George Emlen
Choral Conducting
George Emlen has been the music director of Revels, Inc., since 1984. With the artistic director, he creates the Revels stage productions, selects and trains the adult chorus, researches and arranges musical selections, and engages instrumentalists. He directs and produces Revels recordings, edits and engraves all of Revels' published musical materials, including choral octavos and songbooks, and he assists the eight other Revels organizations nationwide in developing their annual productions. He also leads public singing events such as RiverSing, Spring Sing and Revels Pub Sings.
Mr. Emlen has directed choral ensembles all his adult life in churches, schools and theatrical productions. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he earned his Master of Music degree in choral conducting at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Lorna Cooke de Varon. While living in Maine he conducted the Acadia Choral Society, which he founded in 1979; the Oratorio Chorale; and, for 18 seasons, the Mount Desert Summer Chorale. He currently conducts the New England Conservatory Camerata, a select chamber ensemble of adult singers.
Mr. Emlen is on the faculty of New England Conservatory, where he teaches a choral conducting class through the Continuing Education Division. He is also on the faculty of Lesley University in Cambridge in the Creative Arts in Learning graduate program, where he teaches music courses to classroom teachers throughout the U.S. He previously taught and conducted at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham and was music director at the Putney School in Vermont. He has also taught at the College of the Atlantic and the University of Maine at Machias.
Mr. Emlen’s choral compositions and arrangements are published by Lawson-Gould and Thorpe. His latest commission is for a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from the choir of the First Methodist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, for an upcoming tour of English cathedrals.
Related links:
www.georgeemlen.com