James M. Jordan
- Email Address: jevoke@mac.com
- Phone: (609) 921-7100, ext. 8197
- Office: Williamson Hall 34
- Mailing Address: 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540
James Jordan is recognized and praised from many quarters in the musical world as one of the nation’s pre-eminent conductors, writers and innovators in choral music. He has been called a “visionary” by The Choral Journal. His career and publications have been devoted to innovative educational changes in the choral art which have been embraced around the world. A master teacher, Dr. Jordan’s pioneering writing and research concerning the use of Laban Movement Analysis for the teaching of conducting and movement to children has dramatically changed teaching in both of these disciplines. Called the “Father of the Case Study,” he was the first researcher to bring forward the idea of the case study as a viable and valuable form of research for the training and education of teachers.
One of the country’s most prolific writers on the subjects of the philosophy of music making and choral teaching, he has produced ten major textbooks and several choral series bearing his name as well as contributing to four other textbooks. In 2004, four new books authored by him were published: The Use of the Swiss Ball for the Teaching of Conducting, Eartraining Aural Immersion Exercises for Choirs (Book, CD, and Singer’s Edition), The Choral Ensemble Warm-Up (Book, CD, and Accompanists Edition) and The Musician’s Walk (all published with GIA Publications, Chicago). His books on the subject of vocal technique for choirs are considered an essential for the education of conductors around the world. His choral conducting book, Evoking Sound, was named as a “must read” on a list of six books by The Choral Journal. His book, Ear Training Immersion Exercises for Choirs details the first comprehensive approach toward aural literacy for choirs using a method called Harmonic Immersion Solfege that uses a unique system of score analysis that focuses upon what is aurally perceived by the choir. His books, The Musician’s Soul (GIA, 2000), The Musician’s Spirit (GIA, 2002) and The Musician’s Walk (GIA, 2005) acclaimed by both instrumental and choral conductors alike, have been credited with beginning a transformation on how music is taught both in ensembles and the classroom through a process of humanizing and loving. His latest text for conductors, The Conductor’s Aural Tutor (GIA, 2005), is the first text of its kind designed to train conductor’s to hear and diagnose vocal issues within a choir.
Dr. Jordan also serves as executive editor of the Evoking Sound Choral Series published by GIA Publications in Chicago. This series presents choral literature at the highest levels for high school and college choirs. In addition to new compositions by America’s finest composers, the series also presents new editions of standard choral repertoire, edited with singers in mind. Also unique to this series are solfege editions that utilize Jordan’s groundbreaking approach to the use of Harmonic Immersion Solfege in choral ensembles that uses accurate aural analysis as the basis of the approach.
Dr. Jordan teaches and conducts at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, one of the foremost centers for the study and performance of choral music in the world where he is an associate professor of conducting and senior conductor. For twelve years he has served as conductor of the Westminster Chapel Choir. In the fall of 2004, he became the founding conductor of one of Westminster’s highly select touring choirs, a newly-inaugurated ensemble, the Westminster Williamson Voices/ This choir’s mission is not only choral performance and recording at the highest levels, but to serve as an ensemble that employs unique and cutting edge approaches to the choral rehearsal and choral performance. The ensemble will also have at its center a significant outreach to the musical world through workshops and residencies. The ensemble will specialize in premiering significant contributions to the choral literature. the Westminster Williamson Voices is also involved with educational recordings of significant educational choral literature for the next five years for GIA Publications that will culminate in the recording of approximately 100 essential pieces of choral literature. The first in a series of those recordings is to be released by GIA in December of 2005. Dr. Jordan is Visiting Distinguished Professor of Music Education at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He is on the faculty of the Samuel Barber Summer Institute at West Chester State University.
James Jordan has been the recipient of many awards for his contributions to the profession. He was named as Distinguished Choral Scholar at The University of Alberta. He was made an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 2002 at Florida State University. The composer Morten Lauridsen dedicated a movement of his acclaimed Mid-Winter Songs to him. This year alone, Dr. Jordan will present over 30 keynote addresses and workshops around the world. Dr. Jordan’s book and professional activities are detailed on his website, http://www.evokingsound.com/. and his pages on the http://www.giamusic.com/ website.
