Biography

Michael Kemp was a master teacher for 14 years at Germantown Academy in Ft. Washington, PA, where he conducted the Upper School choruses and string orchestras, as well as two adult ensembles which he founded in the late 1990’s, the Academy Chorale and the Academy Chamber Society, that perform out of Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Gwynedd, PA. In addition to his conducting responsibilities at GA, Michael taught Advanced Placement Music Theory. In June 2008, he was awarded the Barness Chair for Distinguished Teaching in the Fine and Performing Arts for the second time. Michael is a Fellow of Melodious Accord and has been awarded inclusion in both Marquis’ Who’s Who in America and Madison’s Who’s Who Among Professionals and Executives in the World.

Prior to teaching as Germantown Academy, Michael served as Director of Music Ministries of Abington Presbyterian Church in Abington, Pennsylvania, after holding other significant church music positions in Nashville, Tennessee and Arlington, Texas. While in Texas, he also founded and conducted for eleven seasons the Arlington Choral Society, which critics placed “on the top rung of choral music in the Dallas Metroplex.” During that time he was a choral and church music lecturer at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. Recognized for his exceptional ability to build programs, Michael has founded and built from ground level many successful ensembles, including four church youth choirs and two high school choirs, two adult community choruses, and one adult community symphony orchestra, in addition to expanding and enhancing existing ensembles.

EDUCATION

Educated at Oklahoma University, Westminster Choir College, and the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague, Holland, Michael was educated equally in the areas of voice performance, viola performance, and conducting. In addition to institutional education, he also studied privately with renowned choral authorities Paul Salamunovitch, Philip Brunelle, and Alice Parker, with extensive summer study with Robert Shaw.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONS

Michael has been an internationally respected clinician for four decades, conducting and lecturing in over 400 workshops and festivals in 43 states and five Canadian provinces. He served extensively as clinician for the Choristers Guild, American Guild of Organists, American Choral Directors Association, and the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. Michael has the distinction of having served as clinician for the national worship and music conferences of fourteen different denominations in the United States and Canada, as well as having conducted numerous All-Province and All-State Honor Choruses.

Reaction to choral workshops and festivals by Michael Kemp have garnered strong response:

From Bingham Vick, Jr., Director of Choral Activities of Furman University, Greenville, S.C.:

“It is difficult to express how excited everyone was with the conference. I heard nothing but glowing remarks about your lectures, your attitudes, your enthusiasm, and the vigor and understanding with which you worked. Thank you for presenting one of the finest music conferences here ever.”

From Jocelyn Pritchard, Church Music Center, British Columbia (Alberta Choral Directors Association):

“Everyone I talked to had such positive things to say about your workshop. Your energy level is fantastic, and your enthusiasm is contagious. That, plus your experience and knowledge, are great assets and make a workshop with you a very good experience.  We all loved it!”

Michael has twice trained choral conductors from throughout Jamaica, and his choirs regularly tour internationally, traveling next March to Salzburg, Vienna, and Krakow. Michael is equally at home working with adults and youth, and his expertise encompasses both choral and orchestral conducting. In his 40-year career, he has conducted well over 300 masterworks of the standard choral and orchestral repertoire. He is a published composer with the Augsburg and Choristers Guild publishing houses. His book, The Choral Challenge: Practical Paths to Solving Problems, is available from G.I.A. Publishers in Chicago and recently received rave reviews in the April 2010 edition of the “Choral Journal.”

CODA

Besides his professional involvements in conducting, composing, writing, singing and playing the viola, Michael has coached tennis and table tennis, is an accomplished landscaper, and an avid reader. He also spent all of 2009 apprenticed to a well-known violin maker and recently completed the building of his own viola by hand, a fascinating project that took a total of 400 hours to complete.