Best Conductor

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Permalink Reply by Tina McGready on July 1, 2008 at 10:56am

My best conductor ever was Dr. Robert Edgerton. He was the director of the Winthrop Chorale while I was there. He made you want to sing your best and under his direction we produced the most beautiful music. He was also fun to work with and a funny person who you couldn't help but love. He's also a wonderful arranger and arranged some of the music we sang. When he retired there was a reunion chorale concert that he conducted and all former students of the chorale were invited. It was a very emotional moving experience as 90% of us started to cry during the Rutter "The Lord Bless you and Keep you".

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Permalink Reply by Jayne Bell on August 5, 2008 at 5:20pm

I've sat under many wonderful conductors, such as, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Michael TIlson Thomas, Fiora Contino, David Willcocks. The best Choral Conductor is my San Jose State University Conductor, Charlene Archibeque. I bet that most people will say that their college directors were the best because they were the most influential in their lives. Dr. A fine tuned my taste in Choral Conductors because of her understanding of the period influences, her grasp of singing on the breath, her ability to make phrases soar and her wonderful musicality in every musical style. When I sing with other conductors who miss the opportunity to bring out the line of the phrase or over-emphasize subtleties that should be noted but not beaten to death, I am always aware that there is more to conducting than just cueing and keeping a beat. How wonderful to make music in a fine choral ensemble with an excellent conductor singing a stirring piece of music! There is no greater joy!

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Permalink Reply by William Wooden on August 5, 2008 at 7:17pm

My mentor is Donald "Don" Neuen, Chair of Choral Studies, UCLA, Choral Conductor at the Crystal Cathedral. For it's size, the Crystal Cathedral Choir is as good as any choir in America.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Lawrence on August 9, 2008 at 5:48pm

My favorite conductor was Charles Hirt who was a prof at USC where I received my degrees. He was the absolute master of the miniature choral piece creating outrageously beautiful nuisance in every performance. I sang with him for 9 years and toured Europe and Israel for four months for the US State Department under hid direction. What a thrill!

Doug Lawrence

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence Abernathy on August 10, 2008 at 7:41pm

i cant remember the name off the top of my head for the life of me, but it was my conductor for the 08 SC All State choir -- what was awesome about him was his ability to just show so much emotion through the conducting, it was like he was singing a solo, just by moving his hands. Awesome conductor. Probably the best ive worked under is Sir David Willcocks...probably one of the most amazing musicians i've ever met.

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Permalink Reply by Reba Taylor on August 12, 2008 at 4:32pm

The best conductor under whom I've sung was Dr. Charles (Chick) Davis, the founder of the Emory & Henry College Concert Choir. He was a fanatic for sound quality, stressing the necessity for overtones. He expected excellence in diction as well. Dr. Davis' subtle movements and facial expressions were usually all we needed to follow his direction. Many times he would drop his arms completely because he knew that the entire choir was so intuned to him that there was no need for arm movements. There were times during rehearsals that he would turn his back to us, expecting us to follow him instinctively. Recently the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the E&H Concert Choir was held. 200 former Concert Choir members, the majority having sung under Dr. Davis, returned to sing once more under him, his son Mark (his successor), and the current director. The performance was indescribable!

The joy and love of singing that Dr. Davis instilled in his choral students are the reasons that I sing in my church choir today.

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Permalink Reply by Ms. Vernay Dabney on August 14, 2008 at 11:18pm

So far, the best choral conductor I have worked under is Dr. David Morrow of Atlanta, Georgia. He is demanding, but his rhythms are precise, his indications of what he wants his choirs to do relative to dynamics, are very clear, and his passionate interpretations are conveyed to us in such a way that we become extensions of his expression, as if he and we are one musical instrument performing any given piece of music. It is truly a joy and honor to sing under his baton.

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