Nick Page Bio (photo by Susan Wilson)

Born in Arlington, MA 12/8/52

Nick Page is a composer, conductor, author, and song leader. From 1983 to 1986, Mr. Page was a conductor with the Chicago Children¹s Choir and he currently directs the Mystic Chorale of Boston as well as leading sings and workshops throughout the Americas and Europe. He has guest conducted at many festivals and concert venues including Carnegie Hall. He is the author of three books for teachers including his SING WITH US songbook (Hal Leonard) and SING AND SHINE ON (World Music Press). His articles have appeared in numerous music journals (as well as his essays in the "Choral Family" section of thie website). Nick has over fifty published choral pieces from Hal Leonard, Boosey & Hawkes, Transcontinental, and World Music Press. He has a Music Education degree from Ithaca College and a Masters in Education from Lesley College. See testimonies on Nick's homepage. A resume is below.

Nick Page has been surrounded by singing all of his life. Every Saturday night his family would gather around the fire to sing folk songs, pop songs, spirituals, and rounds---songs in harmony. Nick does not see these early experiences as being old fashioned or from a distant past, long ago replaced by television. Instead, he sees these experiences as being necessary for growth, both as an individual and as a member of society.

Believing that there should be no separation between the talented and the untalented, Nick Page makes his living as a song leader. He works with children who have an inborn love of singing and he works with adults, many of whom have lost their love of singing a long time ago. Nick renews the love. He also works with educators, both classroom teachers and music specialists. The main themes in his teacher workshops surround the perspectives of multi-cultural and multi-sensory learning, particularly with the aid of singing.

Nick Page completed his Masters in Education in 1993 (Lesley). His undergraduate degree was from Ithaca College (1975), where he majored in Music Education. While at Ithaca, he composed his first full work called, Comic Requiem, Son of Faust which he presented to a full house. After college, he taught at all levels K-12 and he continued to compose and arrange choral works as well as musical comedies.

In 1983, he moved from his native New England to Chicago where he worked as a conductor and Training Units Director with the six hundred strong Chicago Children's Choir. The experience changed his life. He became intoxicated with the worlds of Black Gospel and Jewish liturgical music. The passion of the music drove him to study more music of great energy, particularly the choral styles from diverse cultures. He studied the South African Mbube choral style with Joseph Shabalala of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He studied jazz and pop choral styles with Bobby McFerrin and Richard Greene from The Bobs. He studied Ethnomusicology, particularly the music of Africa and India.

In 1987 he took a workshop with Ysaye Maria Barnwell of the woman's singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock. She created an amazing singing ensemble from a group of people, most of whom had never sung before in their lives. This, plus the way she brought the culture behind the music into total focus, was an inspiration for Nick Page. He had returned to New England by then. He began leading sing-a-longs for people of all ages. He has traveled across North America leading what he calls POWER SINGS with adult groups, elementary, junior high, and senior high school students as well as at many colleges.

Nick founded THE MYSTIC CHORALE in 1990. The two hundred-member chorus presents concert/sing-a-longs where the audience is an equal partner in creating the music. They have presented concert/sing-a-longs on many cultural themes including South African, Central European, Celtic, Jewish, North American, Latin American, in addition to the annual Gospel sing that features both black and white gospel music. They have performed in Canada, Europe and New York and will travel to Costa Rica in July, 2004.

In addition to his many choral pieces and songs, Nick has written three musicals. The first two were for children, THE GIMME GIMMES and OLLY OLLY END FREE. His last musical was a three-act comedy, ATTACK OF THE WINDMILLS.

Mr. Page is the author of two how-to music books. The first, Sing and Shine On! The Teacher’s Guide to Multicultural Song Leading (World Music Press), explains why singing and music are essential for learning and it gives detailed song leading instructions. The second book, Music As A Way Of Knowing (Stenhouse), shows how to use music to teach reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Nick’s articles on music have appeared in numerous choral journals.

Nick Page resume
choral director
THE MYSTIC CHORALE, Founder and director of two hundred-voice chorus. The concerts are sing-a-longs on cultural themes including South African, Celtic, Eastern European, Latin American, North American, including the annual Spring Mystic Gospel Sing-A-Long, and the Jewish Choral Sing-Along, Watertown, MA, 1990-2004.
Wexford, Ireland Children¹s Choral Festival, Conductor 2004
OKLAHOMA ALL-STATE HONOR HIGH SCHOOL CHORUS, Guest Conductor 11/00.
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, Guest Conductor 1996.
Massachusetts Western District MENC Middle School Music Festival, Director of Boy's Chorus, 1996.
Connecticut All-State ACDA Children's Choral Festival, Guest conductor, 1995. Massachusetts Northeast District MENC Middle School Music Festival, Director of Boy's Chorus, 1995.
CHICAGO CHILDREN'S CHOIR (Ethnically diverse children's chorus), Conductor and training units director, (600 singers in program, two national tours annually, performances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago) 1983-1986.
STAR ISLAND, Summer Conference Center, Portsmouth, NH, Music director, 1979-1981.
UNITY TEMPLE, Oak Park, IL, Choral director at UU church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1983-1985.
FIRST PARISH CHURCH, Lexington, MA, Director of Senior and Children's Choirs, 1979-1983.
STÄMBANDET, Director of a cappella Scandinavian folk chorus, 1979-1983.
s o n g l e a d e r
Schools: ZESTFESTS in hundreds of elementary schools throughout North America 1990-2004.

Centers: Boston Children's Museum, Boston Music Education Collaborative, Interface in Cambridge, MA, Three Apples Story Telling Festival in Harvard, MA, Brugh Joy's annual New Year's retreat at Asilomar in CA, The Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies, 1992-2004, Rowe Conference Center in Rowe, MA, The Mountain in Highlands, NC, Chicago Cultural Center, Cambridge Revels, Cambridge Multicultural Center.

Conventions: National American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA) Conventions in Philadelphia, PA and Dallas, TX, 1995-1996, Eastern Division American Choral Directors Association Conventions 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004. Music Educators National Conference in Kansas City, MO, 1996. Noetics Conference in FL, 1997, several General Assemblies of the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1990-2003.

Colleges: UND, Penn State, Mass. College of Art, Regis College, MA, U Mass., Amherst and Harbor campuses, Gettysburg College, PA, Lowell State College in Lowell, MA, Meadville/Lombard in Chicago, IL, Hebrew College in Brookline, MA, Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, Simmons College, Wheelock College, and Boston College in Boston, MA.

Places of Worship: Sing-Alongs and worship services at hundreds churches throughout North America, 1988-2004.

Self-Sponsored: Fall and Spring Concert/Sing-Alongs with The Mystic Chorale in Watertown, MA, Monthly sings with different themes: A Cappella, Spirituals, Rock and Roll, Rounds and Partner Songs, Broadway Showtunes, Jazz and other Improvisational Music, Love Songs, Earth Songs, Off-the-Wall Songs, 1989-2004.
composer and arranger
NISKA BANJA, A CHILD IS BORN (Magnified in Glory), A PROMISE I WILL KEEP, BUILDING BRIDGES, SHINE, SHINE SHINE, CHILDREN GO WHERE I SEND THEE (with Keith Hampton), THE EARTH'S BEEN GOOD TO ME, L'EYLA, THREE MARK TWAIN SETTINGS (TO BE THE FIRST, EXPLORE DREAM DISCOVER, WHEN IN DOUBT TELL THE TRUTH), TURN AROUND, WE'RE GOIN' ROUND, THE SEVEN WONDERS, SHOUT THE PRAISE, O VIRTUS SAPIENTAE, CHERRY TREE CAROL, HAMISHA ASAR, THULA S'THANDWA, AND THE TREES STOOD LIKE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS, SING AND SHINE ON, LIFE IS LIKE A MOUNTAIN RAILWAY, THE NURSERY RHYME CANTATA (LONDON BRIDGE, RUNAWAY SPOON ROUND, SOLOMON GRUNDY, SHE SHALL HAVE MUSIC, A LITTLE CURL, OLD MOTHER HUBBARD, FAIREST LADY), MOUTH PEACE I, LOVE THE EARTH, ORPHEUS WITH HIS LUTE MADE TREES, I USED TO BE A RIDDLE, BA BA DOO BA, LIFE IS A SONG, BOWLING GREEN, BABY SONG OF THE FOUR WINDS, STARS, SONGS, FACES (Choral arrangements and compositions published by Hal Leonard, Boosey & Hawkes,) 1990-2008.

N'KOSI SIKELEL'I AFRIKA (South African Anthem) Transcription with Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, published by World Music Press, 1991.

Composer in residence for Doreen Rao's Choral Music Experience (CME) seminars in DeKalb, IL, 1995, Philadelphia, 1996, and Chicago, 1999. 2001.

ATTACK OF THE WINDMILLS (Musical Comedy), Writer, Composer, Designer, 1983.
OLLY OLLY END FREE, THE GIMME-GIMMES, DARE TO WONDER (Children's Musicals) Writer, Composer, 76¹-88¹.
COMIC REQUIEM (Son of Faust; The Life Story of Composer Humphrey Mozart) Composer, Stand-Up Comedian, 1975.
a u t h o r
The Cultural Connection, Article in the CHORAL JOURNAL, the national magazine of the American Choral Directors Association 3/01.
SING AND SHINE ON, The Teachers Guide to Multicultural Song Leading, World Music Press. 1995.
MUSIC AS A WAY OF KNOWING, From series of books on using the arts to teach academic studies, Stenhouse, 1995.
THE CHORAL FAMILY NEWSLETTER, Publisher, Author:What Each Of Us Can Do To Promote Choral Diversity, All Music is Multicultural, Some Points On Singing The Music Of Many Cultures With Children 1994-2004.
One of seven "visionaries" interviewed for the CHORAL JOURNAL, article, Standards Of Excellence In The Coming Century, 3/98.
workshop instructor
Residencies: Wexford, Ireland (two week school residency, 1/04), Beal Early Childhood Center (Shrewsbury, MA 1/03), Dalrymple School 1-5 (Winthrop, MA 2/02 Laurie Malanson, Principal), Lebanon, PA Middle Schools (3/03), Atrium School in Watertown, MA (9/03), Valley Forge, PA (High School 3/02)

On Music As a Way of Knowing: Massachusetts MENC, Oklahoma Music Educators Association OMEA, Gettysburg College, PA, Rockhurst College in Kansas City, MO, University of Central Connecticut, Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, University of Wisconsin, WI, Boston College, Lowell State (MA), U Mass Amherst, Cal Sate (LA).

On Song-Leading: Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Kansas City, MO, 1996, American Choral Director Association (ACDA), numerous State sponsored gatherings, Star Island Conference Center off the coast of Portsmouth, NH, Lowell State College, The String-Along Week-End, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee Folk Center, Umass Amherst, U of N. Dakota,

Self-sponsored workshops 1980-2004.

On Multicultural Music: The North American Jewish Choral Festival, Boston Symphony Outreach Program, MENC, ACDA, Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, American Orff-Schulwerk Association (AOSA), Massachusetts Cultural Council, Sturbridge Village Teacher Training Program in Sturbridge Village, MA, Maryland State MENC Conference.
t e a c h e r
WHEELOCK COLLEGE in Boston, MA, Music education teacher, 1987-1993.
CAMBRIDGE FRIENDS SCHOOL in Cambridge, MA, K-8 Music and movement teacher, 1986-1990.
CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Music instructor for grades 3-4 in several Chicago schools, 1983-1986.
RIVERS MUSIC SCHOOL in Weston, MA, Music teacher, grades 7-12, 1981-1983.
LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, Lexington, MA, English and music teacher, 1979-1981.
KIMBALL UNION ACADEMY, Meriden, NH, Music director, 1975-1978.
theater/radio/recordings
Guest on THE CONNECTION , ON POINT and other Public Radio shows 1990-2004
The DICK PLEASANTS FOLK RADIO SHOW, WGBH Radio in Boston, Nick was a guest on 1/01.
The NICK PAGE SONGBOOK, Solo CD with twenty songs with lyrics included 11/00.
FREEDOM CD, Mystic Chorale live at Sanders Theater, directed by Nick Page, 5/00.
MAGNIFICENCE CD, Mystic Chorale directed by Nick Page, 5/98.
BREAD AND PUPPET THEATER, Glover, VT, Performer and Apprentice, 1981-1988.
WESTON PLAYHOUSE, Weston, VT, Summer stock theater, Music Director and performer, 1983.
CHRISTMAS REVELS, Cambridge, MA, Folk celebration directed by Jack Langstaff featuring Marshall Dodge, 1979.
CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE MORNING (A Christmas Revels record), Director of children's chorus, 1987.
THE RED JACKET (Award winning documentary on the Chicago Children's Choir), Conductor, 1985. Numerous recordings with The Chicago Children's Choir,
THE MYSTIC CHORALE and others, 1983-2004.
academic training
Western Wind Vocal Workshop, 7/02
Lesley Graduate School, Cambridge, MA: Masters in Education combining the perspectives of multicultural and multiple intelligence education. Masters Degree, 1993.
Tufts University, Medford, MA: Studies in ethnomusicology and the music of Africa, 1990-1991.
Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY: Singing workshops with Meredith Monk, Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ysaye Maria Barnwell of Sweet Honey In The Rock, Richard "Bob" Greene of The Bobs, and Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect, 1987-1993.
Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA: Studies in the classical music of Northern India. 1987-1988.
Association of Professional Vocal Ensembles, Saranac Lake, NY: Master classes with conductors Margaret Hillis and Elmer Eisler. Selected to conduct the Gregg Smith Singers in Concert. 1985.
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL: Choral Conducting Studies with Dr. Robert Harris, 1984.
New England Conservatory, Boston, MA: Student of Lorna Cooke deVaron, George Russell, and Robert Ceely (Choral conducting, Jazz composition, and Electronic music) 1978-1979.
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY: BM, Music Education, String Bass, 1975.
o r g a n i z a t i o n s
AMERICAN CHORAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION (ACDA) Member, Former Chair of the Eastern Division Ethnic & Multicultural Standards of Excellence Committee.
PEOPLES MUSIC NETWORK (PMN) Member.
CHILDREN¹S MUSIC NETWORK (CMN) Member.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST MUSICIANS NETWORK (UUMN) Member.

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