Indialantic Chamber Singers Announce Conductors

By  //  September 1, 2013

40-member group prepares for 2013-14 season

The 40-member group of degreed musicians, choral arts professionals and experienced vocalists are seeking a replacement director following the recent retirement of their Founding Director, David Vogeding. Mr. Ryan Kasten, Dr. Jamie Younkin and Dr. Robert E. Lamb will each rehearse and conduct the group through one concert cycle during the season. (Indialantic Chamber Singers)
The 40-member group of degreed musicians, choral arts professionals and experienced vocalists are seeking a replacement director following the recent retirement of their Founding Director, David Vogeding. Mr. Ryan Kasten, Dr. Jamie Younkin and Dr. Robert E. Lamb will each rehearse and conduct the group through one concert cycle during the season. (Indialantic Chamber Singers)

BREVARD COUNTY • INDIALANTIC, FLORIDA – The Indialantic Chamber Singers have chosen three esteemed local musical directors to conduct during their 2013-14 performing season.

Dr Jamie Younkin cropped
Dr. Jamie Younkin

The 40-member group of degreed musicians, choral arts professionals and experienced vocalists are seeking a replacement director following the recent retirement of their Founding Director, David Vogeding.  Mr. Ryan Kasten, Dr. Jamie Younkin and Dr. Robert E. Lamb will each rehearse and conduct the group through one concert cycle during the season.

April 2014 will mark the conclusion of the three conducting stints, after which the Indialantic Chamber Singers will select their new Music Director.  Long considered Brevard’s premier choral ensemble, the Indialantic Chamber Singers rehearse weekly and perform up to nine Central Florida concerts per year.

Mr. Ryan Kasten holds a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Florida State University and is the Organist, Accompanist and Associate Conductor of musical groups at the Community Church of Vero Beach.

Mr. Kasten will conduct the Indialantic Chamber Singers’ fall concert on October 18th and 20th at Advent Lutheran Church in Suntree and Eastminster Presbyterian in Indialantic, respectively.

Dr. Jamie Younkin holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Toronto and is an Assistant Professor of Music at Florida Institute of Technology.

Dr Robert E Lamb
Dr. Robert E Lamb

Dr. Younkin will conduct the holiday concerts for the Indialantic Chamber Singers on December 1, 6 & 8, including the 12th Annual Flutes and Voices, a collaborative concert with the Space Coast Flute Orchestra.

Dr. Robert E. Lamb is Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts at Eastern Florida State College. Lamb holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and will prepare the Chamber Singers for their Spring concerts on April 4 and 6.

President Tony Spadafora is confident the three candidates will display the full range of their artistry and skills during their respective conducting periods.

“We were lucky to find such outstanding candidates right here in Brevard and Indian River Counties,” said Spadafora.

“The Indialantic Chamber Singers is looking for a director with the vision and ability to inspire us to the highest levels of choral excellence.  We’re excited to begin working with each of these highly qualified individuals.  One of them will ultimately be chosen as our new director.”

About Ryan A. Kasten, Conductor/Organist

Ryan Kasten
Ryan Kasten

Ryan Kasten is a native of Jackson, Missouri, and holds the Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music degrees in Organ Performance from Southeast Missouri State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln respectively.

In April of 2007, Mr. Kasten graduated from Florida State University with the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, and is currently a Candidate for the Doctoral Degree in Organ Performance at FSU.

Mr. Kasten needs only three solo organ recitals before the degree is bestowed.  Before coming to the Community Church of Vero Beach to serve as the Associate Director of Music/ Organist and Artistic Director of the Concert Series, Ryan was the Associate Director of Music /Organist at Faith Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Tallahassee, where he also taught piano, organ, voice and trumpet privately.

Prior to moving to Tallahassee to continue his education, he was Director of Music/Organist at churches in Wilmington, North Carolina; Rockford, Illinois; and Fremont, Nebraska.  Mr. Kasten has performed with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra in Rockford, Illinois.

He has performed solo organ recitals throughout the continental United States, and made his Carnegie Hall debut as the accompanist of the Rock-Valley Community Chorale on December 29, 1999.  Mr. Kasten was a Teaching Assistant/ Accompanist for the Choral Department in the College of Music at FSU, and an accompanist for the Choral program at FSU High School.

Ryan is the also the Founding Director of the Atlantic Ringers, an advanced, auditioned hand bell ensemble with members from all over the Treasure Coast area, and also serves as the Associate Director/Accompanist for both the Atlantic Schola Cantorum and the Atlantic Children’s Chorale. 

About Dr. Jamie Younkin

Dr. Jamie Younkin is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and the chair of the music program at Florida Institute of Technology, where she directs a variety of musical ensembles.

Dr. Jamie Younkin is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and the chair of the music program at Florida Institute of Technology, where she directs a variety of musical ensembles.

These have included the concert choir and the Florida Tech Schola Cantorum, a specialized a cappella choir for plainsong and Renaissance polyphony. Her experience is diverse and she possesses advanced knowledge of musical styles in all periods, gestural language and communication and has a passion for the mission of great music.

Ms. Younkin has a Ph.D. in Musicology  from the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.  She obtained her Master’s degree in Musicology from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, where she also obtained a Certificate in Early Music.   Jamie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Instrumental and Vocal Music Education from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.  Dr. Younkin resides in Palm Bay.

About Dr. Robert E. Lamb

Robert E. Lamb was appointed at Eastern Florida State College in August of 1998 (then Brevard Community College). He is currently Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Chair of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts. A native of North Carolina, he attended Wake Forest University where, in addition to his music studies, he minored in French and studied at l’Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France.

In addition to conducting, Lamb studied musicology with Donald Foster and Bruce D. McClung. His primary area of interest is the choral music of the French Baroque, especially the grands motets of Michel-Richard de Lalande. Lamb’s doctoral document, Michel-Richard de Lalande’s In convertendo Dominus: A Performance Edition with Performing Commentary, won the 2006 ACDA Julius Herford Prize.

He earned a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where his teachers were Richard Cox, William P. Carroll, and Hilary Apfelstadt. While in Greensboro, Lamb was Assistant Conductor of the Choral Society of Greensboro, a position he held on three international tours of Europe and the former Soviet Union. Lamb earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His principal conducting teachers in Cincinnati were John Leman, Earl Rivers, and Christopher Zimmerman.

In addition to conducting, Lamb studied musicology with Donald Foster and Bruce D. McClung. His primary area of interest is the choral music of the French Baroque, especially the grands motets of Michel-Richard de Lalande. Lamb’s doctoral document, Michel-Richard de Lalande’s In convertendo Dominus: A Performance Edition with Performing Commentary, won the 2006 ACDA Julius Herford Prize.

Locally, Lamb is Director of Traditional Music at Suntree United Methodist Church. There, he conducts the adult handbell choir in addition to the 65-voice Chancel Choir.

Dr. Lamb is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Choral Directors Association, in which he served two years as the North Carolina State Newsletter editor and currently serves as Florida Repertoire and Standards Chair for Community and Two-Year Colleges; the American Guild of Organists, in which he served as Dean of the Western North Carolina Chapter; Chorus America, the American Musicological Society, and the Florida Community Colleges Activities Association, where he served four years as chair of the statewide Student Artist Competition. Lamb is also a proud board member of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra.

 ABOUT THE INDIALANTIC CHAMBER SINGERS 

The Indialantic Chamber Singers is a professional quality mixed-voice ensemble of 40 auditioned singers.  Membership is comprised of degreed musicians, choral arts professionals and experienced vocalists.  Considered Brevard’s premier choral ensemble, the group performs a variety of accompanied and a cappella works.

In 2003 and 2007, the Indialantic Chamber Singers were invited to represent the state of Florida at the Washington National Cathedral’s “Florida Day” services. The Chamber Singers traveled again to the Washington National Cathedral in 2011 to provide the prelude to Evensong.

Their varied repertoire includes sacred, traditional and contemporary choral music.  David Vogeding began the Indialantic Chamber Singers in 1999 and was its director until Spring of 2013. The group is at home at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Indialantic.  Rehearsals are held weekly and performances are held in a number of Brevard County venues.

In 2003 and 2007, the Indialantic Chamber Singers were invited to represent the state of Florida at the Washington National Cathedral’s “Florida Day” services.  The Chamber Singers traveled again to the Washington National Cathedral in 2011 to provide the prelude to Evensong.

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