Featuring: George Lynn • George Eugene Umberson • Donald Neuen • Paris Rutherford • Peter Bagley • Charlene Archibeque • Eph Ehly • Joseph Flummerfelt • Joan Conlon • Ann Howard Jones • Simon Carrington • Earl Rivers • Henry Leck • Hilary Apfelstadt • André Thomas • Maria Guinand

Choral conductors shoulder a great responsibility as custodians of their craft. And there is perhaps no better source of inspiration and guidance for today’s conductors than the experiences and insights of choral giants who have blazed the trail we now tread.

In Search of Inspiration is a collection of in-depth interviews with fifteen highly respected choral conductors from around the world. Each answers a series of fundamental questions about how they shaped their achievements: How do they balance their time making music and fulfilling teaching schedules and concert schedules? How do they motivate students, manage outside professional commitments in the educational setting, and satisfy administrators?

Each conductor generously shares their wisdom and expertise, discussing memorable educational moments on the podium and in the classroom, recounting stirring experiences in the concert hall, and sharing stories about their work with historic figures in music. They also offer insights on programming repertoire and explain how they have successfully navigated a career in music.

These interviews document the through lines within the choral art—elements of performance and mentorship stemming from such luminaries as Julius Herford and Robert Shaw that connect so many of the great conductors.

A fascinating and relevant read for any choral educator, In Search of Inspiration explores the choral art through extraordinary 20th- and 21st-century voices whose artistry and influence will be felt for generations to come.

Gregory Gentry is director of choral studies and the Lynn Whitten Choral Music Faculty Fellow at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is editor of the Gregory Gentry Choral Series (Fred Bock Publishers), past president of Arizona ACDA, and former chorus master with the Phoenix Symphony and Colorado Music Festival. Gentry states that he felt it was time to revitalize and update the book In Quest of Answers: Interviews with American Choral Conductors (Howard Swan and Carole Glenn).

Contributors: Emilie Bertram, Corie Brown, Galen Darrough, Stephen Futrell, Anna Wheeler Gentry, Gregory Gentry, Sharon A. Hansen, Aaron Harp, Vernon Huff, David Kates, Dee Romines, Kira Zeeman Rugen, Paul Thompson, Betsy Cook Weber, Adam Zrust