BCCF Choral Directorship Course

BCCF’s Choral Directorship Course

This course was the brainchild of the Willan Council, who looked at the success of summer Choral Challenge sessions on "Teaching Children to Sing" and asked how the skills presented could be applied to all aspiring choral conductors. Under the inspirational leadership of Past-President John White a group was formed, moderated by Dale Owen and comprising Bruce Pullan, Sandra Meister and John Trepp. Between them, we felt these people had the ability to speak to the needs of a wide range of choral groups: children at elementary, middle-school and high-school stages, college/university singers, and community and church choirs of all kinds. We asked them to formulate a course that would cover all the essential details needed to make an effective choral conductor, and to structure it in such a way that it could be taken at different levels, according to ability.

Since 2002, we have presented combinations of Levels One, Two and Three with great success.

Level One - the Basics is an introductory course to the basics of conducting, vocal pedagogy, choral and personal skills. It will also be found to be a useful course to review fundamentals for slightly more experienced conductors whose batteries need recharging.

Level Two - Intermediate is appropriate for conductors with several years experience, and a firm command of the basics mentioned in Level One. Participants can expect greater depth on a range of topics.

Level Three - Advanced is open to conductors who have previously taken Level Two, with a faculty assessment, or who can support their application with a video of themselves in a rehearsal. This level accepts a smaller group of registrants in order to give each participant more hands-on time with a variety of lab-choirs: children, mixed, women or men.