The University Singers, Treble Choir, and UW Glee Club present their winter concert conducted by School of Music Graduate Choral Conducting Students.
Artist Statement:
I believe music is central to the human experience. As a music educator, choral conductor, and researcher, I aim to connect the learning of music from song literature to a deep immersion of artistic literacy and individualized expression. My educational and artistic approach to music is not sustained by the assessment of ability and talent alone. If this were true, my own musicianship may never have come to fruition. As a multicultural person, I focus on how practical learning techniques in rehearsal and on-stage help develop emotional intelligence and relationship building for students with multiple identities. The collaborative process of establishing common terminology and gestural meaning is the culmination of my creative process; here I find that pitch, rhythm, and text are analyzed and applied literally, internally, and interpersonally. The relationship between instructor and student, conductor and singer, or peer and peer are equally as important as the common language used to understand, apply, and interpret music.
Louisiana native, Timothy Little Trần is a singer/songwriter, conductor, church music minister, and educator. Currently, Dr. Little Trần is the Director of Choral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Slippery Rock University where he conducts choral ensembles and teaches courses within the academic music curricula.
Prior to Slippery Rock, Timothy was Executive Director of Performing Arts and Professor of Choral Music at Notre Dame College, where he shaped the department into dynamic performing divisions of music, theatre, and dance, as well as created majors in music and theatre entrepreneurship. Timothy also served as the Coordinator of Arts in Residences and Area Coordinator for the Senior Experience at Oberlin Conservatory and the Resident Director at the School of Creative and Performing Arts-Manhattan [SOCAPA], where he was one of the founding members of the Music Program. Dr. Little Trần has also held positions in Student Life & Development and Arts Marketing & Communication at Interlochen Arts Academy, the Shenandoah Conservatory, Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle, and Louisiana State University, where he also was a photographer for LSU Football and the LSU Tiger Marching Band.
Timothy holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington, a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting & Literature from Louisiana State University, and a Bachelor of Music degree with Vocal and Music Education studies from the Shenandoah Conservatory.
Timothy is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and is passionate about LSU Football; his nephews and nieces; and using the arts as a medium to support students academically, artistically, and socially.
Luke Duroc-Danner is a conductor, singer, pianist, and organist. He holds a B.A. in Music from the University of Chicago where his thesis on Mendelssohn’s Elijah was awarded honors by the music faculty. Luke has appeared as the emerging artist with The Strangers Ensemble and as a guest conductor and organist at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. As a pianist, he has appeared as both a soloist and a collaborative pianist – most notably in a performance at the Library of Congress while a Junior Fellow. He has sung with the University of Chicago’s Motet Choir, the Chicago Chorale, and the Apollo Chorus. During his undergraduate career, he studied conducting with James Kallembach at the University of Chicago and John Yarrington at Houston Baptist University. He has also attended several conducting institutes at both Westminster Choir College and St. Stephen's House at Oxford University.
Currently, Luke is serving as the Choir Director at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, WA, and he is pursuing his Masters of Music degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington. Formerly the assistant conductor for the University of Washington Chorale, he is now a co-conductor for the University Singers, and he sings with the University of Washington Chamber Singers.
Jo Beth Wasicek is currently pursuing an MM in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington. She attended Oklahoma State University where she received her Bachelor of Education in Vocal Music, and performed with the Chamber Choir and Concert Chorale under the direction of Dr. Z Randall Stroope. Upon graduation from OSU, Jo Beth began her first job as the head choir director at Carroll Middle School in Southlake, TX where the choirs had great success at UIL Contest and other events. While living in Dallas, she performed with the Dallas Symphony Chorus under the direction of Joshua Habermann. Most recently, she served as the assistant choral director at James E. Taylor High School in Katy, TX where she conducted the women’s choirs and taught AP Music Theory.
Jo Beth is an avid hiker, reader, and enjoys long walks with her dachshund, Minnie.