David Rayl is in his fifth year as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Programs at Michigan State University where he conducts the MSU Chorale and Choral Union and directs the master’s and doctoral programs in choral conducting. He also serves as Associate Director for Graduate Studies in Music. 

The MSU Chorale will appear at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) in Miami in March 2007. Previously, the ensemble, under Dr. Rayl’s baton, has performed at the national meeting of the College Music Society in Kansas City (2002), the annual convention of the Michigan ACDA chapter (2005), the Central Division Convention of the ACDA in Chicago (2006) and with the Detroit Symphony in performances of Handel’s Messiah (2002, 2003, 2005) and Mozart’s Requiem (2003).   

Prior to his MSU appointment, Rayl served for 12 years in a similar position at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Under his direction, the MU University Singers sang at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association in 1995, and in May 1998 the ensemble appeared, by invitation, at the 27th annual Florilège Vocal in Tours, France. In May 2000, the Singers undertook a concert tour of Italy, which included a performance in Florence for the international music festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.  

Rayl has appeared as guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States. Recent appearances include the national convention of the Associação Brasileira de Regentes de Coros in Goiania, Brazil; The Phenomenon of Singing, International Symposium V, in St. John’s Newfoundland; the national convention of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in Minneapolis; the Missouri and Nebraska High School All-State Choirs; as well as honor choirs at the University of Iowa, Lawrence University, Chadron State College in Nebraska, and Central Missouri State University. In recent years he has given presentations and workshops for the national meeting of the College Music Society, the North Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association, the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association, the Nebraska Choral Directors Association, the Michigan State High School Activities Association, VanderCook College of Music in Chicago Drake University. His international engagements include performances at the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; the V Festival di Musica Antica in Urbino, Italy; the VII Festival Internaçional de Música de Camera do Pará, in Belem, Brazil; the II Festival de Corais in Brasilia, Brazil; and the Painel Unicanto de Regencia Coral, Londrina, Brazil. 

He is the former music director of the Chamber Singers of Iowa City (1985-1990) and the Quad City Mozart Festival (1987-97) and has received particular notice for his performances of the choral, operatic, and orchestral repertoire of the 18th century, especially the works of Bach and Mozart. Several of his articles and reviews have appeared in the Choral Journal and The Journal of the Conductors’ Guild, and his editions of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Nine Settings of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary were published by A-R Editions of Madison, Wisconsin. 

Upcoming engagements include the Illinois All-State Honors Choir, Beethoven Mass in C Major at Carnegie Hall for Mid-America Productions, and workshops for church musicians in Missouri and Colorado.

Developing Independent Musicians in the Choral Rehearsal:

Part 2:  Tonal Literacy. Sessions 1-3 include teaching strategies for developing audiation, elementary composition, musical memory, dictation and aural skills.

For more information, call the

Conference Coordinator,

at 978-867-4429