2004 ALL-STATE CHORUS & ORCHESTRA
GUEST CONDUCTORS

Guest Orchestra Conductor  Tyler White

Interview: Introduction How did you get involved with conducting the SD All-State Orchestra? Is this a large number for an orchestra? What role do you play as the conductor? Is it hard to control a group of this size? How were the pieces selected for the concert? What about the piece you wrote? What is the most challenging piece? What seems to be the favorite? Describe the caliber of musicians in South Dakota. What is the status of the arts in this country today? What's next for you?

Tyler White

"Torrents of molten steel...," "exuberant, fleet, swinging...," "conducted with passion...," "[a] steady baton...," "the orchestra...was stunning"-these are words critics across the country have used to describe Tyler White's work as a conductor. Dr. Tyler White has been Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since 1994, leading the orchestra program in a period of extraordinary growth and achievement. Under his direction, the UNL Symphony Orchestra has been recognized as one of America 's finest collegiate ensembles, selected to perform at national and regional conventions of the Music Educators National Conference. Before coming to Nebraska , White led orchestras at Cornell University and Trinity University ( Texas ); he appears regularly as guest conductor and clinician with student orchestras nationwide. Currently in his third year as the Lincoln Symphony's Resident Conductor for Youth and Educational Programs, White has also garnered rave reviews from teachers, students, and professional musicians alike for his ability to make symphonic masterpieces come alive for audiences of all ages.

A protégé of the late Maestro Robert Shaw, White was born in Atlanta , Georgia and was raised in Manhattan , Kansas . After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill , he earned his master's and doctoral degrees in composition from Cornell University , studying with Steven Stucky and Pulitzer Prize-winner Karel Husa. National and international recognition for his compositions has come through awards from BMI, The American Conservatory at Fontainebleau (Prix Maurice Ravel), Vienna Modern Masters, the Omaha Symphony Guild, Tulane University , Indiana State University, and the Southeastern Composers League, and through commissions from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the St. Luke's Trio, and other ensembles. In 1997, White's cello concerto Threnos (William Schuman in memoriam) became the first work by a Nebraskan to win the Omaha Symphony's International New Music Competition, and in 1999 his opera O Pioneers!, the first-ever operatic treatment of a Willa Cather novel, was premiered at UNL and televised on Nebraska Public Television. In 2001, Dr. White was named Composer of the Year by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association. Most recently, White's Elegy "for the orphans of terror" (premiered in 2002 by the UNL Symphony Orchestra) was recorded by the Sofia Philharmonic on the inaugural volume of ERMMedia's "Masterworks of the New Era" CD series. In May 2004, Dr. White was guest professor of conducting at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing , China .

 Dr. Timothy Peter

Timothy Peter is a native of Minnesota and received his undergraduate degree from Luther College in Decorah , Iowa .  In 1993, he completed the degree of Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona , under the direction of Dr. Maurice Skones.  Previous to his position at Luther, he was the choral director at St. Ansgar High School in St. Ansgar , Iowa and at Sabino High School in Tucson , Arizona .  Joining the Luther faculty in the fall of 1991, Dr. Peter conducts the Collegiate Chorale, Cathedral Choir and Luther’s First-year men’s choir, the Norsemen, and teaches conducting.  He is currently the Iowa Choral Directors Association R.& S. Chair for College and University Choirs.  As an adjudicator, conductor and clinician, he is active with All-States, festivals and conventions throughout the United States .  Together with his wife Sandra, also on the music faculty at Luther College , they have two sons, Andrew and Michael.