Matthew Oltman joined Chanticleer in 1999 singing tenor with the ensemble. In
2004, he was appointed Assistant Music Director under Joseph Jennings and in
2009 took over artistic leadership of the company following Mr. Jenning's
retirement. During the past decade with Chanticleer, Mr. Oltman has
appeared on twelve critically acclaimed recordings, toured extensively
throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and led numerous workshops and vocal
master classes with choristers around the world.
Originally from Des
Moines, Iowa, his first musical experiences were with the Des Moines Metro
Opera and the Des Moines Children's Chorus. Mr. Oltman earned his B.A. in Performance from
Simpson College in Iowa. He earned his
master's degree in Music Performance from the University of York in England
with the aid of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. Before joining
Chanticleer, Mr. Oltman sang with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale for four seasons
and was on the faculty of Simpson College where he taught harmony, French
diction, choral techniques and voice. More recently, he served as guest
conductor and clinician for ensembles such as the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus,
the Utah Symphony Chorus, the Pacific Youth Choir (Portland, OR), the Iowa
Youth Chorus, Coro (Houston, TX), and the Sonoma County Choral Society's
Midsummer Night Sings.
>>> Clinicians / Adjudicators <<<
Jerry Blackstone
Grammy
Award winning conductorJerry Blackstoneis Director of Choirs and Chair
of the Conducting Department at the University of Michigan School of Music,
Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at
the graduate level, and administers a choral program of eleven choirs. In February 2006, he received two Grammy
Awards (“Best Choral Performance” and “Best Classical Album”) as chorus master
for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s monumental Songs
of Innocence and of Experience.
Professor
Blackstone is considered one of the country’s leading conducting teachers. In
2004, Dr. Blackstone was named Conductor and Music Director of the University
Musical Society Choral Union, a large community/university chorus that
frequently appears with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and presents yearly
performances of Handel’s Messiah and other major works for chorus and
orchestra. In March 2008, he conducted
the UMS Choral Union and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a special
performance of the Bach, St. Matthew Passion. Choirs prepared by
Dr. Blackstone have appeared under the batons of Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi,
Leonard Slatkin, John Adams, Helmuth Rilling, James Conlon, Nicholas McGegan,
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Peter Oundjian, and Yitzak Perlman.
Santa
Barbara Music Publishing distributes Dr. Blackstone’s acclaimed educational
video, Working with Male Voices and publishes the Jerry Blackstone
Choral Series, a set of choral publications that presents works by several
composers in a variety of musical styles.
As a strong advocate for the training of young musicians, Professor
Blackstone serves as Director of the University of Michigan School of Music,
Theatre & Dance’s summer programs for high school students and adults.
Dr. Karen Kennedy
Karen Kennedy
Praised by the San Francisco
Classical Voice for her “wizardry with voices” and named by the Honolulu Star
Bulletin as “… a popular and charismatic leader,” Karen Kennedy currently holds
the position of Director of Choirs at Towson University. Before joining
the faculty at Towson, she held the positions of Chorus Director for the
Honolulu Symphony, Artistic Director for the Hawai`i International Choral
Festival, and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Hawai`i at
Manoa. A recipient of the Doctor of
Musical Arts degree in choral music from Arizona State University, Dr. Kennedy
also received a Master of Music in choral conducting from Butler University and
a Bachelor of Music Education from DePauw University.
During her time in Hawai`i, Dr.
Kennedy conducted the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in performances of
Orff's Carmina Burana, Durufle’s Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s
Great Mass in C Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, and Rutter’s Gloria.
She has conducted the New England Symphonic Ensemble and a 200-voice festival
chorus in a Carnegie Hall performance of Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de
Confessore, as well as choirs in venues such as the Mormon Tabernacle in
Salt Lake City, Utah, the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, Ely
Cathedral in Ely, England, Southwark Cathedral in London, England, and
Greyfriar’s Kirke in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is also a popular honor
choir clinician, having served as conductor of All-State and Festival Honor
Choirs in Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, Hawai`i, Florida,
Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.
In addition to regular podium
performances Dr. Kennedy enjoys the opportunity to present workshops on choral
repertoire, conducting, choral pedagogy and vocal pedagogy. Her workshops have
been a part of recent ACDA and MENC regional and state conventions, most
recently in Virginia, Connecticut, Oregon, Maryland, and Hawai`i. Dr. Kennedy has received numerous awards for
teaching, including the University of Hawai`i Chancellor’s Citation for
Meritorious Teaching, Arizona State University’s Manzanita “Top Prof” Award,
and Butler University’s Faculty Distinction Award.
Dr.
Kennedy is currently serving as the ACDA Eastern Division Collegiate Repertoire
and Standards Chair, and is a past-President of the Hawai`i chapter of the
American Choral Directors Association. She is an active member of Chorus
America, and is a founding member of the National Collegiate Choral
Organization, where she currently represents the state of Maryland.
Jameson Marvin
Jameson Marvin is
the Emeritus Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer on Music at
Harvard University. Under Dr. Marvin’s
direction, Harvard’s Choral Program garnered a distinguished national
reputation from 1978 to 2010. During the
same time period, he conducted the Harvard Glee Club, Radcliffe Choral Society,
and the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum to a position among the premier
collegiate choruses in America. These
ensembles appeared at nine Eastern Division and seven National Conventions of
the American Choral Directors Association, and the Choral Program at Harvard
was named by Classical Singer magazine as the top collegiate choral program in
the United States.
Dr. Marvin's
musicianship, comprehensive knowledge of style and performance practices of
historical eras, and acknowledged mastery of ensemble music making have been
the trademark of his insightful, communicative, and inspiring performances.
Some 80 choral-orchestral masterworks from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 to 2004
Pulitzer Prize winner, Paul Moravec's Songs of Love & War dot the landscape
of his comprehensive experience in conducting symphonic-choral works from the
17th through the 21st centuries. While
Dr. Marvin's performances of the masterpieces of the Renaissance and Baroque
enjoy a distinguished national reputation, it is his unique knowledge of a
cappella gems from the early 15th century through newly commissioned works of
the 21st century, for men's, women's, and mixed choruses that reveal the full
range of his comprehensive choral artistry.
Through his
charismatic spirit, humor, musicianship and passion, over the past 40 years
Jameson Marvin has enriched the lives of thousands of his choral singers,
students, and choral colleagues through his uncommon wellspring of knowledge,
experience, and inspired leadership.
Dr. Jameson Marvin
Gene Peterson
Gene Peterson is
the University of Tennessee’s Interim Director of Choral Activities. He also conducts the UT Concert Choir and UT
Men’s Chorale. Dr. Peterson teaches courses in undergraduate choral
conducting and secondary choral methods.
Prior to his
arrival to Tennessee, Dr. Peterson has held posts as music director and
conductor for college, high school, church, and community choirs in California
and Washington. Ensembles under his leadership have performed in venues
throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, including the
Sistine Chapel, the Sydney (Australia) Opera House, and Chicago Symphony Hall. Dr. Peterson has served in professional
leadership roles such as High School Standards and Repertoire Chair for the
California American Choral Directors Association and as Bay Area Choral
Representative for the California Music Educators Association.
Dr.
Peterson holds a Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting and a Masters of Arts
in Education from Chapman University in Orange, California, and the Doctor of
Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington, Seattle.
