Image
The Board of Directors of the Andover Choral Society announces that Michael Driscoll has accepted the position of Music Director. Michael has become the fourth Artistic Director in the chorus’s 85-year history.
About Michael Driscoll:
Michael Driscoll began his tenure as Music Director of Andover Choral Society in the fall of 2013. In addition to working with the Andover Choral Society, he is Director of Choirs and Music Teacher at Brookline High School, a position he has held since 2003. At Brookline High School he directs three choirs, advises three student-run a cappella ensembles, teaches Advanced Placement music theory and class piano. He is the Lead Musicianship Teacher for the Handel & Haydn Society’s Vocal Apprenticeship Program for children and high school students. With H&H he develops and oversees the curriculum and trains and supervises the musicianship faculty.
Driscoll was Music Director of Boston Saengerfest Men’s Chorus from 2011-2013. For four years he served as Assistant Conductor of the Masterworks Chorale under the direction of Allen Lannom. He has directed the choirs at Emerson College and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and has guest conducted Boston’s Chorus pro Musica in a program featuring the New England première of Jonathan Dove’s Köthener Messe.
Driscoll is President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association (MassACDA). He is a passionate advocate for teaching music literacy skills in the choral classroom and has given many presentations on the subject at professional conferences including at MassACDA Summer Conferences, at the ACDA Eastern Division conference, at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association’s All-State Conferences and at the National Association for Music Education’s All-Eastern conference. He has published two articles entitled “But I Don’t Have Time! A Case for Teaching Music Literacy” in the Mass Music News magazine for music educators throughout Massachusetts. He has been involved with the MMEA Eastern Division as chorus manager of the high school festival and has composed the sight-singing portion of the vocal exam for many years. As a service to other music educators, he provides a number of free music literacy resources on his personal website, michaeldriscollconductor.com.
In the fall of 2012 Driscoll began doctoral studies in choral conducting at Boston University, studying with Ann Howard Jones and David Hoose. He received his Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Simon Carrington. He began conducting as an undergraduate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), directing Simple Harmonic Motion, a 14-member male a cappella group, for three years. He was Assistant Director of the WPI Men’s Glee Club for three years and directed the WPI Concert Choir for two years. Driscoll graduated from WPI in 1997 with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Minor in Music. He completed his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at WPI in 1999 and worked as a software development engineer for two years prior to beginning graduate studies in Choral Conducting at New England Conservatory in the fall of 2001.
About the Andover Choral Society:
The Andover (MA) Choral Society is a 65-80 voice SATB community chorus with a mission to provide the highest standard of musical performance to the Merrimack Valley community. The chorus performs two concerts per year at the Rogers Center for the Arts on the Merrimack College campus in North Andover, MA. The repertoire focuses on fine choral and choral-orchestral works from the baroque to the 21st century. Since 1929, membership has been open to anyone with a love for great choral music and a desire to share that love with others.
For information about the chorus please visit http://www.andoverchoralsociety.org.