Jonathan Babcock
Dr. Jonathan Babcock is in demand as a conductor, educator and clinician throughout the United States. He has been privileged to work with such artists as Richard Tucker Award winner Stephanie Blythe, and Tony Award winner Victoria Clark, in highly esteemed venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York City; The Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, China and St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa. He has lead performances at American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association and New York State School Music Association conventions. Working as an advocate for contemporary choral music, he has overseen the commissioning of new works by composers such as Paul Moravec, David Del Tredici, Michael Ippolito, John Conahan and Stephen Paulus.
Dr. Babcock is a professor at Texas State University where he conducts the Texas State University Singers and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting, literature and pedagogy. Prior to coming to Texas State, Dr. Babcock served on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
Recent performances include the Robert Levin completion of W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Professor Levin in residency; the choral theater work HOWL: The Greatest Generation THE BEATS featuring the world premiere of John Conahan’s setting of the epic Allen Ginsburg poem Howl; a performance tour of China featuring a performance of the Mozart Requiem in the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing; a performance tour of Great Britain including a three day residency at Lincoln Cathedral; and an interactive, multimedia concert celebrating the music of the Republic of Georgia. In 2011 Babcock traveled to the Republic of Georgia on a Research Enhancement Grant to study their vast musical history and learn the traditions of this ancient musical culture. In December 2013 Babcock travelled to Tel Aviv, Israel as an artist-in-residence at Lehman College of Music at Tel Aviv University. In January of 2014 he presented a workshop on choral techniques for instrumental conductors for the National Convention of the Collegiate Orchestra Directors Association, and in 2015 he presented “Less is More: Optimizing Your Conducting Technique” at the Texas Music Educators Association convention. In addition to performing and lecturing, Babcock has contributed several articles to the American Choral Journal on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; as well as the last interview with the late Maestro Richard Westenburg.
The 2016-17 Season will include a presentation at the 2017 American Choral Directors Association, a week long residence at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago as well as various festivals and clinics across the United States.
Babcock received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from The Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam where he studied conducting with the late Brock McElheran and voice with Patricia Misslin; and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Hartt School, University of Hartford where he studied conducting with Paul E. Oakley and Edward Bolkovac.