Choral Music Poll

I have created a poll based on the percentage of choral music that high school choir directors program for their choirs.

Choral Music Percentage Poll

If you have taught or currently teach high school choirs please go to the above link and fill out the form.

I am using this data to write a paper.


Thank You. Also after I collect a significant amount of data I will share it with all of you.

Grad School for MM in Choral Conducting

This is a compiled list of some of the Masters ONLY programs in Choral Conducting. These programs do not give out Doctoral Degrees.

Westminster Choir College:
Professors:

Dr. Joe Miller - Director of Choral Activities; BME Univ of Tennessee, MM & DMA Univ of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Dr. James Jordon - Associate Professor of Choral music; MM & PHD Temple Univ

http://www.rider.edu/864_4010.htm

Northern Arizona Univerity:
Professors:

Dr. Edith Copley - Director of Choral Acitivies; BME Luther College, Mm & DMA Univ of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music

Dr. Ryan Holder - Associate Director of Choral Activities; holds bachelors and masters degrees from Southern Oregon University and University of Northern Colorado

http://www.cal.nau.edu/music/grdchoral.asp

Brigham Young University:
Professors:

Dr. Ronald Staheli - Director of Choral Activities; BA from BYU, MM & DMA Univ of Southern California

http://music.byu.edu/index.php?id=477

Temple University:
Professors:

Dr. Alan Harler - Director of Choral Activities

Dr. Rollo Dillworth - Associate Professor of Choral Music Education; DMA Northwestern Univ

http://www.temple.edu/gradbulletin/boyer/choral_conducting_mm.htm

University of Denver:
Professors:

Dr. Catherine Sailer - Director of Choral Activities; BM & MM Univ of Denver, DMA Northwestern Univ

http://www.du.edu/ahss/schools/lamont/programs/graduate/conducting/mm-choral.html

Portland State University:
Professors:

Dr. Stephen Coker - Director of Choral Activities; BME & MM from OCU, DMA Univ of Southern California

http://www.pdx.edu/music/graduate


Western Washington University:
Professors:

Dr. Leslie Guelker-Cone - Director of Choral Activities; BA California State Univ, MM San Jose State Univ, DMA Univ of Colorado Boulder

Tim Fitzpatrick - Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education; BM & MM Western Washington Univ, MM in Piano Pedagogy Univ of Texas

http://www.wwu.edu/music/areas/voice.shtml

Choral Conducting Graduate Programs.

ON August 22,2009 I compiled this updated list of most of the Doctoral Choral Conducting Graduate Programs in the United States. They all have links to their university pages. I will be coming up with a list of schools that ONLY grant Masters Degrees in Choral Conducting soon.

Hope this list is Helpful.

DMA Choral Conducting Programs

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor:
Professors:
Dr. Jerry Blackstone – Director of Choral Activities; BM Wheaton College, MM Indiana U, DMA Univ of Southern California
Dr. Paul Rardin – Associate Professor of Choral Conducting; BM Williams College, MM & DMA Univ of Michigan
http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/conducting/index.htm

University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign
Professors:
Dr. Fred Stoltzfus – Chair/Professor of Choral Music; BA Goshen College, DMA Univ of Iowa
Dr. Charles Awles – Associate Professor of Choral Music; BA Hanover College, MSM Union Theology Seminary, DMA Univ of Illinois
http://www.music.uiuc.edu/academicsConducting.php

University of North Texas:
Professors:
Dr. Jerry McCoy – Director of Choral Activities; BME Univ of Texas Arlington, MM & DMA Univ of Texas Austin
Dr. Alan McClung – Associate Professor of Choral Music; BME West Virginia Univ, MM Univ of Illinois, PHD in Choral Music Florida State Univ
Henry Gibson – Associate Professor of Choral Music -He received his early training at Stanford and Harvard Universities, and holds the artist diploma from the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt, Germany
http://www.music.unt.edu/choral/


Arizona State University:
Professors:
Dr. David Schildkret – Professor of Choral Music; BA Rutgers, MM & DMA Indian Univ
Dr. Gregory Gentry – Assistant Professor of Choral Music; BME Univ of Denver, MM & DMA Univ of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music
http://music.asu.edu/choirs/

University of Arizona:
Professors:
Dr. Bruce Chamberlain – Director of Choral Activities; BME, MM & DMA Indiana Univ
Dr. Elizabeth Schauer – Associate Director of Choral Activities; BME Univ of Michigan, MM Westminster Choir College, DMA Univ of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music
http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/sites/choral/

University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music:
Professors:
Dr. Charles Robinson – Professor of Choral Music/Education; BME Florida State Univ, MM CSU Long Beach, PHD in Choral Music Education Florida State Univ
http://conservatory.umkc.edu/the_conservatory/conducting.aspx

Indiana University Jacob School of Music:
Professors:
Dr. Jan Harrington – Professor Emeritus of Choral Music; BM Southern Methodist Univ, MM & DMA Indian Univ
Dr. William Jon Gary – Director of Choral Studies: BME new England Conservatory, DMA Indiana Univ
http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/choral/index.shtml

Michigan State University:
Professors:
Dr. David Rayl – Director of Choral Activities; BM Illinois Wesleyan Univ, MM Univ of Oklahoma, DMA Univ of Iowa
Dr. Jonathan Reed – Associate Director of Choral Activities;
Dr. Sandra Snow – Professor of Music Education/Choral Conducting;
http://dev.music.msu.edu/study/conducting.php?study_conducting

University of Oklahoma:
Professors:
Dr. Richard Zeilinski – Director of Choral Activities;
http://music.ou.edu/choirs/OU_CHOIRS/Home.html

University of North Carolina – Greensboro:
Professors:
Dr. Welborn Young – Director of Choral Activities; BME & MA Middle Tennessee State Univ, DMA Univ of Illinois
Dr. Carole Ott – Associate Professor of Choral Music/Education; BME Univ of Cincinnati, MM & DMA Univ of Michigan
http://www.uncg.edu/mus/vocal.html

Eastman School of Music:
Professors:
Dr. William Weinert – Director of Choral Activities; BME Oberlin Conservatory of Music, MM Univ of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, DMA Univ of Wisconsin Madison
http://www.esm.rochester.edu/ensembles/

University of Southern California:
Professors:
Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe – Director of Choral Activities; BM & MM CSU Long Beach, DMA Univ of Southern California
Dr. Magen Solomon – Assistant Professor of Choral Music; BM Oberlin Conservatory of Music, MM & DMA University of Wisconsin Madison
Dr. Nick Strimple – Associate Professor of Choral Music; BM Baylor Univ, MM & DMA Univ of Southern California
http://www.usc.edu/schools/music/choral/

Boston University:
Professors:
Dr. Ann Howard Jones – Director of Choral Activities; BM, MM, DMA Univ of Iowa
http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/prospective/departments/choral/

University of Miami:
Professors:
Dr. Joshua Habermann – Professor of Choral Music; BME Georgetown Univ, MM & DMA Univ of Texas Austin
http://www.music.miami.edu/index.html

Florida State University:
Professors:
Dr. Andre Thomas – Director of Choral Activities; BA Friends Univ, MM Northwestern, DMA Univ of Illinois
Dr. Kevin Fenton – Professor of Choral Music; BME Friends Univ, MM Univ of Missouri-Kansas city Conservatory of Music, PHD Choral Music Florida State Univ
Dr. Judy Bowers – Professor of Choral Music Education; BME Texas Tech, MME & PHD Louisiana State University
http://www.music.fsu.edu/Areas-of-Study/Conducting

University of Northern Colorado:
Professors:
Dr. Galen Darrough – Director of Choral Activities; BME CSU Fullerton, MM Bingham Young Univ, DMA Arizona State Univ
http://www.arts.unco.edu/music/choirs/default.html

University of Colorado Boulder:
Professors:
Dr. Lawrence Kaptein – Director of Choral Activities; DMA Univ of Southern California
Dr. Jeffrey Gemmell – Associate Professor of Choral Music; BME Towson Unvi, MME Northwestern, DMA Univ of Colorado Boulder
http://www.colorado.edu/music/departments/voice.html

University of Washington:
Professors:
Dr. Geoffrey Boers – Director of Choral Activities; BA Pacific Lutheran Univ, MAT Portland State Univ, DMA Univ of Arizona
Dr. Steven Demorest – Professor of Choral Music Education; BA Luther College, MM Westminster Choir College, PHD Univ of Wisconsin Madison
Dr. Giselle Wyers – Assistant Professor of Choral Music; BA UC Santa Cruz, MM Westminster Choir College, DMA Univ of Arizona
http://www.music.washington.edu/choirs/faculty.html


University of Wisconsin Madison:
Professors:
Beverly Taylor – Director of Choral Activities; BA Univ of Delaware, Graduate degrees from Boston Univ
Dr. Bruce Gladstone – Associate Director of Choral Activities; DMA Univ of Illinois
http://www.music.wisc.edu/conducting

University of Iowa:
Professors:
Dr. Timothy Stalter – Director of Choral Activities; BM Goshen Univ, MM Univ of Illinois, DMA Univ of Wisconsin Madison
Dr. David Puderbaugh – Associate Director of Choral Activities; BME Drake Univ, MM Univ of Missouri-Columbia, DMA Univ of Iowa
http://www.music.wisc.edu/conducting

University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music:
Professors:
Dr. Earl Rivers – Director of Choral Activities; BME, MM Indiana U, DMA Univ of Cincinnati
Dr. Brett Scott – Associate Director of Choral Activities; BM Canadian Bible College, MM Univ of Regina, DMA Univ of Cincinnati
http://www.ccm.uc.edu/choral/

University of Minnesota:
Professors:
Dr. Kathy Romey – Director of Choral Activities; graduated with a B.A. in flute performance from the University of Oregon in 1979. She continued her studies in Frankfurt, Germany, under acclaimed conductor Helmuth Rilling, receiving an artistic degree in choral conducting from the Frankfurt Musikhochschule in 1984.
Dr. Matthew Maheffey – Associate Director of Choral Activities; BM Bucknell Univ, MM Westminster Choir College, DMA Univ of Arizona.
http://www.music.umn.edu/graduate/index.php

Yale University:
Professors:
Marguerite Brooks – Director of Choral Music; MM in Choral Music
Dr. Jeffrey Douma – Associate Professor of Choral Music; BM Concordia Univ, MM & DMA Univ of Michigan
Simon Carrington – Professor of Choral Music; MA in Choral Music
http://music.yale.edu/academics/conducting.html
http://www.yale.edu/ism/academics/choral.html

University of South Carolina:
Professors:
Dr. Lynn Wyatt – Director of Choral Activities; degrees from Murray State University, The University of North Texas, and Florida State University.
Joseph Modica – Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education; BM Chapman, MM CSU Long Beach, DMA (Finishing) Univ of South Carolina
http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/choral/index.html

A way to better TEACHER K-12 PAY

Im going to head down a path with a NON- MUSIC post, but this one also affects music educators.

I researched and wrote this in the late winter/spring of 2008. My figures are from 2004 and 2006 but can easily be modified to 2008 stats on salaries. Now these are averages for the nation, but still think of this idea in all states.


The United States is the most powerful country in the world, yet when you compare its education system to those of Europe we are just not up to the standards. Education is the driving force that has built America, without it our country would not have grown into the great country it is today. However, we all know that the education system in this country is under performing.

Although we have lowering drop-out rates, the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT and standardized tests to help improve our system, we need to fully improve the quality of education in this country for all levels for the K-12 public schools. The education system in Europe is built around quality of its core education and teachers. They achieve this and have an average high school graduate age of 16 years old (in most European countries). In recent years we have had required standardized tests for elementary and middle schools put into effect. These measures seem to not be as effective as we thought they would be. These tests are showing some promising increases in our education system, but it is not improving our education system.
The core of our education system starts with teachers, and the quality of which they teach.

Teachers are some of the most educated people in the country, they are required to obtain graduate degrees to keep their certification, and in a lot of cases they pay for these required classes with their own money. They work 10 hours days with all the planning that they do, and they still do extra work at home. This country has lowered its appreciation for teachers, and needs to get back on track. We cannot improve the quality of education without having the best teachers.
Many teachers that enter the field end up leaving and going into fields outside of teaching just to make a better living. Being a teacher should be one of the best paid careers in the country. The teachers that usually leave the teaching field are some of the best teachers in the field. To keep these teachers in our schools and motivate the quality of current teachers, we need a drastic display of appreciation for our country’s teachers.

To improve the quality of teachers I suggest we improve their pay, by doing so will motivate them, keep more teachers, and lower the teacher turnover rate in this country. I suggest that we show our country’s greatness and appreciation for teachers by giving them a federal income tax exemption. So then teachers will pay no federal income tax, which will increase their annual income by 25%, and thus will help them with affording better housing and transportation.

Since the average teacher salary for 2006 was $44,400 with taxes they only take home $33,300 per year after taxes. There were 3.8 million jobs for teachers in 2004, and with my estimates for 2006 it cost $42,180,000,000 in taxes that were collected from teachers in 2004. Teachers overall compensation from the government is $168,720,000,000. $42 billion is only 1.6% cut from our federal tax revenue of $2.54 trillion dollars annually.


I have done research that shows we can cut billions from the department of defense, the office of personnel management, and raise the federal income tax by (.05%) a percent, and we would make up all the money to tax exempt the teachers.
This plan would put better quality teachers into our schools, and keep them teaching. If this country does not take some drastic steps towards the educations system (especially towards the k-12 levels) the education in this country will worsen.


Thank you for reading...

Hello again....

Now I know I have been away for awhile. I have been distracted by the wonderful adventures of life; traveling, meeting new friends, seeing old friends again, spending time with family (healthy or sick), and trying to relax during this glorious summer weather in Washington State.

I am back and going to resume posting many new posts about teacher pay, choral conducting as a student, arts foundations (children choirs and community choirs), and graduate schools for choral conducting.


So thank you for reading....