Geoffrey Paul Boers

Geoffrey Boers has become recognized as one of the Unites States' foremost choral conductors and pedagogues. He maintains an active conducting, teaching, workshop and clinic schedule; his recent engagements have included conducting concerts in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Meyerson Concert Hall in Dallas, New York's Alice Tully and Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. In addition he has served as artist-in-residence in Toronto, Ontario, Mainz, Germany, as well as Seoul, Korea with the world-renown choir the Incheon City Chorale.

Geoffrey Boers is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Washington in Seattle. Under his direction, the graduate choral program has developed a singular mission: to nurture the whole student as conductor-teacher-servant-leader-scholar. This vision has led the program to become one of the most vibrant and innovative in the country, attracting students from around the world interested in exploring the future of our art. The UW Choral Cohort consists of four faculty, twelve graduate students in-residence, and eight ensembles with nearly 500 singers participating. Geoffrey conducts the UW Chamber Singers, the University's premier ensemble of graduate and advanced singers. He also teaches graduate choral conducting and choral pedagogy, and serves as faculty advisor to the choral community at the University.

Through his teaching he is exploring the evolution of conducting gesture and rehearsal technique and their connection with the growing science of mirror neurons, empathy, perception, learning, and personal transformation. His exploration has led to new thoughts about conducting and teaching with regard to breath, movement, artistry, personal growth, and cultural development. Recently, his work has led to the mentoring of local choral cohorts of teachers and conductors who are interested in building professional communities of ongoing mentorship and musical development. He has developed such mentorship programs in Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, B.C., Calgary, Alberta, and Houston, TX.

In addition to his position at the UW, Boers sings professionally and is the conductor of the Tacoma Symphony Chorus where he conducts both the choir and symphony players in a four-concert season. 

University of Washington Chamber Singers
The University of Washington Chamber Singers, formerly known as the Madrigal Singers, is the UW's longest-standing choral organization, formed in the early 1930s. The group gained wide recognition through its conductors Gerald Kechley, Rodney Eichenberger, and Joan Conlon. The current Chamber Singers, consisting of graduate and advanced undergraduate music majors, vocal performance majors, and music education majors, has expanded in size and repertoire to focus on challenging repertoire of all periods. They have been featured at many honor festivals, conventions, and workshops, including Musicfest Canada, Canada's national music festival, and at the national conventions of the National Kodaly Conference, National Association of Schools of Music, and American Musicological Society.

They traveled to the Baltic countries in 2000 and 2005 for extended concert tours. The result of these tours has been the establishment of the University of Washington Baltic Choral Library. Available online at http://www.music.washington.edu/choirs/ this library is an invaluable resource for those wishing to learn about this vast body of repertoire. The Chamber Singers also toured to Hungary this past Spring. The ensemble performs numerous major works annually, the 2007-08 season will include Respighi's Laud to the Nativity, Vaughan William's Sea Symphony, and Monteverdi's epic 1610 Vespers.