Melinda O'Neal
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Melinda O'Neal is a conductor of
choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
and choral-orchestral music, professor emerita of music, and author. O'Neal was music director and conductor of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College (oratorio society of 100 student and community voices) 1979–2004, and founder and conductor of Dartmouth College Chamber Singers (30-voices) 1979-1996. She was professor of music at Dartmouth College 1979–2018, leading ensembles and teaching courses in conducting, vocal literature, Berlioz and Brahms, and music theory. In 2016 and 2017 O'Neal taught choral literature courses for conducting graduate students at Indiana University. She was visiting professor at Towson University (MD) 2005, Indiana University 1999, and University of Georgia 1996-97. As an independent conductor, O'Neal was artistic director and conductor of Handel Choir of Baltimore 2004-2013, inaugurating both the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra and Chandos Singers. She co-founded and led the Boston Vocal Artists' Sonique from 2003-2005, served as principal guest conductor of the Hanover Chamber Orchestra 1991-2004, and was guest conductor-in-residence in 1995 of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra Chorale to prepare Berlioz's '' La Damnation de Faust''. As chorus master for Monadnock Music Festival in Wilton, NH 1994-96, she prepared performances of Gluck’s ''Orphée et Eurydice'' with period instruments, and Virgil Thompson’s ''The Mother of Us All'', conducted by James Bolle. O'Neal was founder and chorus master of the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra Chorus, preparing performances of Berlioz’s ''Grande messe des morts'', Busoni’s Piano Concerto Op. 39, Verdi’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by James Bolle in Manchester, NH, 1984-1987. In 2018 O'Neal wrote Experiencing Berlioz: A Listener’s Companion (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield), an in-depth entrée into the music world of Hector Berlioz that is crafted for both listeners and performers alike. An online addendum offers texts and translations to vocal music discussed: https://www.melindaoneal.net/texts-translations/. Recently she presented the lecture “Mélodies Fantastiques! — Mystique and Narrative in Berlioz’s Vocal Music” for Opera Prelude, Cadogan Hall, London, United Kingdom. November 26, 2019.


Conductor-Ensemble highlights

Handel Choir of Baltimore (2004-2013): Establishment of the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra for all pre-romantic concerts; series of Haydn Mass concerts; annual ''Messiah'' performances; performance of Handel ''Semele'' and Coronation Anthems, Bach cantatas, Mozart Requiem, Duruflé Requiem, Vaughn Williams ''G minor Mass''; collaborations with American Opera Theatre in staged productions of Handel ''Jephtha'' and Purcell ''Dido and Aeneas''; collaboration with Peabody Institute and Pro Musica Rara in Handel ''Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne''; selected to perform at ACDA Eastern conference; collaborations with Baltimore Chamber Orchestra; commissions and performances of works by Leshnoff and McCulllough; collaboration with University of MD Baltimore County for Brahms ''Ein deutsches Requiem''; workshops for BSO OrchKids; concerts to support local humanitarian nonprofits. Handel Society of Dartmouth College (1979-2004): Two ten-day concert tours to Germany and Austria; performances of Berlioz symphony ''Roméo et Juliette'' and ''L'enfance du Christ'', Bach ''St. Matthew Passion'', John Adams ''Harmonium'', Respighi ''Lauda per la Natività del Signore'', Brahms ''Ein deutsches Requiem'', Verdi Requiem; Vaughn Williams ''Hodie'' and ''Dona Nobis Pacem'', Stravkinsky ''Symphony of Psalms''; collaborations with New Hampshire Symphony in Manchester and Hanover for Mahler Symphony No. 2 and Poulenc ''Gloria''; commissioning and première of ''The Staff of Aesculapius'' by Charles Dodge for Dartmouth Medical School Bicentennial; performances of lesser-known Berlioz cantatas, choruses and songs; performance of closing scene of Berlioz ''L’enfance du Christ'' with New York Pops Orchestra in Carnegie Hall; Concertato Singers’ première of ''Vox'' by Dennis Desormier ’97 and performances in summer Dartmouth Conducting Institutes; concerts in rural NH and VT communities. Dartmouth College Chamber Singers (1979-1996): Annual Feast of Song renaissance theatrical-musical banquet with the Early Music Ensemble; series of period instrument concerts with Arcadia Players of music by Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Purcell; performances of Brahms ''Neu und Alte Liebesliederwaltzers'', Britten ''Hymn to St. Cecilia'', lesser-known Berlioz choruses and songs, Ravel ''Trois Chansons'', Messiaen ''O Sacrum Convivium'', Ives ''Psalm 90''; performance at ACDA Eastern conference in Boston; seven international concert tours (England, Scandinavia, Germany-Austria, Spain) and multiple national or regional tours in alternate years; numerous on-campus and local performances.


Education

O'Neal received her doctoral and master's degrees in conducting from
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...
and bachelor's degree in
music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...
from Florida State University College of Music. Her mentors include
Julius Herford The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...
,
Jan Harrington Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...
,
Fiora Contino Fiora Corradetti Contino (June 17, 1925 – March 5, 2017) was an American opera conductor and teacher.image She was particularly known for her interpretations of Italian ''verismo'' works of the late 19th century, and was described as one of th ...
, Helmuth Rilling,
Marcel Couraud Marcel Just Théodore Marie Couraud (20 October 1912 in Limoges – 14 September 1986 in Loches) was a French orchestral and choral conductor and organist. Biography Couraud studied organ with André Marchal in Paris where he attended the Ecole N ...
, John Nelson, Thomas Dunn, and
Joseph Flummerfelt Joseph Flummerfelt (February 24, 1937 – March 1, 2019) was an American conductor. He taught at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey for three decades. He was a co-founder of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina in ...
. From Bethesda, MD, she currently lives south-west of Washington DC in Virginia.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Melinda Dartmouth College faculty Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century conductors (music)