Contact Information

Biography

Caron Daley is Chair of the Performance Department, Director of Choral Activities, and Associate Professor of Music at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Under her direction since 2015, 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), 2023 National Association for Music Education Eastern Division Conference (Rochester, NY), and 2024 College Music Society National Conference (Washington, DC). The choir released its first full-length album in 2024, “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. She is frequently invited to guest-conduct, serving as guest Music Director of the Back Bay Chorale in Boston, MA in 2024, and conducting recent festivals in Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and California. Passionate about conductor education, Caron led the Halifax Choral Conducting Institute from 2012–20, Duquesne University Choral Kaleidoscope from 2017–21, and in 2024, served as a guest clinician for the Graduate Conducting Masterclass at the ACDA Eastern Division Conference. As a choral singer, she has performed with the National Youth Choir of Canada, Festival Ensemble of the Backakademie Stuttgart, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus, Halifax Camerata, North Carolina Master Chorale, Bel Canto Company, and Columbus Symphony Chorus.

Caron’s research on choral embodiment and musician injury prevention 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, Voice Foundation Symposium, and Global Summit on Occupational Health in Music. Her research is published in Canadian Music Educator, The Choral Scholar, Choral Journal, Journal of Singing, College Music Symposium, 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, Choral Conductor’s Companion, Choral Repertoire by Women Composers, and The Oxford Handbook of Musician Health Advocacy (forthcoming). She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Choral Canada’s Anacrusis journal.

Caron holds a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Toronto, an M.M. in Choral Conducting and M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy from The Ohio State University, an Artist Diploma in Voice Performance and an Honours B.M. in Music Education from Western University, and an Associate Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Canada.

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

  • Conducting Pedagogy
  • Musician Health and Wellness
  • Dalcroze Eurythmics
  • Choral Pedagogy
  • Injury Prevention for Conductors

School

Associated Programs

  • American Choral Directors Association
  • Choral Canada
  • National Association for Music Education
  • Daley, C. (forthcoming). Choral music by women composers (contributing author). GIA Publications.
  • Daley, C. (2023). Connection, invention, and relevance: Post-pandemic recruitment in college and university choirs. Choral Journal 62(11), 28–29.
  • Daley, C., Rusiewicz, H. L., Schreiber, J. & Grabowski, J (2022). The impact of manual mimicry gestures on the learning of sung German phonemes. International Journal of Research in Choral Singing 10, 108–130.
  • 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 Foundation Newsletter 25(1), 11–13.
  • Daley, C. (2018). Reimagining conductor score study through the principles of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze’s eurhythmics. Choral Journal 58(8), 18–26.
  • Daley, C. (2016). Embodied sound: A resource reference guide on the use of movement in choral conducting and rehearsing. Research Memorandum Series of Chorus America, 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.