WELCOME TO THE FIFTH WEBINAR IN OUR
TOGETHER AT HOME SERIES
Nathan Reiff - Resident Conductor of the Harvard Glee Club and Instructor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Notes from Nathan Reiff on the webinar:
The Russian-German composer Alfred Schnittke was one of the leading musical figures of the Soviet Union, best known for mashing together seemingly incompatible musical styles and references in a technique he called "polystylism." Then, with the Concerto for Choir of 1985, Schnittke turned away from his hallmark compositional approach in favor of a work with brazen sacred connotations and which was almost sure to draw the anger of Soviet authorities. Nonetheless, the Concerto saw widespread success among Soviet authorities and audiences alike. It is a work of tremendous beauty and power, reflective of Schnittke's own developing religious beliefs and his savviness in navigating the complex landscape of censorship and audience reception and deeply indebted to the centuries-old tradition of sacred Russian choral music while dramatically different from Schnittke's early compositions.
This webinar will last approximately one hour and will include a Q&A session. Please click on the button below to register. Advanced registration is appreciated, but you can register even while the webinar is in process. Once registered, you will receive an email notification with a unique link to join the webinar.
Nathan Reiff
Active as a conductor, educator, and vocalist, Nathan Reiff holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, where he has also completed the coursework toward a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Reiff's work as a conductor has brought him before ensembles representing some of the broad diversity of the choral world, including the Young People's Chorus of New York City, the Yale Glee Club, the Yale Camerata, and the Ann Arbor Cantata Singers. Since 2017, Reiff has served as Resident Conductor of the Harvard Glee Club and Instructor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. At the Conservatory, he teaches a survey sequence on choral repertoire and conducts Chorale and Choir, two ensembles of undergraduate vocal performance students. Beginning in 2019, Reiff has also served as Guest Conductor of the Falmouth Chorale and Music Director of JourneySongs, an interfaith hospice choir. As a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Yale, Reiff's scholarly projects focused on the intersection of polystylism and incrementalism in Alfred Schnittke's Concerto for Choir. His primary teachers of conducting have included Jerry Blackstone, Marguerite Brooks, Jeffrey Douma, and David Hill.
Prior to his graduate studies, Reiff received a B.A. in Music with distinction at Yale, where he performed as a member and Music Director of the Whiffenpoofs, the nation’s oldest all-male a cappella singing group. In addition to his work as a conductor, he taught music at the International School of Trieste in Trieste, Italy and assisted the violinist Midori with the administration of non-profit organizations specializing in music education and community outreach.