Imig Music Building, S217
Gregory Gentry administers doctoral, masters and undergraduate choral studies, and oversees all choral ensembles—from madrigal to symphonic choirs to vocal jazz. His book—“In Search of Inspiration: Interviews with Notable Choral Conductors: Interviews with Notable Choral Conductors” (2021)—is published by GIA Publications.
Since Gentry's arrival at CU Boulder in 2012, the choral area has hosted several guest clinicians to work with students in conducting, scholarship and performance preparation, and led CU Boulder's annual Madrigal Festival (800+ students) and High School Choral Leadership Festival (100+ students).
In addition to conducting all-state choirs, Gentry's collegiate choirs have performed for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), Music Educators National Conference (NAfME), Colorado Music Educators Association (CMEA), Arizona Music Educators Association (AMEA), Society for American Music (SAM) and the College Music Society (CMS). He has also been honored as a music educator and conductor by the Colorado State Legislature and the Mexican Consulate for the State of Arizona.
At CU Boulder, Gentry has prepared collaborative performances with the Boulder Philharmonic and Boulder Bach Festival, and conducted Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem with combined CU choirs and CU symphony (220+ singers and instrumentalists) at historic Macky Auditorium. At Arizona State University—conducting works from Praetorius to Poulenc to Chen Yi—Gentry presented combined symphonic and choral forces (350+ singers and instrumentalists) in William Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast” and “Tito’s Say” by Arizona composer James DeMars (a premiere that was honored by the Mexican Consulate) at Gammage Auditorium.
Gentry made his Phoenix Symphony conducting debut in 2009 to sold-out audiences with Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, while engagements in New York and Rome have included Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Schubert’s Mass in G, Brahms’ “Schicksalslied” and the world premiere of “Reflections on a Mexican Garden” by Colorado composer Kevin Padworski. As Phoenix Symphony Chorus Master, Gentry prepared many major choral/orchestral masterworks, including Puccini’s “Messa di Gloria” (2012), the North American premiere of “In Principio” by Arvo Pärt (2011), “On the Transmigration of Souls” (2010) and “Nixon in China” (2009) by John Adams, the world premiere of Mark Grey’s “Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio” (2008) with an English/Navajo libretto, and the Arizona premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” in collaboration with Dawn Upshaw and Kelley O’Connor (2008). Richard Nilsen wrote—in The Arizona Republic—that under Gentry’s leadership the Phoenix Symphony Chorus has become one of the gems of Phoenix’s cultural scene.
As a music editor, the Gregory Gentry Choral Series (Fred Bock Publishers) is distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation and features reviving select choral octavi from the former Golden and National Music catalogues, including significant works by Cecil Effinger, George Lynn, Wray Lundquist and Roy Harris.
Gentry (DMA, MM, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory; BME, University of Denver) is both the former Director of Choral Performance at Arizona State University and the Director of Choral Activities at University of Alabama. His career has been influenced by studies with George Lynn, Eph Ehly, Vance George, Lynn Whitten, Dale Warland, Warner Imig and Aaron Copland. Gentry is past president of Arizona state chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA, 2010-2012), during which time he introduced the electronic format for the state newsletter and the use of QR codes for performance programs. He also takes professional delight in having founded Southwest Liederkranz in 2006, an intimate symposium for select choral professionals, where Kirke Mechem, Morten Lauridsen, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Vance George, Dale Warland, Dennis Keene, Duain Wolfe, Maria Guinand, Eph Ehly, Joshua Habermann and Sharon Paul have, to date, been invited to share their knowledge, wisdom, humor and varying inspirations.