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City. As a new participant in the Robert Shaw Festi- What, if anything, would you change about your
val Singers, I was in my first rehearsal with Mr. Shaw professional life?
in the NYC’s Manhattan Center. Mr. Shaw was intro-
duced, we did some vocal warm-ups, and launched into
our first rehearsal of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem— I would have been far greater involved, on a consis-
count-singing! Although I’d been in bands for many tent basis, in ACDA—and a closer colleague with other
years as a student, I’d never been taught the techniques choral conductors. Having worked until I was in my
of count-singing. As I recall, we sang deeply into the eighties, I think I probably climbed most of the moun-
work in this manner. After no more than six to eight tains that God had planned for me.
minutes of this activity, all my concepts of unity of en-
semble, unity of rhythmic singing, unity of musical ex- What is the best professional advice you were given
pression, unity of tuning, simultaneity of and dialogue early in your career?
between voice lines were upended. That week-long ex-
perience reformatted my concepts of what I taught and
how I approached choral music. What I learned that From Robert Shaw: “90% will never be good
week still lies at the core of my work as a conductor/ enough.”
teacher/coach.

Dale Warland has made an indelible
Donald Neuen retired in 2014 as distin- impression on contemporary choral
guished professor of music/conducting music, nationally and international-
emeritus after serving twenty years on ly. After disbanding the Dale Warland
the UCLA faculty. He was previous- Singers in 2004, he served as music di-
ly director of choral activities for the rector of The Saint Paul Chamber Or-
Eastman School of Music for twelve chestra Chorale and the Minnesota Beethoven Festival
years. Beginning in 1963, Neuen held choral positions Chorale. Warland’s many honors include awards from
with the Universities of Wisconsin, Tennessee, Geor- ASCAP, the McKnight Foundation, Chorus America,
gia State, and Ball State. He authored Choral Concepts, a and a Grammy nomination. In 2012 he was inducted
choral conducting textbook. In 2017, Neuen retired as into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
the conductor of the internationally televised Hour of
Power Choir.
How did you keep yourself fresh and enthusiastic
during your career?
What do you think are the most striking changes
(positive or negative) in choral music today?
A. Primarily through an ongoing effort of seeking out
I’m sorry to see the gradual demise of quality tradi- and commissioning, inspiring “new” choral works from
tional church music in many areas nationwide, and a emerging and established composers.
lessening of the Palestrina-to-Britten legacy in the pro-
gramming of many school, university, and community B. By seeking out choral works of the highest quality
choirs. Also, somewhat lacking, seems to be the consis- from times past that have been neglected or have fallen
tent effort of teaching beautifully mature “soloistic vo- off the radar and that need to be “kept alive” and en-
cal tone quality”—as established so perfectly by Robert joyed by choirs and audiences far and wide.
Shaw and Roger Wagner.

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9 65