Associate Professor, Director of Choral Studies
Karen Kennedy is associate professor and director of choral studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where she conducts the Frost Chorale and other choral ensembles. She is also artistic director of the Master Chorale of South Florida. She previously held the positions of chorus director for the Honolulu Symphony, director of choral activities at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and director of choral activities at Towson University. She earned a D.M.A. degree in choral music from Arizona State University, a M.M. in choral conducting from Butler University and a B.M. in Music Education from DePauw University. Dr. Kennedy regularly conducts choral festivals featuring major works such as Orff's Carmina Burana, Durufle’s Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and Rutter’s Gloria, to name a few. She has received numerous awards for teaching, including the University of Hawai`i Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching, Arizona State University’s Manzanita “Top Prof” Award and Butler University’s Faculty Distinction Award. Dr. Kennedy is well known as a choral clinician and adjudicator for all-state and festival honor choirs. She has presented workshops at ACDA and MENC conventions and served as the ACDA Eastern Division Collegiate Repertoire and Standards Chair and as a founding member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
Professor, Choral Studies
Donald Oglesby is professor of choral studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. Oglesby is well-known for his work on Baroque music, particularly that of J.S. Bach. He is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Miami Bach Society. Dr. O (as he is known) has performed all of the major choral and orchestral works of Bach and numerous Baroque cantatas, oratorios, concerti, and symphonies. On Christmas Day 1989, his performance of Handel’s Messiah was broadcast nationally by NBC. Choirs under Dr. Oglesby’s direction have toured the eastern United States as well as Great Britain and Europe. Dr. Oglesby has worked at the Center for Baroque Music in Versailles; has been president of the Florida chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, the Miami chapters of Pi Kappa Lambda and Pi Kappa Phi honor societies; currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Choral Journal; and is Chair of the Research and Publications Committee of the American Choral Directors’ Association.
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Music Education
Corin Overland is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Music Education at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he teaches courses in choral conducting, choral literature and secondary choral methods. Overland received a Ph.D. in Music Education from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he held teaching and research assistantship positions. Overland holds an M.M. in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and a B.A. in Music Education from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Dr. Overland has taught choral music at the secondary level for 14 years in Minnesota, Maryland, and Missouri, and holds multiple teaching certifications in choral, instrumental and general music. Prior to beginning his doctoral work, he was the Director of Choral Music at Punahou Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii: the nation’s largest private school. He frequently appears as guest conductor and clinician for local and national events, serving most recently as the conductor of All-State Jr. Honor Choirs in Oregon and Delaware. His research interests include the history of music education organizations; integrated-arts school reform models; and the effects of musical training on physical coordination and timing. He has presented research nationally and internationally, and is published in the Journal of Research in Historical Music Education and the Music Educator’s Journal.
