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

OLD BUT NEW (FOR ME)

I have found a treasure of a choral techniques book. I was browsing through ebay looking at 16th century music manuscripts that were being sold, and I stumbles upon a book titled "The Art of the Choral Conductor" written by Father William J Finn and published in 1939. It covers some wonderful topics like: Choral Musicianship, Accurate Pitch, Dramatic Voices, The Color Scheme, Changing voices and Men's Voices, Blend and Balance of Parts, Diction, Sightreading and more. I looked through some of the chapters and found that some of the chapters contain more information on some topics in the book than most choral technique books do today.

Eventhough the book is old, I find it a treasure to look into the type of training that choral conductors sought 60+ years ago. I also believe that the U.S. has a superb history of choral music and I think all conductors should know as much about U.S. choral music and the history of the conductors that come before us.

Here is a brief part of Father William J Finn's Biography I found online:

The best U.S. interpreter of Palestrina is an Irish-American named Father William J. Finn, former choirmaster of Manhattan's Church of St. Paul the Apostle, who has behind him nearly 50 years of high musical achievement.

To read more about Father William J Finn check out the following Link:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791586,00.html

I'm glad I found this book from a 65 year old lady in West Virginia, and even though the book has only some pencil underlining it is in great shape. It also has a handwritten list of the chapters that the previous owner was tested on while in undergraduate school on the east coast.

:)