Clinicians Carrington, Caldwell highlight 2012 Church Music Conference Jan. 26-27

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Furman University will host its 2012 Church Music Conference Thursday and Friday, Jan. 26 and 27. Registration is $75 for the two-day event which draws church musicians from throughout the southeastern United States.

Established in 1971 and sponsored by a grant from the Thomson Foundation, the Furman University Church Music Conference features nationally and internationally known musicians who present lectures related to the study and practice of church music. These clinicians often present open rehearsals with Furman’s choral ensembles, the Furman Singers and Furman Chamber Choir, and conduct these groups as part of a Friday afternoon closing concert.

Clinicians for the 2012 conference are Simon Carrington and Paul Caldwell.

Simon Carrington is an internationally renowned choral conductor who lives in London. One of the founding members of the world famous King’s Singers, Carrington was professor of choral conducting (2003-2009) at Yale University and director of the Yale Schola Cantorum, a 24-voice chamber choir which he brought to global prominence. Carrington has also held choral posts at the New England Conservatory and the University of Kansas. Yale professor emeritus, Carrington maintains an active schedule as a freelance conductor and choral clinician, leading workshops and master classes around the world.

Paul Caldwell, a 1986 Furman graduate, is artistic director of the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, a community-based after-school program enrolling 300 young people. For his work with contemporary repertoire, multi-media, and interdisciplinary performance projects and music from diverse world cultures, Caldwell won the Chorus America/ASCAP prize for Adventurous Programming in 2006. He holds a permanent summer position as resident conductor for the Sing A Mile High Children’s Choral Festival in Denver. Caldwell composes and arranges music with Sean Ivory. Their compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Chicago Symphony Center, and Sydney Opera House, and throughout Europe, Asia and Africa.

For more information about the conference, contact Professor of Music and University Organist Charles Tompkins at 864-294-2969 or charles.tompkins@furman.edu.