Music students seeking a professional career as a choral musician can soon apply for the one-of-a-kind Master of Music in Vocal Chamber Music beginning in September 2019 at the University of Redlands, a premier private liberal arts and professional university in Southern California. The highly competitive degree, offered exclusively in the U of R School of Music, boasts faculty including internationally known Christopher Gabbitas of The King’s Singers, joining current award-winning faculty Dr. Nicholle Andrews and Dr. Joseph Modica.
“The engagement of artist professor Christopher Gabbitas as our colleague brings international prestige to the School of Music,” said U of R President, Dr. Ralph W. Kuncl, “and will undoubtedly recruit budding choral artists from around the world.”
The Master of Music in Vocal Chamber Music has a joint focus on highly advanced ensemble singing and the commercial understanding of what it takes to be a professional vocal chamber musician post-study. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the principal eras of western classical choral music and their most prominent composers, including study into contemporary performance practice, building concert and recording repertoire, recording techniques and preparation, and 360-degree analysis of professional choral music-making within a chamber choir context.
This two-year master’s program will enroll eight students each year who will complete 32 units—16 units over two summer sessions, and 16 on-line units over four semesters, allowing students enrolled in the program to continue with their professional performing careers during the school year.
“This unique degree course seeks to teach students how to deal with the business aspects of the music industry—from setting up an entity, presenting events and fundraising, to the process of making, distributing and selling recordings,” Gabbitas said. “Musical excellence, of course, remains the key to success, and students will first and foremost be expected to bring outstanding musicianship and choral ability to the course, but this is so much more than simply a chamber music degree—this is for singers who want to create the next wave of professional ensembles within the United States and beyond.”