NANCY MENK
1832 N. Adams Street Date of Birth: 9/13/55
South Bend, IN 46628 Marital Status: Single
(574) 233-6927 (H) Children: None
(574) 284-4633 (W) Citizenship: American
EDUCATION
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Cincinnati, OH)
1981-1985, D.M.A. (Choral Conducting) (Cognate Area: Accompanying)
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
1978-1981, M.M. (Choral Conducting)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Indiana, PA)
1977-1978, M.A. (Music Education)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
1973-1977, B.S. (Music Education)
ADDITIONAL STUDIES
Oregon Bach Festival, Master Class in Choral-Orchestral Conducting with Helmuth Rilling, June l8-July 3, 1992.
National Conductor's Symposium, Vancouver, B.C., January 21-26, 1991.
Voice Skills in Choral Conducting and General Music Workshop, St. Cloud State University, August 1-8, 1987.
American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Workshop, St. Louis, MO, January 17-19, 1986.
Master Classes in Choral Conducting with Eric Ericson, Harold Decker, Fiora Contino, Lloyd Pfautsch, Thomas Hilbish, Robert Page, Jon Washburn, and Gregg Smith.
Private Piano Instruction with Anthony DiVittorio, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS HELD
Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
Instructor, 1984-1985; Assistant Professor, 1985-1990; Associate Professor, l990-1996; Professor, 1996 to present; Director of Choral Activities, 1984 to present; Department Chair, l993-2007, Mary Lou and Judd Leighton Endowed Chair in Music, 2001 to present.
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Teaching Assistant, 1982-1984
Plum Borough School District, Pittsburgh, PA
Senior High Choral Director, 1978-1979 and 1980-1982;
Junior High Choral Director and General Music Teacher, 1979-1980
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA
Teaching Assistant, 1977-1978
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Founder and Conductor, South Bend Chamber Singers, l989 to present.
Indiana Arts Commission Grant Recipients, 1992-2009
Broadcast nationally on NPR's "The First Art," Program Nos. 9434, 9503, 9633, 9844, 9949
Finalists for the 2000 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, given by Chorus America
Winners of the 2004 ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming
Web Site at http://www.SouthBendChamberSingers.org
Music Director, Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus, 1997 to present.
Editor, Saint Mary's College Choral Series, published by Earthsongs, Corvallis, Oregon.
28 SSAA octavos currently in print.
Teacher of Conducting for the University of Notre Dame's graduate degree program in Sacred Music and their Summer Song program, presented by the Department of Theology. (2005 to present)
Teacher of Conducting Techniques for the VoiceCare Network's Continuing Course, St. John's University, Collegeville, MN, July 20-25, 1997.
Director, Saint Mary's College Summer Fine Arts Camp for Girls, 1986-1991.
Assistant Director, Knox Presbyterian Church Choirs, Cincinnati, OH, l983-l984.
MEMBERSHIP IN LEARNED AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND OFFICES HELD
•American Choral Directors Association, Life Member
Program Book Chair for the 2004 Central Division Convention in Indianapolis, IN
Chair of Reading Sessions for the l994 Central Division Convention in Chicago, IL Chair, Central Division Committee on Women's Choir Repertoire and Standards, 1986-1988, 1997-1999, 2007-2011 (Appointed)
•Music Educators National Conference
•Indiana Choral Directors Association
Chair, Committee on College & University Repertoire and Standards, 1991-1993, 1993-1995 (Appointed)
Chair, Committee on Women's Choir Repertoire and Standards, l988-1990 (Appointed)
Division I Representative, 1987-1989 (Elected)
•Indiana Music Educators Association
•Chorus America/American Choral Foundation
•National Collegiate Choral Organization
•International Federation for Choral Music
Attended World Symposium in Vancouver, B.C., 1993
Attended World Symposium in Sydney, Australia, 1996
Attended World Symposium in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1999
Attended World Symposium in Minneapolis, MN, 2002
Attended World Symposium in Kyoto, Japan, 2005
Attended World Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2008
•College Music Society
•Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity, Life Member
HONORS AND AWARDS
Listed in Who’s Who in Choral Music, first edition, ed. Gent Lazri and Stefan Simon, Braunfels, Germany, 2007.
Received a Saint Mary’s College 2007 COSTAR (Cooperative Study and Research) grant with colleague Prof. Laurel Thomas to support research in preparation for the 2008 productions of Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum and Puccini’s Suor Angelica.
Received a Saint Mary's College Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership Travel Grant and a Faculty Research Grant to attend the World Symposium on Choral Music, Kyoto, Japan, July 27-August 3, 2005.
Received the 2004 ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming.
Received the Spes Unica Award for Service to Saint Mary's College, May 4, 2003.
Received a Saint Mary's College Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership Travel Grant to attend the World Symposium on Choral Music, Minneapolis, MN, August 3-10, 2002.
Named the first holder of the Mary Morris and Judd Leighton Endowed Chair in Music, Saint Mary's College, 2001.
Received a Saint Mary's College Faculty Research Grant to attend the World Symposium
on Choral Music, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, July 7-14, 1999.
Received a Saint Mary's College Faculty Research Grant to attend the World Symposium
on Choral Music, Sydney, Australia, August 7-14, 1996.
Named one of 100 "people in the arts and cultural life of Indiana who matter" by Arts Indiana magazine, in their October, 1994 issue.
Received a Saint Mary's College Faculty Research Grant to attend the World Symposium on Choral Music, Vancouver, B.C., August 1-7, 1993.
Named "Woman of the Year" in the Arts for 1993 by the St. Joseph County YWCA at their annual Tribute to Women.
Received a Saint Mary's College Faculty Research Grant to attend the Oregon Bach Festival Master Class in Choral-Orchestral Conducting, June 18-July 3, 1992.
Selected as one of two American conductors to participate in the National Conductor's Symposium in Vancouver, B.C., January 21-26, 1991. This included an expense-paid trip to Vancouver and the opportunity to rehearse and conduct the Vancouver Chamber Choir and to work with conductors Jon Washburn and Gregg Smith.
Received the Hazel Wilson Bowsman Memorial Scholarship for Summer Study from the Delta Omicron International Music Fraternity, Summer 1987.
Received a Saint Mary's College Faculty Research Mini-Grant for research in the area of music for women's choirs by women composers.
Nomination of D.M.A. thesis, André Jolivet: Épithalame (Univ. of Cincinnati, 1985) for the 1985 Julius Herford Dissertation Award, sponsored by the American Choral Directors Association.
Selected as one of twelve conductors from across the country to participate in master classes with Eric Ericson, Director, Swedish Radio Choir. (ACDA National Convention, 1982)
Full Scholarship, University of Cincinnati, 1979-1984.
Full Scholarship, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1977-1978.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
Lectures/Performances Presented for Conferences
“A MADrigal Dinner or a MAIDrigal Dinner: An Evolving 35-Year Tradition at Saint Mary’s College,” presented for the Central Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Grand Rapids, MI, February 23, 2008.
Conducted the Saint Mary's College Women's Choir in concert for the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA, February 4 & 5, 2005. (Invited)
Presented a lecture entitled "Forging Meaningful Alliances with Other Institutions" for the annual Chorus America conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 10, 2004. (Invited)
"A Conducting Check-Up for School and Church Choir Directors," presented for the Indiana Choral Directors Association summer conference, University of Indianapolis, July 25, 2003. (Invited)
Conducted the South Bend Chamber Singers in concert for the Central Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Chicago, IL, March 8, 2002. (Invited)
Conducted a clinic on Choral Warm-ups for Teaching Musicianship for the Indiana Music Educators Association convention, Indianapolis, IN, January 12, 2001. (Invited)
Conducted a Choral Workshop for the Inchon City Chorale and area conductors, Inchon, South Korea, February 10, 2000. (Invited)
Conducted the Women's Choir Reading Session for the American Choral Directors Association National Convention, Chicago, IL, February 26, 1999. (Invited)
Conducted the Women's Choir Reading Session for the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention, Detroit, MI, February 12, 1998. (Invited)
Conducted the South Bend Chamber Singers in concert for the Indiana Choral Directors Association Summer Convention, Indianapolis, IN, July 20, 1997. (Invited)
Conducted a Choral Workshop for teachers and students sponsored by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Urban and Regional Council, Hong Kong, July 29-August 2, 1996. (Invited)
Conducted the South Bend Chamber Singers in concert for the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention, Cincinnati, OH, March 2, 1996. (Invited)
SSAA Reading Session presented for the Pennsylvania Choral Directors Association Summer Conference, Penn State University, August 8, 1995. (Invited)
"A Concert of 20th Century Choral Music" with the South Bend Chamber Singers for the Indiana Choral Directors Association Summer Convention, Butler University, Indianapolis, July 11, 1993. (Invited)
"Music for Women's Voices by Central Division Composers," a lecture/concert (with the SMC Women's Choir) for the Central Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Chicago, IL, February 2O, 1992. (Invited)
"Choral Literature for Junior High and High School Treble Voices," a reading session for the Midwestern Conference on School Vocal and Instrumental Music, Ann Arbor, MI, January 17-18, 1992. (Invited)
"Music for Women's Voices," a reading session for the Central Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Grand Rapids, MI, March l6, 1990. (Invited)
"Music for Women's Voices," a reading session for the Summer Convention of the Indiana Choral Directors Association, Anderson, IN, July 12, 1990. (Invited)
"Resources and 20th Century Repertoire for the Women's Choir," a lecture/concert (with the SMC Women's Choir) for the Indiana Music Educators Association annual convention, Indianapolis, IN, October 27, 1988. (Invited)
"Women's Choral Music Since 1960," a reading session for the Indiana Choral Directors Association summer convention, Indianapolis, IN, July 20, 1988. (Invited)
"Resources and Repertoire for the Women's Choir," a lecture/concert (with the SMC Women's Choir) for the Illinois Choral Directors Association annual convention, Chicago, IL, October 17, 1986. (Invited)
Editions
Saint Mary's College Choral Series, published by Earthsongs, Corvallis, Oregon:
Carol Barnett: Song of Perfect Propriety
Michael Cleveland: Pie Jesu
Tae Kyun Ham: Kashiri
William Hawley: Alma Redemptoris Mater
Ave Maria
Ave Regina Caelorum
Regina Caeli
Salve Regina
Andrejs Jansons: Two Latvian Carols
Ron Jeffers: Missa Brevis in tempore violentiae
The Salutation of the Dawn
The Serpent
To a Long-Loved Love
Victimae Paschali Laudes
Warning
Doug McConnell: Buccaneers of Buzz
Theodore Morrison: French Songs for Treble Voices
Zae Munn: Grandma's Alleluia
The Muse, the Stove, and the Willow Plate
Jonathan Pieslak: Solar Flares
Michael Sitton: Ubi Caritas
Gregg Smith: Jamaican Songs
Latin Madrigals
Nancy Telfer: Blue Eye of God
Butterfly
Clyde Tipton: Songs of Innocence
Monographs
Nancy Menk and James Laster, "Literature on the Women's Chorus, Part IV," The American Choral Foundation Research Memorandum Series, No. 175, June 1999.
Nancy Menk and James Laster, "Literature on the Women's Chorus, Part III," The American Choral Foundation Research Memorandum Series, No. 166, January 1995.
Nancy Menk and James Laster, "Literature on the Women's Chorus, Part II," The American Choral Foundation Research Memorandum Series, No. 150, October 1988.
Nancy Menk and James Laster, "Literature on the Women's Chorus, Part I," The American Choral Foundation Research Memorandum Series, No. 149, July 1988.
Articles
“A MADrigal Dinner, or a MAIDrigal Dinner?”, ACDA Central Division ReSound, Winter, 2009.
“Artistic Art Song Arrangements for Women’s Voices,” ACDA Central Division ReSound, Winter 2008.
"Re-evaluating the Women's Chorus," Indiana Musicator, vol. 47, no. 1, September 1991, pp. 11-12.
"Summer Programs--St. Cloud State University," The Wheel of Delta Omicron, vol. 79, no. 2, Winter 1988, pp. 37-38.
Reviews
"An American Festival of Lessons and Carols," CD recording by the Memphis Boychoir and Chamber Choir under the direction of John Ayer in The Diapason, January 1994, p. 8.
Reviews of choral repertoire for The Choral Journal, vol. 27, no. l, August 1986, p. 35; vol. 27, no. 2, September 1986, p. 45; vol. 30, no. 8, March 1990, p. 49.
D.M.A. Thesis
André Jolivet: Épithalame, University of Cincinnati, 1985.
D.M.A. Lecture Recital
Compositional Devices in Olivier Messiaen's Cinq Rechants, University of Cincinnati, April 27, 1983.
Professional Recordings
“The World’s Desire, Christmas at Loretto,” The South Bend Chamber Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor, Recorded January 24 & 25, 2009. ProOrgano CD No. 7229.
“Across the Bar” Music for Women’s Voices, The Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir,
Nancy Menk, conductor. Recorded April 11 & 12, 2007. ProOrgano CD No. 7215.
“Hearken All!” Christmas Music from the Saint Mary’s College Madrigal Dinners, The Saint Mary’s College Madrigal Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor. Recorded December 13, 2006. Zarex Custom.
"Anima mea!" New Music for Women's Voices, The Saint Mary's College Women's Choir, Nancy Menk, conductor. Recorded April 15 & 30, 2004. ProOrgano CD No. 7195.
"MILLENNIUM: Choral Music of Today," by Frank Ferko, William Hawley, Libby Larsen, James MacMillan, and Gyorgy Orban. The South Bend Chamber Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor, with David Eicher, accompanist, and the Chester String Quartet. Recorded May 9, 1999 & April 12, 2003. ProOrgano CD No. 7162. Reviewed in The American Record Guide, July/August 2004, pp. 237-238.
"Amazing Day!" Twentieth Century Music for Women's Voices, The Saint Mary's College Women's Choir, Nancy Menk, conductor. Recorded April 17 & 18, 2002. ProOrgano CD No. 7155.
"Christmas at Loretto" Twentieth Century Music for Christmas, The South Bend Chamber Singers, Nancy Menk, conductor, David Eicher, organist. Recorded January 30 & 31, 1999. ProOrgano CD No. 7079. Excerpts broadcast nationally on “The First Art,” Program No. 9949.
"Ave, Ave!" Twentieth Century Music for Women's Voices, The Saint Mary's College Women's Choir, Nancy Menk, conductor. Recorded April 25 & 26, 1997. ProOrgano CD No. 7095. Excerpts broadcast nationally on public radio's "With Heart and Voice," Program No. 9918.
GUEST CONDUCTING AND ADJUDICATION
Served as Guest Conductor for the Texas Collegiate Women’s Choral Festival, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas, October 27, 2007. (Invited)
Served as Guest Conductor for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 7 Choral Festival at Cumberland Valley High School on January 12-13, 2007. (Invited)
Served as an adjudicator for the 2006 Kentucky Music Educators Association's State Choral Festival at the University of Louisville, May 10 & 11, 2006. (Invited)
Served as a Guest Conductor for a Women's Choral Festival featuring choirs from Drake University, Simpson College, and Central College in Des Moines, Iowa on February 26, 2006 (Invited).
Conducted 8 works by Gwyneth Walker for women's chorus and orchestra with choirs from Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Vermont and the New England Symphonic Ensemble in concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday, November 22, 2005. (Invited)