-
Concert Choir
Your daily schedule will consist of choir rehearsal, master class, voice class, and an exciting variety of academic classes.
Please refer to the FAQ section for on-site placement audition information.
Lynn Drafall, conductor
Lynn Drafall, PhD, is an associate professor of music and director of choral activities at Penn State. She teaches courses in graduate and
undergraduate choral conducting and literature, and conducts the Penn State Concert Choir
as well as the Oriana Singers. An active festival conductor and adjudicator, she has
worked with festival choirs throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, and has conducted all-state high school choirs in Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and
Maryland.
Dr. Drafall is an active member of the Music Educators National Conference and the American Choral Directors Association. She serves as president of the eastern division of the American Choral Directors Association, and is a past president of the Pennsylvania state chapter. She has published articles in the Music Educators Journal, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and PMEA News.
A native of Illinois, she received her degrees in music education and choral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She served on the faculties of Northern Illinois University and the University of Mississippi and, prior to her career in higher education, she taught for eleven years in the public schools of Illinois.
For information about the concert choir, contact:
Email: summermusic@outreach.psu.edu
Mary Saunders-Barton
Mary Saunders-Barton is head of voice instruction for Penn State's BFA musical theatre program. She holds an MA degree from
Middlebury College and the Sorbonne, Paris, in French language and literature. She studied French art song with Pierre Bernac and received a diploma from the Ecole Normale de Musique. She
received her BA cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa in French/music from Mount Holyoke College.
An active performer with Broadway, off-Broadway, film, and television credits, Saunders-Barton has recently concentrated on the creation and performance of one-woman cabaret shows, the first of which, Stop, Time, played to sold-out houses in New York City. She maintains a studio in Manhattan for professional singers. In this and recent seasons her students have been seen on Broadway in Wicked, Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown, The Producers, Kiss Me Kate, Seussical-The Musical, Cabaret, Follies, 42nd Street, Hairspray, Rent, Mamma Mia, West Side Story, Hair, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In 2007, she published a video tutorial, “Bel Canto/Can Belto: Teaching Women to Sing Musical Theatre,” which was well received by the professional community. She is frequently invited to present workshops and seminars on musical theatre vocal technique for convocations of singers and teachers of singing in the United States and Europe. In 2009, Saunders-Barton was inducted into the prestigious American Academy of Teachers of Singing in New York City. In fall 2011 she will launch a new MFA in the pedagogy of musical theatre singing, the first of its kind.
For information about the concert choir, contact:
Email: summermusic@outreach.psu.edu
Matthew Swope
Matthew Swope is the director of choral activities at Winter Park High
School and serves on the voice faculty of Rollins College. A native of Pennsylvania, he received the master of music degree in voice performance and pedagogy and graduated Phi Beta Kappa
with bachelor of arts degrees in music and in classics and ancient Mediterranean studies from Penn State.
Mr. Swope is an active tenor soloist and, as a choral singer, performs nationally with the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers and Essence of Joy Alumni Singers. He has worked with master teachers Jerry Blackstone, Simon Carrington, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, and Carol Webber.
In addition, Mr. Swope is an active clinician and adjudicator. He has presented at conferences of the Florida Music Educators Association and The Classical Association of the Middle West and South. Mr. Swope holds memberships in ACDA, MENC, FMEA, FVA, IMC, and Pi Kappa Lambda. He currently serves as Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs for Florida ACDA.
For information about the concert choir, contact:
Email: summermusic@outreach.psu.edu
