and university groups, Jason has also choreographed for Cedar Point, Radisson Cruise Lines, and the Steve Gatlin Christmas Show in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Jason has been seen in the national tours of the Broadway Musicals "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "FOSSE" where he was a featured performer of national and international companies.  He has also performed for Opryland Productions, Busch Gardens, Cedar Point, Holland America Cruise Line, and several regional musical theaters across the country, and has been featured twice as the opening act for Kenny Rogers. 

Matt Walter is a 1996 graduate of Hunting North High School.  Mr. Walter attended Purdue University and Taylor University, graduating from Taylor with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2000.  While at Purdue and Taylor, he was heavily involved with musical ensembles and studied trumpet privately.  He briefly attended Ball State University studying trumpet at the graduate level. For many years, he was the Professor of Trumpet at Huntington University.

Since completing his undergraduate studies, Mr Walter has taught at Huntington North High School. He has directed the Varsity Brass, the accompanying group for Huntington North's Varsity Singers and Viking Volume, since the 2001-2002 school year. He is also currently the assistant director for the Huntington North Jazz Ensemble.

As a performer Mr. Walter has performed with the Huntington University Wind Ensemble as a soloist and section leader, with the Marion Philharmonic, Kokomo Symphony, Kokomo Park Band, Bluffton Street Fair Band, the Huntington University Orchestra, the New Millennium Big Band, the Conglomerates Big Band, and the Blue River Big Band, and many other local groups.  He has played in the orchestra for several musicals at Huntington University, the First Presbyterian Theater in Fort Wayne, IPFW, and the Fort Wayne Civic Theater.  He also performs for a variety of local events and productions.