The Choral Conductor's Art

This page reflects the 2007 workshop. New dates will be announced when possible. Join our mailing list to receive the brochure for future Choral Conducting workshops.

Beverly Taylor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Artistic Director and Clinician

Edward Maclary
University of Maryland
Guest Clinician

Chelcy Bowles
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Program Director

 

Curriculum

The Choral Conductor's Art Workshop is for school, college community, and church choral conductors (and aspiring conductors) who want to improve their conducting skills in ways that make their performances more musical. Participants receive ample podium time with ensembles of varying sizes, with coaching and videotape feedback. Lecture/demonstration topics include text inflection, text analysis, finding and communicating musical and textual core, matching gesture with musical ideas imbedded in the score, choral-orchestral conducting, and strengthening and clarifying physical presentation.

The primary repertoire for the workshop will be eight pieces especially selected for emphasis on particular conducting issues, with supplemental examples. Music will be provided for all participants. Participants will have opportunities to conduct all eight selections and to work with various types of ensembles: a medium-sized choir made up of the workshop participants and additional singers from the UW-Madison School of Music to work on more advanced conducting techniques and concepts; and a larger amateur choir to address literature and conducting issues; for large chorus. We will also have a soloist and string quartet available to work on recitative and choral-orchestral problems.

Due to the commitment of the artistic director and clinicians to high-quality, personalized instruction, workshop enrollment is limited. While participants may be assigned to a specific clinician for videotape review and consultation, all participants will have an opportunity to work with each clinician. A limited number of participants may enroll as observers only at a reduced enrollment fee (see Enrollment Form).

Optional University of Wisconsin credits or Continuing Education Units (CEU) are available for participation in the Choral Conductor's Art Workshop. See details under "Credit Options."

 

Repertoire

Mozart: Regina coeli
Batten: Sing Joyfully
Victoria: O magnum mysterium
Bruckner: Os justi
Dering: Quem vidistis pastores
Brahms: Waldesnacht

 

Tentative Schedule

Monday, June 18
10:30 – 11:00 am	Check-in
11:00 am – noon	Welcome and Opening Remarks Workshop Overview
1:30 – 2:30 pm	Lecture
2:30 – 4:00 pm	Practicum and Video Review
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm	Practicum and Video Review

 

Tuesday, June 19
9:00 – 10:00 am	Lecture
10:30 – noon	Practicum and Video Review
1:30 – 2:30 pm	Lecture
2:45 – 5:00 pm	Practicum and Video Review

 

Wednesday, June 20
9:00 – 10:00 am	Lecture
10:30 – noon	Practicum and Video Review
Afternoon	Free for practice and individual consultations with clinicians
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm	Practicum and Video Review

 

Thursday, June 21
9:00 – 10:00 am	Lecture
10:30 – noon	Practicum and Video Review
1:30 – 4:30 pm	Practicum and Video Review
4:30 – 5:00 pm	Closing Remarks

 

Clinicians

Beverly Taylor is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she conducts the Concert Choir, the 150-voice Choral Union, and directs the graduate choral conducting program. She also is Assistant Conductor of the Madison Symphony and Director of the Symphony Chorus.

Prior to assuming her present post in 1995, Beverly Taylor was Associate Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University for seventeen years. While at Harvard, she directed both the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus and the international prize-winning Radcliffe Choral Society. From 1989-96 she was music director of the Back Bay Chorale of Boston, which performed under her direction with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and other professional orchestras. As a guest conductor, Prof. Taylor has led the New Symphony in Bulgaria, the Artur Rubenstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, the Vermont Symphony, the Harvard Chamber Orchestra and Summer Chorus, the U.S. Air Force Band, the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum and the Wellesley Chamber Singers, and has worked with John Williams and the Boston Pops Esplanade Chorus.

A graduate of the University of Delaware and Boston University School for the Arts, Ms. Taylor has studied with Gustav Meier, Paul Vermel, Andrew Davis, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis and Herbert Blomstedt. She received an advanced conducting fellowship with Chorus America and an orchestral conducting fellowship at Aspen. Ms. Taylor is a frequent guest conductor and lecturer at festivals throughout the United States.

Edward Maclary is Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maryland School of Music, and has served on the faculties of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Bowling Green State University. In addition to leading the graduate studies program in choral conducting, Prof. Maclary conducts the Maryland Chorus and the University Chorale, two of the UM School of Music's five full-time choral ensembles. Regarded as an outstanding clinician and teacher, Maclary maintains an active schedule as guest conductor for choral festivals and honors choirs throughout the country. He has also served as chorus master for distinguished conductors such as Robert Shaw, Robert Spano, Louis Lane and Bobby McFerrin.

Edward Maclary received his doctoral degree in conducting in 1985 from Indiana University after having been awarded a graduate degree in musicology from Boston University. In the following years he worked closely on many projects with Robert Shaw and also studied and collaborated with Helmuth Rilling, Margaret Hillis and Robert Page.

 

Staff

Chelcy Bowles, Program Director, is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Continuing Education in Music at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she directs professional development opportunities for music teachers and performers, and the adult music education program.

Andrea Bontrager Yoder is the Program Associate for Continuing Education in Music at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

General information

Location: The Choral Conductor's Art Workshop is held on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus at the Calvary Lutheran Chapel, on the corner of Lake Street and State Street. Detailed maps will be mailed to all who enroll.

Hours: The workshop begins on Monday, June 18, at 10:30 am and ends Thursday, June 21, at 5:00 pm.

Housing: There are several hotels available near the workshop site. A detailed list will be supplied upon enrollment.

Parking: A campus parking permit may be purchased directly from the UW-Madison Transportation Department. A reservation form will be supplied upon enrollment. Hourly parking is also available, but not for overnight parking.

Fees: The Workshop enrollment fee is $375. Those preferring to observe rather than conduct during the workshop may do so at a cost of $200. A $60 non-refundable deposit is required to secure enrollment, with the balance due upon arrival. Participants desiring credit pay the UW-Madison credit fees of approximately $280 per credit in addition to the Clinic enrollment fee. Please note that credit registration and fee payment are separate procedures from Workshop enrollment, and that academic credit may not be earned by those electing the observer-only option.

Credit Options: Participants in Choral Conductor's Art Workshop automatically earn non-credit recognition as three officially recorded Continuing Education Units (CEU). Participants who wish to earn UW-Madison credit(s) may do so by completing the University of Wisconsin Special and Guest Student application process and paying appropriate fees (approximately $280 per credit in addition to the workshop enrollment fee). One credit is earned by on-site workshop participation; two credits may be earned by completing additional assigned course work following the workshop. Please note that credit registration and fee payment are separate procedures from workshop enrollment. If you are interested in earning credit, mark the appropriate space on the Enrollment Form, and detailed credit information, requirements, and registration materials will be mailed to you. [Participants enrolled in a University of Wisconsin degree program pay the credit fees required by the program.]

 

How to register

To register for The Choral Conductor's Art, please download the registration form and mail or fax with payment to the address printed on the form. If you would like us to send you a brochure including registration form by mail, please contact Andrea Bontrager Yoder. Phone: 608-263-6670 or e-mail: music@dcs.wisc.edu.

 

For more information

Write: Chelcy Bowles, Continuing Education in Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 720 Lowell Center, 610 Langdon Street, Madison, WI 53703-1195
Phone: 608/265-5629
Fax: 608/265-2475
E-mail: music@dcs.wisc.edu

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