Grammy winner hosts student workshop at Montana State

BOZEMAN - Montana State University students and local high schoolers had the opportunity to attend a workshop with Grammy-winning music educator Jeffery Redding as part of an event aimed at inspiring students for a lifetime in music.

Redding, who is director of choral activities at the University of Central Florida and received the 2019 Grammy Music Educator Award, visited MSU Oct. 10-11 as part of an annual outreach and community service event hosted by the American Choral Directors Association student organization at MSU.

The event was part of the School of Music's choral colloquium, according to Kirk Aamot, professor of music and director of choral activities at MSU in the College of Arts and Architecture.

"It was an amazing two days," Aamot said. "He is such an inspiring and gifted choral music teacher. He brought a different level of musicality out of the students."

Piper Butler, president of the ACDA student organization, said Redding helped her and other students with a piece they had been practicing for some time.

"It's not abnormal to get lost in the mechanics of a piece once you've sung it so many times, but Dr. Redding brought a new sense of life to it with his artful teaching," she said. "I found myself tearing up singing through it with a new level of emotion that he evoked by asking the question, 'What does this mean to you?'"

In addition to approximately 75 MSU students, Redding instructed 20 local high school students who are part of an all-state choir. He also worked with members of The Montanans, MSU's select chamber choir, and led a conducting masterclass with Butler and another music education student, Katrina Brugman.

"Bringing emotion to my future choirs through my teaching and conducting is something I deem as very important, so getting to learn from someone who has a similar idea about their methods was incredibly valuable," Butler said.