College of Charleston Music Department

Vocal and Choral Music

The Vocal/Choral program at the College of Charleston offers students a wide variety of opportunities for both solo and choral singing. The faculty are all experienced performers as well as teachers, and their collegial relationship gives students the advantage of receiving input not only from the individual professor but from all of the voice faculty through the weekly Repertory Class.

Faculty

Solo Performance Opportunities

Solo performance opportunities abound for vocal/choral students at weekly student recitals, in the vibrant cultural atmosphere of the city of Charleston, and at frequent master classes with visiting artists such as John Wustman, Mimi Lerner, Priscilla Baskerville, Stephen Bryant, D'Anna Fortunato, Eduardo Gilardoni, and Kenneth Fulton. Students have been winners and finalists at Metropolitan Opera Auditions, South Carolina and Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS Student Auditions, the Osborne Voice Competition in Nashville, and other national and international competitions.

Ensembles

The College of Charleston features four outstanding choral ensembles: The Concert Choir, the Madrigal Singers, the University Chorus, and the Gospel Choir.

The College of Charleston Concert Choir is one of the nation’s finest collegiate choral ensembles. Conducted by Dr. Robert Taylor, its membership represents a wide range of the student population at the College of Charleston, with approximately half of the members being music majors or minors. In 2004 and 2005, the Concert Choir received two of the highest honors an American choir can attain. In 2004, the Concert Choir was awarded, for the first time in school history, a performance at the 2004 American Choral Directors Association Southern Division Convention in Nashville, TN. This was followed in 2005 by performances at the nation’s most prestigious festival, the 2005 American Choral Directors Association National Convention in Los Angeles, CA—an honor roughly equivalent to a collegiate basketball team playing in the NCAA Final Four. The Concert Choir also regularly performs with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, and has participated in performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, Bizet’s Carmen, and many others. Recent members of the choir have gone on to study in prestigious graduate programs throughout the United States, as well as performing with major and regional opera companies, in major Broadway productions, and in major motion pictures.

The College of Charleston Madrigal Singers is a 16-voice auditioned ensemble made up of students from the CofC Concert Choir that specializes in chamber music ranging from the Renaissance to the present. Led by Dr. Robert Taylor, the Madrigal Singers are perhaps best known for their annual Yuletide Madrigal Feast in historic Randolph Hall. Their made-for-TV Yuletide Madrigal Feast special is aired annually on SCETV. The Madrigal Singers are also annually featured on the Early Music Series and the Young Artists at the College of Charleston Series in Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival. They have also frequently performed and toured with Steve Rosenberg and Charleston Pro Musica, and they function as the community outreach arm of the choral program, frequently performing for various civic functions and charitable organizations.

University Chorus is a new auditioned choir conducted by Deborah Styles. The choir has been created to expand the musical offerings to college students. The repertoire ranges from the Renaissance period to contemporary composers from around the world.

Gospel Choir

The College of Charleston Gospel Choir, comprised of 75 voices under the direction of Johnnifer Fashion, has toured across the southeastern United States, the Virgin Islands, and portions of Europe. They are the National Collegiate Gospel Choir Southeast award winners. The Choir is noted for their spellbound, spirited performances, along with serving as the opening act for gospel legends such as Kirk Franklin and Darius Brooks. The recently appeared on the Good Morning America program on ABC Television.

Opera and Musical Theatre

Opera and musical theatre opportunities are expanding at the College of Charleston with the addition of the College of Charleston Opera. In November 1998, La Dirindina, a rare opera by Domenico Scarlatti, featured our voice students. Since then, complete productions of Celius Dougherty's Many Moons and Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury have been presented. This year, The Marriage of Figaro is being staged in honor of Mozart's 250th birthday. Full-scale musical theatre productions are presented jointly by the Music and Theatre Departments - most recently Brigadoon, West Side Story, Starting Here Starting Now, Oklahoma!, and Cabaret. Advanced students present opera/musical theatre excerpts at Piccolo Spoleto's Noonday Young Artists Series each year. Courses in acting and dance are available to students.