Nick Strimple is Assistant Professor of Choral Music at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. In addition to his expertise in choral music and his work composing and conducting, he is an internationally recognized authority on the music of the Holocaust, as well as an accomplished arranger who has done instrumental or choral arranging from artists as diverse as Air Supply and Frank Sinatra. Ensembles he conducts have appeared in festivals and conventions both in the United States and Europe. His acclaimed book, Choral Music in the Twentieth Century, was released in 2002.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses the history and practice of music, especially choral music, in the Christian tradition. He briefly covers the history of music in church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, assesses current trends in worship music in both the church and pop arenas, and passes along advice to other people who are considering a career as - or need help with being - a Music Director. He also discusses the student body at the Thornton School and his personal goals as an educator at the institution.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, explains why, if your song hits it big, you'll probably be sued by someone no matter what you do. In addition, he explains how expert witnesses work for plaintiffs and defendants in such suits to discover the actual creator of a musical work.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses the writing of his book on nineteenth-century choral music, from its foundations in Haydn and other eighteen-century composers, to the development of the modern choir.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, briefly discusses Jewish music during the Holocaust, and describes the course on that subject that he teaches at USC.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, explains how music is used in the Catholic Mass, the difference between the Ordinary and Proper Mass, and discusses why composers have done so many musical settings of the service. He also discusses how certain composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn) approached setting the Mass to music and why.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses his teaching career, and describes some of the particular pleasures and challenges that come from teaching students at USC. He also shares some of his teaching goals – that is, what he wants his students to take away from his lessons.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses the roles and duties that a church's music director might take on in various denominations, from knowing a classical repertoire and specific hymnal to running a mariachi Mass to writing grant proposals to putting on chamber music concert series, and how to acquire the skills necessary for the job. He also discusses some resources available to church musicians who want to network, learn new skills (organ, choral conducting), or find employment in the field.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, gives us a capsule history of sacred music in the Christian tradition, from the Council of Trent and the Dutch Reformists' unison psalmody to the integration of ornate music into the Catholic Mass in the Seventeenth century, and through the various trends and revisions to what is considered "proper" church music into the late Twentieth century. He contrasts these recent debates over sacred music in Christianity with similar debates in Judaism in the last two centuries.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses how worship music has evolved in the American Christian tradition over the past 100 years, and the growing diversity in what various churches use, from praise songs to traditional hymns, and shares his thoughts on why pop forms are more prevalent in today's worship services than there used to be and whether they compare favorably to the greater tradition of church music.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, shares his thoughts on popular Christian music and whether it accomplishes its twin goals of strengthening the Christian faith and being good music.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses the writing of his book on twentieth-century choral music.
Nick Strimple, Professor of Music at USC's Thornton School and Music Director at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, discusses the major trends in choral music over the course of the past one hundred years.
