Director of Choral Activities
BA Albion College
MM Michigan State University
DMA Michigan State University
COURSES TAUGHT:
University Singers
Concert Choir
DePaul A Cappella
History of the Oratorio
Choral Literature
Choral Music Education
CONTACT INFORMATION:
773-325-1039
About
Clayton Parr has been Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at DePaul since 1999. A native of Detroit, Dr. Parr graduated from Albion College with degrees in music and physics, and taught in the public schools in Michigan and New York before earning his MM and DMA at Michigan State University. Before his appointment at DePaul, he served on the faculty at Miami University in Ohio. He is active as a performer in Chicago, with Music of the Baroque, the Grant Park Music Festival and Bella Voce, and has appeared with the Cincinnati Opera, Oregon Bach Festival, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble. His most recent solo appearances have included Carmina Burana with the National Music Center Symphony Orchestra in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is music director of Ensemble Alioni, a Chicago-based group dedicated to the performance of Georgian folk song.
His activity as guest conductor, lecturer, adjudicator and performer has taken him to 23 states and 17 foreign countries, including the Republic of Georgia, where he was a Fulbright scholar for the 2005-2006 academic year at the Sarajishvili State Conservatoire. He has served in various leadership positions with the American Choral Directors Association, and is currently Executive Secretary of Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses. His choirs have performed at conventions of ACDA, MENC and IMC, and have won prizes at the International Musical Eisteddfod competition in Llangollen, Wales. His articles have been published in the Choral Journal, Music Educators Journal, and International Choral Bulletin, and he is editor for the series “Music of the Republic of Georgia” for earthsongs publishing