ABOUT COLIN

Dr Colin Durrant is a choral conductor and workshop leader in conducting and singing. He has a wide experience both in the UK and overseas, notably USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Kenya and Australia. He is a principal tutor with the Association of British Choral Directors.

He is an experienced educator and musician and has been responsible for the design and implementation of professional development courses for teachers and musicians. He is eager to enable teachers and conductors to improve efficiency and effectiveness in their music-making while providing optimum musical and educational experiences for those he conducts and teaches. His book Choral Conducting: philosophy and practice is a seminal text, widely used in universities across the globe.

Recent positions have included:

Programme Leader for Postgraduate Studies in Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London
Director of Choral Activities, New England Conservatory, Boston, USA
Visiting Associate Professor, University of Maryland, USA
Principal Lecturer in Music & Music Education, University of Roehampton

Current positions:

Conductor University of London Chamber Choir
Conductor of Imperial College Choir
Principal conducting tutor with Association of British Choral Directors

Colin is available to offer:

CHORAL CONDUCTING TEACHING

Workshops in choral conducting for students, teachers and conductors who wish to enhance their skills in technique, gesture and communication. Recent conducting workshops and courses have included:

The University of Queensland Australia
Singapore Ministry of Education
Kenyan Association for Musical Arts Education
Association of British Choral Directors
Post Primary Music Teachers' Association, Ireland.

Individual consultations and tuition on conducting techniques and strategies. These have included one-to-one situations and in the context of conductors' own choral rehearsals.

CHORAL WORKSHOPS

Choral singing days to work on particular repertoire or vocal techniques. Recent choral singing days have included:

Recent performances and tours

IMPERIAL COLLEGE CHOIR

2018

Bach, Mass in B minor at Holy Trinity Sloane Square, London
Vaughan Williams, Serenade to music
Rutter, Requiem
Mozart, Mass in C minor

2017

Durufle, Requiem
Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Tour of Prague and Czech Republic

2016

Mozart, Mass in C minor
Janet Wheeler's Ceaseless round of circling planets

2015

Brahms, Deustches Requiem
Orff, Carmina Burana
Tour of Amsterdam and Aachen, Germany

2014

Britten, War Requiem at Winchester Cathedral
Handel, Messiah

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON CHAMBER CHOIR

2018

Tour of East Anglia

2016

Tour of Northern Italy

2014

Tour of Malta and Gozo

Recordings

	What cheer! University of London Chamber Choir ULCC's repertoire is wide-ranging covering music from early church music to the present day with music by Thomas Hewitt Jones and Will Todd. Though this selection is heavily English, the set starts with... read more
	Simple pictures University of London Chamber Choir This recording reflects the varied and contrasting repertoire that the ULCC performs each year. We include well-known gems of early music by Byrd, Tallis and Pitoni, acknowledging the strengths of English and Italian choral writing of the renaissance. More romantic styles are found in... read more

What cheer!

University of London Chamber Choir

ULCC's repertoire is wide-ranging covering music from early church music to the present day with music by Thomas Hewitt Jones and Will Todd. Though this selection is heavily English, the set starts with... read more

Simple pictures

University of London Chamber Choir

This recording reflects the varied and contrasting repertoire that the ULCC performs each year. We include well-known gems of early music by Byrd, Tallis and Pitoni, acknowledging the strengths of English and Italian choral writing of the renaissance. More romantic styles are found in... read more

Single-authored book:

CHORAL CONDUCTING: PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

Revised 2nd edition, 2017 New York: Routledge

"This book is extremely useful to anyone wishing to have a thorough reflection about choral conducting. It also offers great advice and helpful tips."

- Guillaume Boulay

Selection of recent publications:

Durrant, C. (2005) "Shaping Identity through Choral Activity: Singers' and Conductors' Perceptions" Research Studies in Music Education 24, 88-98
Durrant, C. & Varvarigou, M. (2008) "Real time and virtual: tracking the professional development and reflections of choral conductors" Reflecting Education Vol. 4, No. 1, 72- 80
Durrant, C. (2009) "Communicating and accentuating the aesthetic and expressive dimension in choral conducting" International Journal of Music Education 27(4) 326-340
Durrant, C. & Welch, G. (2010) "Research into Choirs and Choral Education" in U. Geisler & K. Johansson (eds) Choir in Focus. Lund, Sweden: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
Varvarigou, M. & Durrant, C. (2011) "Theoretical perspectives on the education of choral conductors: a suggested framework". British Journal of Music Education 28(3) 325-338
Durrant, C. (2012) "Male Singing in the University Choir Context" in S. Harrison, G. Welch & A. Adler (eds) Perspectives on Males and Singing. New York: Springer
Durrant, C. (2012) "An international perspective on male singing in university choirs" Choral Journal of the American Choral Directors' Association 52(10) 40-47
Durrant, C. & Varvarigou, M. (2015) Perspectives on choral conducting: theory and practice. In G. Welch, D. Howard, J. Nix (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Singing
Durrant. C. (2017) The Framing of Choirs and their Conductors: a UK perspective. Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy. New York: Oxford University Press 221-236

Get in touch

Here's my business card. I'd love to hear from you...

Dr Colin Durrant

vCard
(+44) 07985 914 604
colin.durrant@gmail.com
@cuddlyconductor
Colin Durrant

Think you can sing?

London University Chamber Choir holds yearly auditions for new members at the beginning of each academic year. We are an auditioned choir, as we believe this allows us to maintain a high standard and a good vocal blend. To audition, you must be a current student of the colleges of the University of London and have some experience in choral singing.

Imperial College Choir is non-auditioned and last year had over 100 members of all abilities. Everyone in the Imperial College Union is welcome so come and have a go even if you've never sung in a choir before! In addition to our termly concerts, we sing in the Royal Albert Hall for Graduation, and at charity carol concerts and services at Christmas time. We perform monumental classical works such as Bach's Mass in B minor last year, or Mozart's Requiem this upcoming year, mixed up with some shorter and more modern pieces. In 2017, we went on tour to Prague, and we have another exciting tour coming up for the summer of 2019. Little livens up the week more than a good sing in good company, so please come along!

More details here:

www.union.ic.ac.uk/arts/choir/
Imperial College Choir
@icchoir
@imperialcollegechoir

www.ulchamberchoir.co.uk
UL Chamber Choir
@ULCCuk
@ulchamberchoir