December 3, 2007 (FRANKLIN PARK, IL)¯Using toys to teach, nationally known festival director and clinician Lee Gwozdz will conduct a workshop at the Michigan Music Conference, the state’s largest conference for music educators. This conference will be held January 24-26, 2008 at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids.
Gwozdz’s workshop titled “Singing FUNdamentals: From Toys, Tone, to Text!” is of particular interest to General Music Education music educators. Using his famed “Singing FUNdamentals Toy Box Collection” distributed by WLP - World Library Publications, Lee shares winning techniques that combine concepts and toys in a way that makes singing a joy. The Toy Box includes a dozen toys that are used as excellent tools to teach good choral singing. Educators can visually address and teach concepts about posture, breath, rhythm, articulation and dynamics in a fresh, not to mention “fun” way for choirs young and old. More information about Gwozdz’s teaching DVD’s and Toy Box Collection can be found at www.wlpmusic.com .
The Michigan Music Conference – an In-Service for Music Educators provides an annual in-service opportunity for the professional development of Michigan music educators, and to serve as a coordinating body for collaborative, inter-association initiatives in support of school music in Michigan. More information can be found at www.MichiganMusicConference.org
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ABOUT LEE GWOZDZ
Lee Gwozdz served as Director of Music for Corpus Christi Cathedral, Corpus Christi, Texas, and as Executive Director of the Cathedral Concert Series, both posts he has held for the past seventeen years. In addition, he serves as the Executive Director of the Corpus Christi Symphony Society, Inc. Lee is a two-term past member of the Choristers Guild National Board of Directors, and the national board of directors of the Director of Music Ministry Division of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
A native of Ft. Worth, Texas, Lee graduated from Texas Christian University, cum laude, with a major in music education and a minor in organ performance. As a student of the late Dr. Ruth Whitlock, Lee hones his skills in vocal music education. Through the Choristers Guild Leadership Training Program, Lee studied with Helen Kemp and John Yarrington. Personal mentoring in choral skills combined the best of Lee's experiences with Paul Salamunovich; Mike Kemp; Ronald Shirey; Lara Hoggard; Bev Hensen, and his colleague at the Cathedral for the past seventeen years, Gregory Labus.
As a festival conductor and clinician, Lee has presented workshops, primarily in the area of his work with children's choirs, throughout the United States. He has served as clinician for the National Choristers Guild summer seminars in both Grand Rapids and Kansas City. In 1987, he conducted the five-hundred-voice choir for the Papal Mass held in San Antonio. In 1993, he served as conductor of the Papal Mass in Denver, conducting over seven hundred young singers for the International World Youth Day Festival.
Recognized as one of the finest Cathedral Music Programs in the United States, the Choirs of Corpus Christi Cathedral have toured throughout Europe and the United States and have also been invited to sing Mozart's Requiem in St. Peter's Basilica and the Audience Hall of the Pope. The Youth Chorale and Choristers performed at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention held in Dallas, Texas in 1998, and presented an encore performance in Orlando, Florida, in July 2000. The choirs have recorded numerous CDs, including Corpus Christi Carols, a collection of Christmas favorites, and Chant Corpus Christi - Gregorian in Goliad, both available from WLP.
Lee's Singing FUNdamentals Toy Box and related videos and DVDs have received rave reviews from vocal experts and users alike:
"I started a children's choir last fall and began right off using Lee Gwozdz's toy box. I was amazed at the result. Believe it or not, the punching dinosaur even worked with the adult choir. Thanks to WLP for that box of magic!" -- Charles Thatcher, composer and music director, Orlando, FL.
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