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Clayton Parr has
been Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at DePaul
since 1999. A native of Detroit, Dr. Parr graduated from Albion College with
degrees in music and physics, and taught in the public schools in Michigan and
New York before earning his MM and DMA at Michigan State University. Before his
appointment at DePaul, he served on the faculty at Miami University in
Ohio.
Dr. Parr conducts
the DePaul University Singers, who have been invited to perform at conventions
of the American Choral Directors Association and Illinois Music Educators
Association, been recorded on Southport Classics, and have released two of
their own CDs. He also leads
DePaul A Cappella, a chamber ensemble which won prizes at the International
Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales in 2007, and the DePaul Concert Choir,
which has performed with the Illinois Philharmonic. He also teaches courses in conducting, choral literature and
music education.
He is active as a
performer in Chicago, with Music of the Baroque, the Grant Park Music Festival
and Bella Voce, and has appeared with the Cincinnati Opera, Oregon Bach
Festival, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble. His most recent solo appearances have
included Carmina Burana with the National Music Center Symphony
Orchestra in Tbilisi, Georgia. He
is music director of Ensemble Alioni, a Chicago-based group dedicated to the
performance of Georgian folk song.
His activity as
guest conductor, lecturer, adjudicator and performer has taken him to 23 states
and 17 foreign countries, including the Republic of Georgia, where he was a
Fulbright scholar for the 2005-2006 academic year at the Sarajishvili State
Conservatoire. He has served in various leadership positions with the American
Choral Directors Association, and is currently Executive Secretary of
Intercollegiate MenÕs Choruses.. His articles have been published in the Choral
Journal, Music Educators Journal, and International
Choral Bulletin, and he is editor for the series ÒMusic of
the Republic of GeorgiaÓ for earthsongs publishing.
He can be reached at cparr@depaul.edu