DePauw Welcomes Jan Harrington

August 4, 2010

After celebrating 125 seasons of music making, members of the DePauw University School of Music are thrilled to begin the new season by welcoming renowned conductor Jan Harrington as the director of DePauw choral ensembles. (photo by Tom Stio)

Harrington, an active clinician in conducting and score analysis, is equally at home with orchestra, opera, and oratorio. His operatic performances have spanned the repertoire from Monteverdi's Orfeo to John Adams' Nixon in China, while his choral repertoire extends from the great works of Schütz, Monteverdi, and Machaut to the masterpieces of Brahms, Berlioz, Verdi, and Mozart. Harrington's orchestral and choral performances have been consistently lauded for their inventive programming, communicative excitement, and technical brilliance.

"We are thrilled to have Dr. Harrington join our faculty as choral director for the 2010-11 academic year," says Caroline K. Jetton, dean of the School of Music. "His wealth of experience and high profile in the music world make his appointment especially exciting. I have absolutely no doubt that the students will cherish the opportunity of singing in his choirs and learning from him."

Caroline B. Smith, Cassel Grubb University Professor and voice area coordinator echoed Dean Jetton's remarks. "DePauw University is extremely fortunate to have Dr. Harrington assume the choral helm this coming year," she says. "Our students will benefit greatly not only from Jan's expertise and choral mastery, but also his warmth and sense of humor. Certainly his appointment brings a tremendous boon to DePauw's long choral tradition."

Harrington received his B.M. at Southern Methodist University, followed by his M.M. and D.M. at Indiana University. He held positions at the University of Oklahoma and the State University of New York at Fredonia, before beginning his distinguished 33-year career at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as Chancellor's Professor and Chair of the Choral Conducting Department. During his entire tenure, he conducted the Indiana University Singers, and over a 10-year span served as conductor of the Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. Additionally, Harrington participated in the Aspen Choral Festival, co-founded and served as music director of the Music Festival at Grey Towers, and recorded for Spectrum Records.

Harrington continues as artistic director of Apollo's Voice, a professional chamber chorus based in Bloomington, Indiana, which performs and records with Raymond Leppard and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with such luminary soloists as Kathleen Battle, Sylvia McNair, Frederica von Stade and Elizabeth Futral.

"It has been a joy to become acquainted with him and see his genuine excitement and energy," Jetton adds. "I look forward to the upcoming year and the many positive contributions Dr. Harrington will make in the School of Music."

For information about the DePauw Choral program, or listings of upcoming choral events, visit the DePauw School of Music website at www.depauw.edu/music, or contact the School of Music at (765) 658-4380 or schoolofmusic@depauw.edu.

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