Contact Information

Biography

Caron Daley is Director of Choral Activities, Associate Professor of Music, and Ensembles Area Coordinator 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 recently recorded its first full-length album, “Wake up my Spirit”, forthcoming in 2024.

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. In 2024, she was awarded a Creative Development Award from the Heinz Endowments to establish a new professional choral ensemble, Archipelago, in Pittsburgh. Passionate about conductor education, Caron led the Halifax Choral Conducting Institute from 2012–20, 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 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.

Her 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, 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, Choral Conductor’s Companion, Choral Repertoire by Women Composers (forthcoming), and The Oxford Handbook of Musician Health Advocacy (forthcoming). She has served on the editorial boards of The Choral Scholar and Anacrusis.

Caron is actively engaged in leadership activities as National Chair for 4-year Colleges and Universities with the American Choral Directors Association. She has previously served as President of the American Choral Directors Association of Pennsylvania, Board Member for the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Vice President of Dalcroze Canada. At Duquesne, Caron chairs the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee at the Mary Pappert School of Music, sits on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, and serves as a Diversity Advocate for faculty searches. She leads the musician health and wellness initiatives at the Mary Pappert School of Music.

She 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 and 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
  • 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. (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.