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Matthew J. LaPine is an active performer, educator, conductor, and composer in central New Jersey. He received the designation Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Music Education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he studied voice and graduated with distinction. He also received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Westminster, studying voice and piano, graduating summa cum laude, and winning the Sophomore Piano Competition. As a conductor, Mr. LaPine has been the graduate assistant with Westminster Williamson Voices and Westminster Schola Cantorum (under the supervision and direction of the acclaimed James Jordan), rehearsal assistant for the Westminster Jubilee Singers (under the direction of J. Donald Dumpson), and he has led rehearsals and soloed with the Westminster Symphonic Choir. He has studied piano with Lillian Livingston, Francis McGuigan, and Ann Marie Nowak; voice with Marvin Keenze and Sonia Funk-Olin; and music theory and composition with Jay Kawarsky, Barton Bartle, and Anthony Kosar.
Mr. LaPine is the Choral Director at Bernards High School, where his choral ensembles have received national acclaim and have performed in various locations along the East Coast, most recently at the Roper Performing Arts Center in Norfolk, VA and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Mr. LaPine is Director of Education for Music in the Somerset Hills, a community organization whose mission is to provide musical experiences of the highest quality to those who live and work in the Somerset Hills and the surrounding communities. Mr. LaPine has joined the New Jersey Youth Chorus as Director of the Young Men’s Ensemble. He is Director of Early Childhood Music Camps at Westminster Conservatory of Music and is a veteran member of the dynamic teaching team for Westminster Choir College’s Middle School Piano Camp where he has created and teaches the Eurhythmics, Plus! classes. Additionally, Mr. LaPine sings for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen (NJ) where he is a soloist, section leader, and guest conductor with the Festival and Chamber Choirs.
Mr. LaPine has been published in multiple works. He contributed the chapter “Prognosticating the Choral Ensemble’s Ear” to The Choral Rehearsal: Volume One, and the chapter “Schenkerian Analysis as an Analytical Tool for the Choral Conductor” in Inward Bound – The Choral Rehearsal: Volume Two; both books are authored by James Jordan and published by GIA. He is featured as a contributing author to Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir: Volume 2, as well as Teaching Music Through Performance in Middle School Choir, both published by GIA. Additionally, Mr. LaPine created an edition of Brahms’ Fest- und Gedenksprüche, which features a scholarly edition of the work with a complete Harmonic Immersion SolfegeTM analysis. It will be available as part of the Evoking Sound Choral Series, published by GIA. Further, Mr. LaPine coordinated and prepared Westminster Williamson Voices in the recording of multiple tracks for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir, Resource Recordings CD.
Mr. LaPine is a member of the National Association for Music Education, New Jersey Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association, and the New Jersey chapter of ACDA.