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Texas Tech University School of Music is pleased to announce that Professor Richard Bjella has accepted the position Director of
Choral Studies.
Professor Bjella served as Director of Choral Studies at Lawrence University, Conservatory of Music, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Under
his direction during his tenure were the Concert Choir, Viking Chorale, the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Collegium, Chamber Singers and the
Choral Society at Lawrence. All of the ensembles have sung at state, regional or national conventions in the last fifteen years.
Bjella has conducted outside the United States in Prague, Paris, Lucerne, Vilnius, Seoul, and London and has guest conducted over
350 festivals and workshops in 25 states including recent appearances as the Wisconsin, Delaware, Illinois, and Missouri All-State
conductor. Bjella made his Alice Tully Hall premiere in New York in 2003 and appeared in workshops and festivals for students,
church and community choir directors, conductors, and teachers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin,
North Carolina, and California in 2004. In 2005, he was the only American conductor and lecturer invited to Seoul for the Korean
National Choral Directors Convention, and appeared at various festivals and workshops for teachers and students in Illinois,
Minnesota, and California during the same year. The Lawrence Concert Choir was honored to be a part of the 2006 North Central ACDA
Convention and as a result of that performance Bjella was invited to conduct the professional choir, Polifonija, on a four-city tour
in Lithuania. Other guest conducting this season includes performances in Michigan, Arizona, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Bjella conducted seminars in Illinois at their summer retreat for the Illinois Chapter of ACDA in 2007, and conducted the Iowa
All-State Choir in 2008. The Lawrence Concert Choir performed most recently at the 2009 ACDA National Convention in Oklahoma City.
Bjella has served as President of the Wisconsin Choral Directors' Association, has been a part of the CMP leadership team for
Wisconsin Music Educators Association, and various state and regional leadership positions with ACDA and WMEA as well. Bjella has
taught conducting and choral methods at Silver Lake College and University of St. Thomas during their summer programs for teachers.
He has given many seminars for teachers at countless conventions and workshops, and was inducted into the Washington High School
Fine Arts Hall of Fame. He is also listed in the World Concert Artist Directory of Conductors, and was most recently awarded the
Hanns Kretzchmar Award for Excellent in the Arts in 2006 and received the 'Lawrence Excellence in Teaching Award' in 2007.
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