Brian Gendron: choirs

Brian Gendron is the Director of Choral Activities at Virginia Tech, where he conducts four ensembles and teaches choral literature and conducting. Since his appointment in 2003, Virginia Tech ensembles have received invitations to perform at state conferences of the Virginia Music Educators Association, Virginia Music Teachers Association, and National Association of Teachers of Singing. They have collaborated with the New River Valley Symphony Orchestra and Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Kansas City Baroque Consortium.

In addition to his responsibilities at Virginia Tech, Gendron is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Blacksburg Master Chorale (BMC). The BMC has performed a wide range of choral-orchestral works under his direction, including Bach’s Mass in B minor and Magnificat, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Corigliano’s Fern Hill, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Pärt’s Te Deum. Since his appointment, the BMC has expanded to include the Blacksburg Children’s Chorale and the Blacksburg Master Singers, a chamber choir selected from the BMC membership.

Gendron has extensive experience with music for the stage. He serves as Chorus Master for Opera Roanoke, with recent credits including Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, Verdi’s Macbeth and Beethoven’s Fidelio. He has also prepared choruses for American Opera Theater, including Charpentier’s David et Jonathas for AOT’s New York premier at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House. Gendron recently served as Music Director for Michael Gordon’s Lightning at Our Feet, which was co-produced by Virginia Tech Theater Arts and Ridge Theater. Scheduled 2008-2009 productions include Verdi’s Otello with Opera Roanoke, as well as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Blow’s Venus and Adonis with AOT.

Gendron has held positions at Goodrich High School (MI) and Hollins University (VA) and has served as Director of Music for churches in Michigan and Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also completed his residency for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting.

Gendron has presented sessions at conferences of the Virginia Music Educators Association and American Choral Directors Association. He is active as an adjudicator, guest conductor and clinician throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States.