Synopsis
Intended for beginning conductors, this volume offers a conceptual approach to conducting rather than an imitative one. Students begin by building right-hand and then left-hand gestures and are provided with exercises designed to increase independence and expressiveness. Approaches to repertory and programming are also introduced, as are score marking, rehearsal strategies and preparation, and singing technique. In total, it is a concise guide that offers a wealth of practical information and stands alone as a resource for even part-time choir directors.
About the Author
David P. DeVenney has established a wide reputation as a conductor and scholar. His choirs have toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, receiving acclaim for their carefully prepared and musically exciting performances from audiences and critics alike. His conducting repertory includes over one hundred major choral works with orchestra and two dozen operas and musicals, and he has commissioned and premiered numerous new choral works by noteworthy composers such as David Conte, Robert Maggio, Jennifer Higdon, Emma Lou Diemer, Marvin Hamlisch, and Robert Page. His choirs appear commercially on the Albany label as well as on several private CDs with his university ensembles, and have appeared at state and regional conferences of the Ohio Choral Directors Association and the College Music Society. He regularly collaborates with professional ensembles, conducting the Reading Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Brandywine Ballet, and several others. He received the 2003 Dean's Award for Artistic Excellence from West Chester University and the 2006 Distinguished Music Alumnus award from Iowa State University, and has several times been named Outstanding Teacher by the WCU Honors College. Dr. DeVenney holds degrees in conducting from Iowa State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He is professor of music at West Chester University, where he directs the select Concert Choir and the Men's Chorus and guides the graduate program in choral studies. For over a decade, he was music director of the Reading Choral Society, a highly regarded community chorus and one of America's oldest musical ensembles. He founded and for seven seasons served as music director of VocalBaroque, a professional chamber choir in Columbus, Ohio. He has held faculty appointments at Otterbein College, the University of Arizona, and Virginia Tech. Dr. DeVenney has made substantive contributions to scholarship in American choral music through his fourteen books and nearly six dozen articles. The Choral Journal called him "one of the most industrious scholars on the current scene," while MLA Notes labeled his contributions to the study of American choral music "an impressive achievement."
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