Conductor
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I have focused my life work on showing that singers in choirs can use their whole voice, can sing freely, and can explore the heights of expression. When they do, they thrive as performers and communicators, and audiences are overjoyed. As an active performing singer, composer and song-writer, I understand all sides of the podium intimately. I’ve premiered hundreds of pieces in my career, and enjoy working closely with composers on a regular basis to help them realize their vision. As an extension of this vocal philosophy, the instrumentalists that I work with regularly reflect that they, too, feel freedom to explore and create together.
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C4 singing Philip Hersant's "Allegories"
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College of the Holy Cross College Choir and Laurel Irene singing the 6th movement from Poulenc's "Gloria" with one of Worcester's finest orchestras
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I find that experience with new music feeds my zeal for the classics, helping me to approach established pieces with refreshed eyes. My career has been one of building and creating. I’ve started several new ensembles that are still thriving, and helped others grow to the next levels of their potential. I’ve had the pleasure of touring and recording with many exciting performers, working closely with them in joint leadership to explore engaging opportunities for ensemble and audiences alike.
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I approach each concert program as an unique composition unto itself, weaving other composers’ pieces together to create specific statements, often conjoined with programmatic elements. Gesture is one of the most important tools a conductor has, and one of the most damning. Performers respond immediately to any gesture a conductor presents, intentionally or unintentionally. That basic fact lays an enormous responsibility on the one member of the ensemble who (most often) makes no sound. I enjoy singing with the ensembles that I direct when possible. Laude, a professional ensemble that I direct, provides a fulfilling opportunity to sing and direct regularly.
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Laude singing William Schuman's "To All, To Each"
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Based in contemporary neuroscience and learning theory, I strive to help all those that I direct develop as leaders in their own ways. Rehearsals are an ongoing exploration and creative engagement from every performer. Those under my direction perform a varied repertoire and consume large amounts of music, all while finding their footing within the whole. The abundance of leadership that flows from this approach to ensemble direction lifts the whole, making my job more rewarding, and increasing fulfillment overall.
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Scholarly Works
Seven Essential Voice Science Tools For Choral Singing, The Choral Journal, March, 2019 (page 47-57).
In the Good Old Summertime, co-authored by Thomas Riis (available for free download here) is an exploration of the American songbook (1890-1950) through the lens of the beautiful lithograph covers used to promote them.
A Construct-Centric Approach to Harmony in Stravinsky’s Mass: Stravinsky’s Use of 0257 and 0134 Tetrachords to Define Transient Tonal Areas Delineated By Rhythmic/Metric Blocks With an Exploration Of Performance Considerations (download) explores, and I believe proves, a critical compositional approach that Stravinsky experimented with in the late 1940s and early 1950s. My approach to interpreting this compositional approach in performance asks new questions of the performer based on the analysis.
From the paper on Stravinsky's "Mass", I believe the most unique portion to be Chapter 4, on the "Agnus Dei", because it proves Stravinsky's insistence upon intervalic-focused composition, setting the stage for the paper as a whole, and acts as a precursor to his serial period (download)
VoiceScienceWorks.org is an ongoing collection of essays, explanations, and blogs, along with tools for finding other people who are pioneering a new approach to voice use through the application of vocology.
In the Good Old Summertime, co-authored by Thomas Riis (available for free download here) is an exploration of the American songbook (1890-1950) through the lens of the beautiful lithograph covers used to promote them.
A Construct-Centric Approach to Harmony in Stravinsky’s Mass: Stravinsky’s Use of 0257 and 0134 Tetrachords to Define Transient Tonal Areas Delineated By Rhythmic/Metric Blocks With an Exploration Of Performance Considerations (download) explores, and I believe proves, a critical compositional approach that Stravinsky experimented with in the late 1940s and early 1950s. My approach to interpreting this compositional approach in performance asks new questions of the performer based on the analysis.
From the paper on Stravinsky's "Mass", I believe the most unique portion to be Chapter 4, on the "Agnus Dei", because it proves Stravinsky's insistence upon intervalic-focused composition, setting the stage for the paper as a whole, and acts as a precursor to his serial period (download)
VoiceScienceWorks.org is an ongoing collection of essays, explanations, and blogs, along with tools for finding other people who are pioneering a new approach to voice use through the application of vocology.