The life and philosophy of choral conductor Rodney Eichenberger, including a detailed analysis and application of his conductor-singer gestures

Rodney Eichenberger is an internationally recognized choral conductor, music educator, and master choral conducting teacher. He is a pioneer in the use of movement and nonverbal communication in the choral rehearsal. His forty-eight year professional life includes three successful teaching careers at the University of Washington, the University of Southern California, and the Florida State University; it also includes an extensive legacy of choral conducting engagements and clinics throughout the United States and abroad.; The purpose of this study is to (1) document Rodney Eichenberger's personal life, his achievements, and his professional engagements. (2) Describe the elements of his philosophy and document when in his career he discovered each element. (3) Analyze his two instructional videotapes, and develop a catalogue of the movements, gestures, and activities that he uses both with singers and in his conducting. (4) Apply the gestures that he promotes in his two instructional videotapes to a complete videotaping of an All-State conducted by Eichenberger to document the degree to which he implements the gestures in a realistic choral setting.; Eichenberger used movement in the choral rehearsal while teaching at the University of Washington. However, later, Eichenberger discovered the significance of human nonverbal communication and the relationship of daily human movement to pitch, language, and sound. This led him to formulate a unique philosophy regarding the universal perception of specific movements and their affect on sound.; This study found that during the All-State, Eichenberger consistently applied the gestures and activities he promotes in his two instructional videotapes. Eichenberger uses the warm-up portion of the rehearsal to provide singers with the opportunity to internalize sound. This shared experience with singers enhances a common perception from which Eichenberger incorporates the gestures into his conducting; he then is able to facilitate changes in choral sound. This study develops a catalogue of movements and activities that Eichenberger promotes in his instructional videotapes and terms them conductor-singer gestures. Eichenberger continues to use the conductor-singer gestures as shared experiences with singers and in his conducting gesture throughout the entire rehearsal process including concert performance.