Scott Tucker Named Artistic Director of the Washington Men’s Camerata

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, March 23, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Washington Men’s Camerata, a choral music institution in the Nation’s Capital since 1984, announced today that Scott Tucker has accepted the position of Artistic Director beginning in its 2024-25 season. He will take the post on July 1.

The selection of Tucker, who is former Artistic Director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, follows his successful engagement as guest Music Director during the 2023-24 season. Tucker is also cofounder and co-Artistic Director of the Washington Douglass Chorale and will continue in that role while leading the Camerata.

Camerata Board President Luis Ferran said “Scott is an excellent choice – a highly respected leader in our region’s robust choral community, with broad experience across a range of musical genres and keen sensitivity to the importance of new and underperformed works as well as the traditional men’s choral canon.”

Tucker, who was chosen after a nationwide search process undertaken by the Camerata’s Board, takes the baton during the Camerata’s 41st anniversary year.

“I’m honored to build on the foundation of excellence Frank Albinder has cemented over the last 25 years,” said Tucker. “The Camerata is integral to DC’s arts landscape and is admired nationally for its artistic excellence as well as its broader commitment to advancing men’s choral music.”

Albinder, the Camerata’s Artistic Director since 1999, announced last year that he would retire from the group at the end of the 2023-24 season. Tucker has been serving as guest Music Director for most of the current season, while Albinder has been on sabbatical to focus on the Camerata’s “Demetrius Project,” a comprehensive national library of men’s choral music. Albinder will return to conduct the final concert of the season on June 1, 2024, at Church of the Epiphany.

“I’m delighted that my friend Scott Tucker has been chosen to lead the Camerata,” said Albinder. “He is a renowned choral conductor and musical innovator who has served with particular distinction in the Washington DC community.”

About Scott Tucker

Scott Tucker’s career has included serving as Assistant Choral Conductor at Harvard and Professor of Music at Cornell, where he directed the Cornell Glee Club and the Cornell University Chorus. He has prepared choruses for many of the best-known orchestral conductors in the world including Marin Alsop, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Joanne Falletta, Erich Leinsdorf, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda and Michael Tilson-Thomas. During a decade with The Choral Arts Society of Washington, he conducted a wide range of classic, lesser-known and new works, including the East-Coast premiere of Damien Geter’s “An African American Requiem,” and prepared the chorus for over two dozen appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.

A reviewer for The Washington Post described Choral Arts’ performance of Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” as “…the most moving choral singing I have heard in a ­quarter-century’s residence in Washington.” In 2023, Tucker co-founded the Washington Douglass Chorale with Nolan Williams, Jr.

About The Camerata

Washington Men’s Camerata was founded by its volunteer members in 1984 to perform, promote and preserve the rich legacy of men’s choral singing. Its wide-ranging repertoire embraces the traditional men’s choral canon, pieces by lesser-known composers, and newly composed works. In addition to its seasonal concerts at The Kennedy Center and other venues, the group’s performances have included appearances with The National Symphony Orchestra, on National Public Radio and at major choral festivals. It regularly commissions and premieres new choral works and has released six CDs.

About the National Library of Men’s Choral Music – The Demetrius Project

In 1998 the Washington Men’s Camerata, with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, established a National Library of Men’s Choral Music in Washington, DC. This effort, named “the Demetrius Project” (after the founder and the first chief librarian of the Royal Library in ancient Alexandria, Egypt) continues to receive NEA support and has grown to include over 3,333 titles and approximately 199,000 individual copies of music..

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Lawrence Reppert
Washington Men’s Camerata
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