3-Summer MM in Choral Conducting Now Offering Graduate Stipends

Simpson College and CORO have announced graduate stipends for students entering into the 3-Summer MM in Choral Conducting at Simpson College this coming summer.

Priority application deadline is January 17, 2018.
2018 Summer dates are June 6 – July 28
www.simpson.edu/mmcc

During the summer academic semester, choral literature, individual conducting lessons, rehearsal techniques and strategies, and score study complement each other in a symbiotic way. A typical day combines a lecture/presentation-style choral literature class with group conducting sessions and choral rehearsals in order to integrate conducting gesture, rehearsal techniques and pacing, and score analysis. For example, the cantatas of Bach are discussed in the morning choral literature class, focusing on the composer’s life and the form of his cantatas in relation to other composers. In the afternoon, the seminar in choral conducting offers students time to discuss rehearsal strategies of Baroque music and integrating instrumental forces. The Institute Choir then rehearses excerpts of a cantata under the baton of the graduate students while professors work with them on conducting gesture, rehearsal technique, and score analysis during their individual podium time. These rehearsals culminate in a performance presented to the general public as part of the Friday Cafe Series and the Discovery Concerts during the CORO Summer Choral Festival. Additional music courses for the degree include music theory and history, choral pedagogy, choral diction, and advanced musicianship, all of which are also completed during the three summer sessions.