Department: Music

Lester Seigel

Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music

Office:

Hill Hall 114

Contact Information:

Birmingham-Southern College
Box 549033
900 Arkadelphia Rd
Birmingham, AL 35254
Office Phone: (205) 226-4957
Office Fax: (205) 226 3058
E-mail: lseigel@bsc.edu

Brief Career Background:

Lester Seigel is the Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Birmingham-Southern College, where he directs the Concert Choir, Hilltop Singers, Alumni Choir, and conducts the biennial opera productions. His undergraduate degree is in organ performance, and his graduate degrees are in orchestral conducting and literature. He holds the A.A.G.O. certification from the American Guild of Organists. He is also Choirmaster and Organist at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook.

In recent years he has conducted the BSC Opera production of "Hansel and Gretel," and the world premiere of Charles Norman Mason's "Fanfare for Human Dignity," composed for the Sesquicentennial of the College, along with Beethoven's "Choral Fantasy," featuring the choirs and soloist William DeVan, with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Other works include Vaughan Williams’ "Dona Nobis Pacem" and the First Piano Concerto by Tchaikovsky, the opening concert of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra's Gateway Series, productions of "The Turn of the Screw" (Britten) "La Bohème" (Puccini) and "Sweeney Todd" (Sondheim) at Birmingham-Southern, "L’enfant Prodigue" (Debussy) for Alabama OperaWorks, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" (Rossini) for Opera Birmingham, and Brahms' Requiem (with the BSC Concert Choir). Other conducting appearances include the Adirondack Festival of American Music in New York, conducting the Gregg Smith Singers, and the International Choral Kathaumixw in British Columbia, where he led the Elmer Iseler Singers of Toronto.

He is active as an arranger and composer, and his work is published by Oxford University Press. He wrote and conducted incidental music for an audio book, "The Diaries of Adam and Eve" by Mark Twain, released in fall 1999 by Fair Oaks Press, San Francisco, and featuring the voice talents of Betty Buckley, Mandy Patinkin, and Walter Cronkite, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. He remains active as a chamber music performer as well. He helped found and is pianist of The Chagall Trio.

Seigel is a member of ACDA and Chorus America. In 2006 he launched a professional vocal ensemble, "Sursum Corda," whose mission is to present primarily sacred classics of the Christian and Jewish musical traditions.

Educational Background:

D.M.A., University of Colorado, 1993
M.M., University of Colorado, 1983
B.M., Birmingham-Southern College, 1979

Areas of Academic Interest:

• Choral Music
• Conducting (choral, orchestral, opera)
• Chamber Music, especially literature for the Piano Trio Aesthetics of Music Opera Liturgical Music of the Synagogue, with emphasis on the Reform traditions of the late 19th-early 20th centuries

Courses Taught:

MU/HON 125: America's Music (1)
Explores the unique qualities of American music and the contributions of American musicians to the world. Focusing but not limited to the genres of classical music and jazz, interconnections between America and other countries are emphasized, along with complementary readings in American literature, philosophy and other art forms.

MU 211 Concert Choir (¼)
Composed of men and women, gives at least one performance of a major choral work each term, and tours extensively. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent.

MU 371 Conducting (½)
Designed to teach the student majoring in music how to train ensembles, to read scores, and to conduct efficient rehearsals. This course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: MU 251.

MU 242 Opera Workshop (¼)
The study and performance of operas and excerpts from operatic literature. Lighting, staging, and acting, as well as singing, are included. This course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent.

Hilltop Singers (no course number)
A mixed vocal jazz ensemble selected by audition each spring. Members receive a scholarship for participation in the group, which tours locally and nationally, and performs on-campus concerts as well.

FN 145 Close Encounters of the Art Kind (1 )
Engages learners in several basic issues in which visual art and music play a part, in an intense, and perhaps even subjective, way. Previous topics have included definitions of art, designations of value and taste, functions of art and the social role of the artist, and ethical questions regarding censorship and the freedom of expression. The course is designed to be "hands on," and will include a great deal of student participation, from in-class discussions and presentations to trips to local museums, music clubs, and galleries.