|
|
Dr. Paul Weber, the Roediger Distinguished
Service Professor for 2005-2006, is Director of the A Cappella Choir and
Associate Professor of Church Music at Lenoir-Rhyne College, where he also
conducts the Lenoir-Rhyne College Singers and the Lenoir-Rhyne Chapel
Choir. Since 1996 he has served as coordinator of the college’s Sacred
Music Program, developing it into a nationally recognized course of study.
Dr. Weber has been active as a choral
director and clinician on the district and regional levels, in schools and
churches, and for conferences and festival events. During his tenure, the
A Cappella Choir has released four recordings featuring a diversity of
repertoire. In November 2005 the choir performed a Concert for the ACDA
Luncheon at the NCMEA In-Service Conference held in Winston-Salem, NC. In
2003 the choir gave performances of portions of William Duckworth’s Southern
Harmony. In 2004 the choir premiered Hollis Thoms’ Strangers
inspired by the events of September 11, 2001. Weber’s own compositions
exemplify the continuation of the Lutheran choral tradition. Dr. Weber’s
Magnificat (1997) for soprano and treble soloists, chamber
orchestra, mixed choir and treble chorus received public acclaim in
performances throughout the southeast and abroad. Luthers letztes
Gebet, a setting of Martin Luther’s last prayer, scored for SSAATTBB
choir and solo trombone, was premiered at Luther’s grave in the Castle
Church, Wittenberg, Germany in 2003. The Lord Reigns, a setting of
Psalm 99 for treble choirs, was performed recently at the Episcopal
Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta. Most of Weber’s compositions are
self-published. In March 2003, Dr. Weber received the Raabe Prize for
Excellence in Sacred Composition from the Association of Lutheran Church
Musicians for a career of outstanding contributions to the profession as
exemplified in a single work written within the preceding five years. The
winning anthem, “Arise, Shine!” (SSAATTBB), available from
AugsburgFortress Publishing House, has received additional performances by
the Luther College Nordic Choir, the St. Olaf College Cantorei, and the
National Lutheran Choir.
Dr. Weber received a Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in Choral Conducting from The University of Iowa, a Master of
Musical Arts degree in Composition from Yale University, and a Master of
Music degree in Organ Performance and Composition from Washington
University, St. Louis. His composition teachers have included Krzysztof
Penderecki, Jacob Druckman, and Bruce MacCombie. He has studied conducting
and repertoire with Tamara Brooks, Richard Bloesch, William Hatcher, Jon
Bailey, Arthur Weisberg, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Robert Bergt. Weber has
held conducting positions at Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania, and
The Albertson College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho. He is an ordained pastor
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is married to Florence
Jowers, Lenoir-Rhyne College Organist and Conductor of the Lenoir-Rhyne
Youth Chorus.
|
