Conducting with Conviction
Listen in as Dr. Jerry Blackstone, currently the conducting professor at the University of Notre Dame, shares his journey from a rural upbringing in Kansas to an accomplished career in conducting. Dr. Blackstone discusses his role at Notre Dame, working with graduate students in choral conducting, and reflects on his teaching philosophy, emphasizing the importance of imagination and communication in music. He also touches upon the role of technology in music education, the joys and challenges of conducting, and the spiritual dimensions of making music both in concert halls and churches. The episode delves into how his faith shapes his musical endeavors, his experiences with iconic pieces like Brahms’ Requiem, and the deep bonds formed through communal music-making.
Experience the Episode
Presented by Department of Theology
Draw on centuries-old tradition of singing Psalms and Canticles in the Liturgy of the Hours to discover a conceptual framework for bringing your own experiences, ideas, and musical background into creative conversation with liturgy and prayer. Experience Rhythms of Faith—no musical experience required!
Listen in as Dr. Jerry Blackstone, currently the conducting professor at the University of Notre Dame, shares his journey from a rural upbringing in Kansas to an accomplished career in conducting. Dr. Blackstone discusses his role at Notre Dame, working with graduate students in choral conducting, and reflects on his teaching philosophy, emphasizing the importance of imagination and communication in music. He also touches upon the role of technology in music education, the joys and challenges of conducting, and the spiritual dimensions of making music both in concert halls and churches. The episode delves into how his faith shapes his musical endeavors, his experiences with iconic pieces like Brahms’ Requiem, and the deep bonds formed through communal music-making.
Meet the Faculty: Dr. Jerry Blackstone
Grammy® Award winner Dr. Jerry Blackstone is a leading conductor and highly respected conducting pedagogue. As Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame, he heads the graduate choral conducting studio in the Sacred Music at Notre Dame Program. He is also Professor Emeritus of Conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he served as Director of Choirs and led the graduate program in choral conducting. In February 2006, he received two Grammy® Awards (“Best Choral Performance” and “Best Classical Album”) as chorusmaster for the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Choirs prepared by Blackstone have appeared under the batons of Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, Hans Graf, Michael Tilson Thomas, John Adams, Helmuth Rilling, James Conlon, Nicholas McGegan, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Peter Oundjian, and Yitzak Perlman.
With a heart for church music ministry, Blackstone served for seventeen years as music director at churches in California, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Michigan. He is also an active guest conductor and workshop presenter and has appeared in forty-two states as well as New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Sicily. From 2012-2024 he led the Adult Choir Camp and Choral Conducting Institute at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Recent appearances include Handel’s Messiah (with choir and orchestra) in Shanghai, a concert in Virginia with the US Army Chorus, headlining the 2022 Illinois American Choral Directors Association’s summer conference, conducting the Duruflé Requiem in Carnegie Hall in 2024, and serving as a guest faculty member in April-May 2024 at the Eastman School of Music.