Dalcroze for the 21st Century Musician: Performance, Improvisation, and Pedagogy

With Dr. Gregory Ristow, Dalcroze Diplome Superior Candidate; Associate Professor of Conducting, Director of Vocal Ensembles, Oberlin Conservatory of Music

This three hour workshop is for adult music students, performers, pedagogues, and professionals. No previous Dalcroze experience required. Dr. Gregory Ristow will lead participants through the comprehensive method of Dalcroze using meaningful movement and interactive activities, including a particular focus on Eurhythmics and Dalcroze’s creative and joyful approach to ear training. Students and seasoned professionals alike will gain a deeper understanding of music; learning innovative approaches for teaching, composing, improvising, and performing.

Gregory Ristow directs the Oberlin College Choir and Musical Union and teaches courses in vocal chamber music and conducting. He has conducted with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Houston’s Foundation for Modern Music, the Voices chamber choir in Rochester, N.Y., as artistic director of Encore Vocal Arts in Indianapolis, and as assistant conductor of the Gregory Kunde Chorale in Rochester. He has sung with the Houston Chamber Choir and Houston’s Mercury Baroque, and has been called a performer with “star quality” who was “striking whenever he appeared on stage” (Indianapolis Examiner).

In addition to his work as a choral conductor, Ristow is in demand as a teacher of Dalcroze eurhythmics, a method of teaching music through movement. He served as instructor of eurhythmics at the Eastman School of Music (2009-11) and between 2004 and 2011 frequently directed the Eastman Summer Dalcroze Institute, an intensive program for teachers looking to incorporate Dalcroze eurhythmics techniques in their teaching. He served on the faculty of the Eastman Summer Choral Conducting Institute, where he taught eurhythmics-based movement classes for conductors and classes on using eurhythmics in choral rehearsals.

Ristow earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he taught undergraduate and graduate conducting and was assistant conductor of the Eastman Chorale and the Eastman-Rochester Chorus. While at Eastman, Ristow received the TA Award for excellence in teaching and the Edward Curtis Peck Award for excellence in teaching by a graduate student. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education at Oberlin Conservatory, master’s degrees in conducting and music theory pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music, a Dalcroze certificate at the Juilliard School (studying with Robert Abramson), and a Dalcroze license at the Longy School of Music (studying with Anne Farber and Lisa Parker). He has studied piano with Lydia Frumkin, harpsichord with William Porter, and voice with mezzo-soprano Kathryn Cowdrick.

In addition to his role at Oberlin, Ristow conducts the Interlochen Singers and teaches eurhythmics at the Interlochen Arts Camp. Previously, he served as director of choirs at the DePauw University School of Music (2011-15), the Rochester Institute of Technology (2009-11), and at Lone Star College-Montgomery (2004-09), where he received the 2008 Faculty Excellence Award.

“When I was a sophomore, my piano teacher at Oberlin steered me towards Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and studying it helped me find a freedom of expression in my playing, teaching and improvising that I hadn’t known was possible. By connecting music to movement, and teaching music through studying movement, Eurhythmics makes the invisible elements of music visible and erases barriers to learning and communication.”