I graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1965 with a B.M.E. in instrumental music (tuba) and had also been a member of the Apollo Quartet. However, I decided after graduation to switch to choral music. I immediately transitioned to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas to obtain a M.M. in choral conducting with Dr. Lloyd Pfautsch (former I.W.U. professor). I was selected as one of only four students allowed for the degree. I also received a second M.M. degree in music education.<\/p>\n
It was at this time (1966) I secured my first position as a teacher when\u00a0Quincy Senior High School in Quincy, Illinois hired me to be the Choral\u00a0Conductor. In my three years there the school was represented by no\u00a0fewer than nine singers each year in the All-State High School Choir. In\u00a0my third year thirteen of my singers were blessed to participate in the\u00a0All-State Choir, and that record still stands today. My Q.H.S. boys\u2019\u00a0quartet was selected to be featured in the movie \u201cIllinois Sings\u201d\u00a0narrated by Ralph Bellamy. After my first year of teaching, I was\u00a0contacted by Dr. Colleen Kirk, Head of Music Education, University of\u00a0Illinois, Champaign-Urbana to supervise some of their music education\u00a0students for their student teaching experience. I was sent six students\u00a0for my final two years at Q.H.S. My Concert Choir was one of ten high\u00a0school choirs selected to participate in the Illinois State University\u2019s\u00a0Choral Festival. Dr. Donald Neuen, then Director of Choral Music at\u00a0Eastman School of Music, proclaimed, \u201cThis is the finest high school\u00a0choir I have heard in over a decade.\u201d By far the most important event in\u00a0my life at this time was meeting and marrying my lovely wife, Nancy, a\u00a0native of Quincy and graduate of Western Illinois University, (Macomb,\u00a0Ill.) Today we have three grown children: Michelle, Holly, and David\u00a0along with four grandchildren.<\/p>\n
In 1969 Nancy and I decided that the time was right for me to start my\u00a0D.M.A. in Choral Conducting at the University of Texas at Austin under\u00a0Director of Choral Activities Dr. Morris Beachy. While in Austin, I\u00a0became the director of both the Austin Community Chorus and the Austin\u00a0Chord Rangers Barbershop Chorus, two wonderful training grounds. After a\u00a0lecture-demonstration of my doctoral dissertation, “The Choral Music of\u00a0Howard Hanson”, the world-famous orchestration and music theory teacher\u00a0Dr. Kent Kennan stated that it was the finest doctoral student\u00a0presentation he had ever heard. After a year as choral director for\u00a0Vernon High School (Vernon, Texas), I was hired (1973-1977) as both band\u00a0and choral director for East Texas Baptist University (Marshall, Texas).\u00a0They had never before had a band, and by my second year we had a\u00a0respectable ensemble of 52 members. (Although the university had no\u00a0football team, that didn\u2019t stop us from doing a marching band halftime\u00a0show for the homecoming basketball game.) I also was fortunate to have\u00a0three years experience as the director of the Marshall Symphony\u00a0Orchestra. Two of the Concert Choir highlights was a trip to Israel to\u00a0sing on international television, Christmas Eve, 1976, and having been\u00a0selected out of a dozen university choirs to sing the choral parts for\u00a0the Fort Worth Opera Association production of Puccini\u2019s \u201cMadame\u00a0Butterfly\u201d with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and internationally
\nfamous Maria Pellegrini in the title role.<\/p>\n
It was at this time that I would make my final career move to become\u00a0Director of Choral Activities at Missouri Southern State University in\u00a0Joplin, Missouri. While here I attained the rank of full Professor,\u00a0directed the Concert Choir and Swing Choir, and taught voice, world\u00a0music, and music appreciation. IN the spring of 1980 I founded and am\u00a0still director of the MSSU Choral Society, a mixed 50-voice community\u00a0choir performing three concerts annually. I reviewed textbooks for five\u00a0publishers as well as designed and taught all of the music department\u2019s\u00a0internet classes. Also in 1980 I was the recipient of the rarely awarded
\nFriend of Education Award given by the Joplin Educators Association\u00a0for a choral concert series presented to over 5,000 public school\u00a0students. The other highlights of my thirty-seven years at MSSU can be\u00a0summed up as follows:<\/p>\n
Like most of you, I have also had my share of setbacks, primarily in my\u00a0health. Diabetes, blood clots, MRSA, have accompanied me since 1980 and\u00a0resulted in two toe amputations. (By the way, they were so swollen that\u00a0it took a \u201ctow-truck\u201d to haul them away.) I have taught a total of 45\u00a0years and have been a minister of music in various churches for 50\u00a0years. And the most important thing of all is that I give the Lord all\u00a0of the glory for both my family, Nancy especially, and a wonderful career!<\/p>\n
Without a doubt, Illinois Wesleyan University gave me a solid foundation\u00a0in both instrumental and choral music that prepared me for and carried\u00a0me through my life\u2019s work! I am proud to be called a Titan!<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Dr. Albert J. Carnine<\/p>\n
alcarnine@cableone.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1965 with a B.M.E. in instrumental music (tuba) and had also been a member of the Apollo Quartet. However, I decided after graduation to switch to choral music. I immediately transitioned to Southern … Continue reading