A student from Greece is among three conductors at a summer choral concert Sunday, August 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Lynchburg College’s Snidow Chapel that highlights the work of students in the College’s Master of Arts in Music choral conducting program. The concert is free and open to the public.
Antonis Ververis, Melanie Braxton Coleman, and Katie Pyles will conduct the LC Summer Choral Union practicum choir in a variety of choral selections with Rose M. Peak as accompanist.
Ververis discovered LC’s program on line and it was one of only a few summer programs in the United States he could find that would allow him to continue to work full time during the school year while pursuing an advanced degree.
Lynchburg College’s Master of Arts in Music Program is an intensive summer graduate program in choral or instrumental conducting that provides advanced and in-depth training for current conducting professionals, as well as for those preparing for doctoral programs in conducting. Dr. Jong Kim, LC professor of music and director of choral activities, is program coordinator.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature performances of Wedding Cantataby Daniel Pinkham, “Let Their Celestial Concerts Unite” from the oratorio Samson by George Frideric Handel; Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner; The Lord Is a Mighty God by Felix Mendelssohn; The May Night by Johannes Brahms; Dirait-on (So they say) by Morten Lauridsen; The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson; I Will Arise, arranged by Shaw and Parker; and True Light by Keith Hampton.
A 2006 graduate of Lynchburg College, Coleman is an elementary music teacher in the Amherst County public school system. While at Lynchburg College, she was a recipient of the Virginia Berger Award for Music Scholarship and sang with the LC Concert Choir, the Lynchburg Singers chamber ensemble, and the Choral Union. She currently serves on the Choral Union board of directors. This is her second year as a student in the graduate program in choral conducting.
Ververis and Pyles enrolled in LC’s graduate choral conducting program this summer, and this concert marks their first appearance as conductors of the summer Choral Union.
Ververis holds a bachelor of arts in musicology and music education from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a master of arts in choral education from Roehampton University, London where he is currently conducting research on how social and cultural context influences children’s singing development. He has presented papers at conferences organized by the Panhellenic Association of Choral and Orchestral Conductors. A resident of Greece, Mr. Ververis conducts two adult choirs and teaches general music in Greek public elementary schools.
Pyles earned a bachelor of science in music education from Messiah College in 2006 where she studied voice with Elaine Henderson and oboe with Jill Marchione and was a member of the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra. She currently teaches choral music at Turner Ashby High School in Rockingham County.
Learn more about the Lynchburg College Master of Arts in Music program.
