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Selected Courses

Concert Choir
Women's Chorus
Madrigal Singers
Gregorian Chant Ensemble
The Care and Feeding of Your iPod
Western Music History
Musics of the Arab World
Conducting

Biography

William Culverhouse serves as director of the choral music program at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and teaches courses in Western music history, music appreciation, and conducting. His ensemble directing responsibilities include the Earlham Concert Choir, Women's Chorus, Madrigal Singers, and Gregorian Chant Ensemble, and he also supervises the Men's Quartet and assists with vocal coaching for musical theater productions. He also directs the Richmond, Indiana Chorale in collaborations with Earlham choral ensembles. He was educated at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Maryland, and his conducting teachers include Edward Maclary and Herbert Henke. He came to Earlham College having directed choirs at all age levels and in a wide variety on contexts. Most recently he served as the director of the Schola Cantorum, the resident professional choir of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the Maryland Chorus, the resident symphonic choir of the University of Maryland. Under his direction, the Schola performed several times for President Bush, and sang at the funeral of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The Schola sings every year at the Red Mass marking the opening of the U.S. Supreme Court session. During his tenure, the Schola developed a reputation for excellence in the performance of Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony, and for championing the work of living composers. They have also recorded numerous CDs.

While at the University of Maryland, Culverhouse taught conducting and directed the Women's Chorus, Chapel Choir, and Men's Chorus. He also continued the Maryland Chorus's traditional specialization in historically-informed performances of Baroque music, and his performances of Handel's complete Messiah were greeted with wide acclaim. He has also directed choirs and taught general music, music history and music theory in the public school systems of Ohio, Illinois, and Virginia, and has directed community children's choirs and adult chamber choirs. An enthusiastic collaborator, his high school choirs have joined with other local high school choirs for large-scale performances of major works by Benjamin Britten, Morten Lauridsen, and Carl Orff. He is also an active guest conductor and adjudicator, and has served as a clinician in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and also works as a private vocal coach. He is also a specialist in musics of the Arab world, and has recently completed several research tours of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine, exploring traditional and contemporary vocal and instrumental music of the Middle East.

Additionally, Dr. Culverhouse is active as a composer and performer. He has studied composition with Adolphus Hailstork, Robert Sirota, and Kathryn Alexander, and his compositions have been performed by a wide variety of ensembles. His Requiem for chorus and harp was premiered in May 2008 and performed again in Richmond in April 2012 by members of the Earlham choirs and the Richmond Chorale. A lyric baritone with a specialization in early and contemporary art music, he has given solo vocal performances in Norfolk, Cleveland, Chicago, the North Carolina Outer Banks, and the Washington, D.C. area, as well as numerous faculty recitals at Earlham. He was an original member of the professional vocal ensemble Icarus which has been featured in the Chorworks summer early music conferences led by founding Tallis Scholar Philip Cave. Most recently he presented an all-Bach recital with members of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra as part of the Meetinghouse Concert Series in Richmond, Indiana.

Research Projects

Gregorian Chant and Renaissance Polyphony
Choral Music in the Arab World
Stylistic Fusion in American and Middle Eastern Popular Musics

Professional Memberships

American Choral Directors' Association
National Collegiate Choral Organization
Middle East Studies Association