Contact Information

Biography

Caron Daley is Director of Choral Activities, Associate Professor of Music, and Area Coordinator for Ensembles at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Under her direction, the Duquesne University Voices of Spirit have performed across the Northeast and in Canada, including invited performances at the 2019 National Collegiate Choral Organization Conference (College Park, MD) and 2023 National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Conference (Rochester, NY). In 2018, the choir served as the ensemble-in-residence for the ACDA-Eastern Conducting Masterclasses, and in 2016 and 2022, performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall. In 2023–24, the choir will record its first full-length album, “Wake up my Spirit”.

A native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Caron has held past conducting appointments with the National Youth Choir of Canada, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Choir School, and Salem Academy and College. Caron frequently guest-conducts choral events, including recent festivals in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, West Virginia, and Massachusetts. Passionate about conductor education, she founded the Halifax Choral Conducting Institute in 2012, which inaugurated a Women’s Conducting Intensive in 2019, and led the event until 2020. In 2024, she will serve as a conducting clinician for the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Conducting Masterclass.

A certified Dalcroze Eurhythmics teacher, Caron researches embodiment in choral singing and conducting. Her two-decade exploration of these topics has resulted in conference presentations at the Oxford International Conducting Studies Conference, International Conference of Dalcroze Studies, Phenomenon of Singing Symposium, Symposium for Research in Choral Singing, Motor Speech Conference, and Voice Foundation Symposium, as well as publications in Canadian Music Educator, The Choral Scholar, Choral Journal, Journal of Singing, and the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing. Caron is a guest author in Teaching Music through Choral Performance Vol. 4 and Vol. 5 and the Choral Conductor’s Companion. Her current interdisciplinary research investigates musculoskeletal injury prevention and intervention in conductors. 

Caron holds a D.M.A. (Choral Conducting) from the University of Toronto, an M.M. (Choral Conducting) and M.A. (Vocal Pedagogy) from The Ohio State University, an Artist Diploma (Voice) and B.M. (Music Education) from Western University, and an A.R.C.T (Voice) from the Royal Conservatory of Canada. She currently serves as National Chair for College and University Choirs with the American Choral Directors Association and as a Board Member with the National Collegiate Choral Organization. From 2019–21, she served as President of the American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania. In her free time, Caron enjoys walking the hills of Pittsburgh, riding her electric cargo bike, and playing music with her family. 

Education

  • D.M.A., University of Toronto
  • M.M., The Ohio State University
  • M.A., The Ohio State University
  • A.D., Western University
  • B.Mus, Western University
  • A.R.C.T., Royal Conservatory of Canada

Areas of Expertise

  • Choral Conducting
  • Vocal Pedagogy
  • Conducting Pedagogy
  • Dalcroze Eurythmics
  • Injury Prevention for Conductors

School

Associated Programs

  • American Choral Directors Association
  • Performing Arts Medical Association
  • Dalcroze Society of America
  • National Collegiate Choral Organization
  • National Association for Music Education
  • Daley, C. (forthcoming). Choral music by women composers (contributing author). GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C., Rusiewicz, H. L., Schreiber, J. & Grabowski, J (forthcoming). The impact of manual mimicry gestures on the learning of sung German phonemes. International Journal for Research in Choral Singing.
  • Daley, C. (2022). Diverse embodiments: How COVID-19 expanded choral practice. Choral Journal 62(6), 6-13.
  • Daley, C. (2022). Operationalizing your diversity goals through repertoire selection. Choral Journal 62(7), 39-40.
  • Daley, C. & Rusiewicz H. L. (2021). Manual mimicry in the teaching and learning of phonemes for singing. Journal of Singing 77(4), 521-532.
  • Daley, C., Marchetti, G. & Ruane, M. (2020). Injury prevention for conductors: Risk factors, exercise interventions, and ergonomic and curricular recommendations. The Choral Scholar 58(3), 7-25.
  • Daley, C. (2020). Generating gestures: Using Dalcroze Eurhythmics to prepare to conduct. In B. Winnie (Ed.), The Choral Conductor's Companion, 55-56. Chicago: Meredith Music Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2020). Finding kinesthesia: Introducing movement-based learning in the voice studio and choral rehearsal. The Voice 25(1), 11-13.
  • Daley, C. (2019). Teacher resource guide: Cantate Domino (Ruth Watson Henderson). In H. Apfelstadt (Ed.), Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 5), 409-414. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2019). Teacher resource guide: Miniwanka (R. Murray Schafer). In H. Apfelstadt (Ed.), Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 5), 178-183. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2019). Teacher resource guide: God will give orders/Sweet Child (Sarah Quartel). In H. Apfelstadt (Ed.), Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 5), 637-641. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2019). Teacher resource guide: Lover's chant (Matthew Emery). In H. Apfelstadt (Ed.), Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 5), 375-380. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2019). Teacher resource guide: V'la l'bon vent (Allison Girvant). In H. Apfelstadt (Ed.), Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 5), 648-653. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2018). Reimagining conductor score study through the principles of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze's eurhythmics. Choral Journal 58(8), 18-26.
  • Daley, C. (2017). Teacher resource guide: Psalm 100 (René Clausen). In J-M. Scheibe (Ed.) Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 4), 338-343. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2017). Teacher resource guide: Ah! si mon moine voulait danser (Trad., arr. Donald Patriquin). In J-M. Scheibe (Ed.) Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 4), 531-536. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2017). Teacher resource guide: Rise up, my love, my fair one (Healey Willan). In J-M. Scheibe (Ed.) Teaching music through performance in choir (Vol. 4), 629-633. Chicago: GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2017). Structuring choral warm-ups for chorister success, part II: Developing musicianship skills. Pennsylvania Music Educators Association News 81(3), 46-47.
  • Daley, C. (2016). Structuring choral warm-ups for chorister success, part I: Developing the choral instrument. Pennsylvania Music Educators Association News 81(2), 34-35.
  • Daley, C. (2016). Embodied sound: A resource reference guide on the use of movement in choral conducting and rehearsing. Journal of the American Choral Foundation - Research Memorandum Series 209, 1-7.
  • Daley, C. (2014). I am the song: Teaching choral skills-internalization through embodied pedagogy - Part 2. Anacrusis 32(3), 13-14.
  • Daley, C. (2014). I am the song: Teaching choral skills-internalization through embodied pedagogy - Part 1. Anacrusis 32(2), 30-32.
  • Daley, C. (2012). A whole-body approach to choral teaching and learning: Dalcroze Eurhythmics in action in the choral context. Canadian Music Educator 52(4), 46-47.
  • Daley, C. (2008). Dalcroze Eurhythmics for conductors: Applications for score study, gesture, rehearsal and performance. Being Music 2(2), 1-4.