Dr. Valerie Bullock presents final choral concert Friday
April 14, 2016
Dr. Valerie Bullock the Chair of the Horton School of Music and director of choral activities at Charleston Southern will be retiring at the end of this academic year after twenty-three years of choral excellence. She will be presents her final choral concert at CSU on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Lightsey Chapel Auditorium.
The program will feature all choral ensembles at CSU including Bel Canto and Concert Singers directed by Bullock as well as the Singing Bucs directed by Mr. Ricard Bordas. In addition to these choirs, choral alumni from the past 23 have been invited to return and sing in a special alumni choir on this program. Several graduates will also take turns directed pieces in the concert celebration.
Dr. Bullock is Chair of the Horton School of Music, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Charleston Southern University where she conducts the University Concert Singers, Bel Canto as well as coordinating choral music education.
Dr. Bullock is actively involved in many professional organizations including the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and Music Educators National Conference. She has served as President of the SC ACDA and was Local Arrangements Chair for the Southern Region American Choral Directors Convention held in Charleston as well as Interest Session coordinator for the Southern Division ACDA Conference in Nashville.
In addition to these activities, she has conducted choral clinics in Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Tennessee and South Carolina. She also conducts the Singers of Summerville and has conducted the Concert Singers in Austria, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Italy and Scotland. She has also conducted the Concert Singers in three week long Choir in Residence – two at York Minster in 2004 and 2006 and one at Canterbury Cathedral in 2012.
In 2013, Dr. Bullock conducted the Singers of Summerville as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Spotlight Series and in 2014 conducted the Concert Singers throughout Catalonia performing concerts in Barcelona, Girona and Palafrugel. This June, Dr. Bullock will conduct the CSU Concert Singers in a performing and mission trip to Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria.
Bullock’s legacy can be felt throughout the Southeast, but particularly in the schools in and around the Greater Charleston area. Many of her graduates have gone on to become lauded conductors, teachers and performers. Included among these outstanding alumni are David Richardson who currently directs the CSO Spiritual Ensemble and teaches choir at Rollings Middle School of the Arts, and Nathan Nelson, Founding Director of Lowcountry Voices and Associate Director for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir. Both Richardson and Nelson will be directed pieces for Friday’s program.
Emcees for the program will be CSU faculty members Dr. Jennifer Luiken and Dr. Don Clerico. The concert will feature music ranging from Schubert to spirituals and will reflect on memories with Dr. Bullock and of the CSU choral program.
Please join us as we celebrate 23 years of choral excellence. All Concert Singers, Chamber Singers and Concert Choir members are requested to join us in our celebration of Dr. Valerie Bullock’s retirement. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact HSM at [email protected] or (843) 863-7966.
Charleston Southern
Charleston Southern is a liberal arts university and is one of South Carolina’s largest accredited, independent universities, enrolling 3,600 students. The University’s vision is to be a Christian university nationally recognized for integrating faith in learning, leading and serving.
