Dr. Leslie Guelker-Cone
Professor of Music
Vocal Area Coordinator
PAC 43; (360) 650-3772
Degrees:
- Doctorate of Musical Arts: University of Colorado
- Master of Music: San Jose State University
- Bachelor of Arts: California State University
Leslie Guelker-Cone is director of Choral Activities and Coordinator of Vocal Studies at Western. In addition to conducting the Concert Choir and the Western Voices chamber ensemble, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting and choral music education. In June 2009, she conducted Western's Concert Choir on tour in Argentina and Uruguay; other tours have taken the choir to France, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Bulgaria. Under her direction, the choir has performed at national and divisional conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Dr. Guelker-Cone received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder in choral conducting and literature. She has served as a Repertoire and Standards chair for the American Choral Directors Association at both the national and local levels and on the boards of both the California and Washington Music Educators Associations. She is a past president of Washington ACDA and is in frequent demand as a choral adjudicator, honor choir conductor, and guest clinician throughout the United States and Canada. Current research includes study of the incorporation of the movement theories of Dalcroze and Laban into the teaching of choral conducting as well as the use of collaborative teaching techniques in the choral rehearsal. In 2010, Santa Barbara Music released Dr. Guelker-Cone's new instructional video: The Collaborative Choral Rehearsal: Inspiring Creative Musicianship, featuring the Western Concert Choir. She is a recipient of WWU's highest teaching honor, the Excellence in Teaching Award as well as the 2009 Washington ACDA Leadership and Service Award.
