Department of Music
Willamette University
900 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97301
(503) 370-6255 |
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Mailing Address:
Willamette University
Department of Music
900 State Street
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503)370-6320
Fax: (503) 370-6260
Email: wlongjr@willamette.edu
Office: Rogers Music Center 107
Website: Male
Ensemble Northwest
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Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, I thought I wanted to be a stockbroker.
To that end, I entered the University of Arizona as a business/economics
major. Boy, did I have a wrong number!
Since I had been involved in music for as long as I could remember
(I led singing in church when I was eight years old), I enrolled
in Chamber Choir at the U of A. I looked at music as my avocation,
never as a career possibility. Then I had the privilege of singing
under the direction of John Bloom and my world changed forever.
I continued my studies there with David Wilson, Jean Berger
and Maurice Skones, and soon Wall Street was forgotten, as I
became aware of the beauty, drama, emotion, and sensitivity
of great choral music performance. I wanted to perform, and
even more, I wanted to conduct. The attraction for taking great
literature, interpreting and understanding it, bringing performers
into the magic of it with me, and then giving it as a gift to
an audience, has never wanted for me. When I discovered the
satisfaction of awakening students to the joys of choral music,
my life's work was determined.
I have served as Director of Choral Activities at Willamette
University in Salem, Oregon, since 1983 and Music Department
Chair from 1994- 2001. It has been a great 19 years. In my highly
prejudiced opinion, there simply isn't another profession with
the variety of ways to practice your craft, and the remarkable
and frequent opportunities to feed your soul. I am so fortunate
to look back at recording CD's in France and performing in Carnegie
Hall as a member of the Festival Singers of the great Robert
Shaw, conducting the Willamette Singer's in the Imperial Hotel
Ballroom in Tokyo, and singing with Male Ensemble Northwest
for my colleagues at the American Choral Director's National
Conference in Washington, D.C. I have conducted the all-state
choir in Kansas and have had both my classical choral and vocal
jazz groups invited to perform at national conferences in Boston,
New Orleans, Chicago, and Indianapolis. My greatest personal
satisfaction, however, still comes from seeing my student's
faces, at that exact moment when they understand the meaning
of the text and the beauty of the music, and it all comes together
for them. There is nothing else quite like it and I wouldn't
trade those moments for anything in the world.
Professor Wallace Long Jr., Director of Choral Activities; B.M.,
M.M., A. Mus. D., University of Arizona; taught choral music
in Tucson, Arizona, before coming to Willamette; performs professionally
with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in France and Carnegie
Hall and with Male Ensemble Northwest including compact disc
recordings and an honorific performance at the American Choral
Directors Association's National Conference in Washington, D.C.;
past president of the Oregon chapter of American Choral Directors
Association; Guest Conductor, Kansas All-State Choir, Fairbanks
Festival of the Arts, Northwest American Choral Directors Association
Honor Chair.
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