Associate Professor of Voice, Conservatory Choir Director and Choral Artist Matt Oltman, D.M.A., served on faculty at the CORO/Simpson College three-summer master’s in choral conducting, a program he helped create along with Dr. Tim McMillin (who visited Shenandoah Conservatory last spring with the Simpson College Chamber Choir) and Dr. Phil Moody, a founding member of the professional men’s choral ensemble, Cantus. This summer, the intensive welcomed 17 graduate students, 7 additional faculty members, 16 CORO Young Artists and 12 CORO Vocal Artists. In addition to graduate coursework in conducting, choral literature, diction, vocal pedagogy and performance practice, students and singers conducted and sang in 10 public performances as part of the Des Moines Choral Festival. Two of Shenandoah’s own choral scholars, Katie Ballou ’21 (Bachelor of Music in Music Education) and Julian Baldwin ’21 (Bachelor of Music in Music Education) were engaged at CORO Young Artists and sang a total of 18 hours of challenging choral repertoire, observed over 60 hours of graduate-level choral conducting instruction and interacted with peers and professional mentors from across the country.
