BACK AT WESTMINSTER: Choral conductor Donald Nally, who has a long history with Westminster Choir College, has been hired as a full-time visiting professor to lead the Westminster Choir and Westminster Symphonic Choir, based at Rider University.

By Anne Levin

When the Westminster Choir performs at Trinity Episcopal Church in Trenton this Saturday evening, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir appears with the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey at the city’s War Memorial a week later, the two famed choral ensembles will have been prepared by a renowned conductor with close ties to their home base.

Donald Nally earned a Master of Music degree at Westminster Choir College in 1987 (before it became Westminster Choir College of Rider University), and served as an artist-in-residence there for the past two years. He has recently joined the faculty as a full-time visiting professor, working with the two choirs as well as students in the choral conducting program.

“Dr. Nally is one of the nation’s leaders in the field of conducting,” said Jason Vodicka, associate dean of Rider’s College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of music education at Westminster Choir College. “Having him here full time to lead our choirs and conducting program is a testament to his belief in the mission of Westminster Choir College. Our students are incredibly fortunate to learn from him.”

Rider’s failed attempt to sell the Westminster campus in Princeton to a Chinese company in 2017, followed by its move of the college to the Rider campus in Lawrence Township, have shrunk its enrollment. While Nally is only too aware of the effects of these changes, he is hopeful for the future.

“While the numbers are down, they are rising and the singers are there,” he said. “A lot of mistakes have been made. Those aren’t my business. I wasn’t really around for those. But I’m glad to be able to step in and take what’s there and make the best of it. We’re singing a lot, which is great.”

The Westminster Choir is now in its 104th year. It forms the core of the Symphonic Choir, which has recorded and performed with major orchestras under many internationally known conductors for the past 87 years. Their performance schedules this year will take the choirs to New York City, Philadelphia, and Bethlehem, Pa., among other locations.

Nally’s other full-time job is as head of the Philadelphia-based choral ensemble The Crossing, which has won three Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance and will appear at Richardson Auditorium on February 4. His resume includes previous academic appointments at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. He has been chorus master for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Welsh National Opera, and Opera Philadelphia. He has prepared choruses for several international conductors with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, among others.
“I have several areas where I have spent a lot of time,” Nally said. “Some with opera, some with new music, and a lot with church music. I decided my opera days were over, and I’ve gone into focusing on my contemporary music and teaching.”

Being a part of Westminster is clearly a priority.

“One of my focuses while being there is to really see what I can do to help the school itself look forward, and maybe accept what is their reality about the old campus and the Rider campus. Because we’re not going back [to the Princeton campus]. Of course, that’s an unpopular statement for me to make, but it’s true. The school is really important to me. It’s absolutely true that it has changed many lives, and I’m really thrilled to be here.”

The Westminster Choir’s concert at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 801 West State Street in Trenton this Saturday, October 12, is at 7 p.m. Titled “Evensong,” it follows the ancient liturgy, anchored by Herbert Howells’ Westminster Service, with sung “lessons” focused on themes of exile and refugeeism. Admission is free. The Symphonic Choir participates in an excerpt from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in the Capital Philharmonic’s “American Stories: Opening Night” on Saturday, October 19, 7:30 p.m., at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, on Lafayette Street in Trenton. Visit capitalphilharmonic.org for tickets.