Lorna Cooke deVaron (January 17, 1921 – October 6, 2018) was an American choral conductor. She was one of the pre-eminent choral conductors of the 20th century, having given the world premiere or American premiere of many important works by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

, Aaron Copland, Irving Fine, Gunther Schuller,

Daniel Pinkham Daniel Rogers Pinkham Jr. (June 5, 1923 – December 18, 2006) was an American composer, organist, and harpsichordist. Early life and education Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, into a prominent family engaged in the manufacture of patent medicines ( ...

, and others. DeVaron founded the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

Chorus, which she directed from 1947 to 1988.

Education

DeVaron studied at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

and

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

, where she assisted G. Wallace Woodworth in the direction of the

Radcliffe Choral Society The Radcliffe Choral Society (RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard ...

Career

Subsequently, she became Assistant Professor of Music at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

, whose choir she conducted. Her principal conducting teacher was Robert Shaw, with whom she studied at

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...

. In 1953, deVaron was appointed to the faculty of

. There, she trained the

Tanglewood Festival Chorus The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, directed by James Burton, is a chorus which performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops in major choral works. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) was organized in the spring of 1970, when founding co ...

. She quickly became sought after as a choral conducting teacher to students from all over the world. For 34 years deVaron prepared choruses for top orchestras, most notably the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

who collaborated regularly with the New England Conservatory Chorus prior to the formation of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Six of deVaron's recordings won the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

. She also received several nominations from the National Academy of Recording Arts. In 1967, deVaron took the NEC Chorus on tour to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, as part of the Cultural Exchange Program, for which she received the Boston Medal for Distinguished Achievement. Several European tours with the Chorus followed. In 1978 she received the Medal for Distinguished Achievement from the Wellesley College Alumnae Association. In the summer of 1977, the Israeli Government invited deVaron to conduct

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

choirs and to lead a choral workshop in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. As a result, the following summer (1978), the government invited deVaron to return, this time with the NEC Chorus, where they participated in the 30th Anniversary celebration of the founding of Israel. During the 1980s deVaron guest conducted the Cameron Singers in Israel and the Broadcasting Chorus of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and conducted the NEC Chorus on concert tours to Romania, Bulgaria, and China.

Retirement and honors

In 1988 deVaron retired as Chair of the Choral Department of New England Conservatory. Among her many honors include an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the New England Conservatory, the

Harvard Glee Club The Harvard Glee Club is a 60-voice, Tenor-Bass choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1858 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest collegiate chorus in the United States. The Glee Club is part of the H ...

Medal for Distinguished Service to Choral Music, and a citation from the American Choral Directors Association for Distinguished Service to Choral Music.

Death

DeVaron died in October 2018 at the age of 97.NEC Mourns the Loss of Lorna Cooke deVaron
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References

External links

Interview with Lorna Cooke deVaron (2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devaron, Lorna Cooke American choral conductors 1921 births 2018 deaths Place of birth missing 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American women musicians Bryn Mawr College faculty Radcliffe College alumni New England Conservatory faculty Wellesley College alumni Women conductors (music) Women music educators American women academics