JUDGE’S SPOTLIGHT
Powertalk has a new feature for every newsletter. Each edition will profile two adjudicators for Music In the Parks and Festivals of Music. One judge will be in the choral area and the other in the instrumental area. Our first two judges are Blaine Shover and Will Rapp.
Dr. Blaine F. Shover has been an adjudicator since 1990 for Music
In the Parks at Hersheypark, Dorney Park and Six Flags Great Adventure.
Dr. Shover is Professor of Music and Director of the Concert Choir and
Madrigal Singers at Shippensburg University where he is also director
of SU Music Theater. In addition to his responsibilities for Shippensburg,
he is the Artistic Director/Conductor of the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania based
Concord Chamber Singers. He has several works published by Mark Foster
Press and has been a guest conductor for chorus and orchestra festivals
in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Illinois.
His primary teachers were Elaine Brown, Robert Page, Harold Decker and
Paul Vermel. Some of the highlights of his career are working with American
Composers Aaron Copland, Vincent Persichetti, and Alan Hovhaness while
they were visiting artists at Shippensburg University. Dr. Shover holds
degrees from the Pennsylvania State University, Temple University and
his doctorate in conducting from the University of Illinois.
Dr.
Willis M. Rapp has been an adjudicator for Music In the Parks and
Festivals of Music since 1982. He has most recently been judging at Boston,
Montreal, Myrtle Beach, New York City, Ocean City, Toronto, Washington
DC, and Williamsburg. He is also the regional coordinator and host for
the Dorney Park Music In the Parks.Dr. Rapp is Professor of Music at Kutztown
University where he is also Music Department Chairman and Director of
Bands. He has a B.S. and M.M. both in music education from
West Chester University, Diploma of Fine Arts in Wind Conducting and Literature from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and his DMA from the Catholic University of America. Prior to teaching at Kutztown, Dr. Rapp has been on the faculties of Millersville University, Southeastern Louisiana University and Iowa State University. Dr. Rapp's career as a published author includes over 300 publications in the area of percussion ensemble compositions and marching band arrangements through Jenson Publications and the Hal Leonard Publishing Company.
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