Vocal Music

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William Hammer earned his bachelor of music degree in music education from Westminster Choir College (Princeton, N.J.), where he studied conducting with James Jordan and voice with Elem Eley. As a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, he sang with the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Chailly, Zdenek Macal, Joseph Flummerfelt and Riccardo Muti. He has taught theory and music history at the American Boychoir School (Princeton, N.J.) in addition to developing and implementing a curriculum for the Apprentice Program, an after-school program which offered musical instruction to boys interested in becoming members of the Boychoir School.

Mr. Hammer completed his master of music degree in choral conducting from the University of Michigan and studied conducting with Jerry Blackstone and Theodore Morrison. He was conductor for the Orpheus Singers (24-voice advanced ensemble of music majors) and assistant conductor for the internationally acclaimed 100-voice University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club for two years.

He has been a voice teacher and section coach for the University of Michigan High School All-State Choir at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The past two summers he has also taught at the Westminster Choir College High School Vocal Institute, this year as Associate Conductor. In February 2006, he won two Grammy awards for his work on the monumental Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and Experience. Mr. Hammer has been director of choral music at Blair since 2005.

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