Biography
Gregory Ristow directs the Oberlin College Choir and Musical Union and teaches courses in vocal chamber music and conducting. He has conducted with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Houston's Foundation for Modern Music, the Voices chamber choir in Rochester, N.Y., as artistic director of Encore Vocal Arts in Indianapolis, and as assistant conductor of the Gregory Kunde Chorale in Rochester. He has sung with the Houston Chamber Choir and Houston’s Mercury Baroque, and has been called a performer with "star quality" who was "striking whenever he appeared on stage" (Indianapolis Examiner).
In addition to his work as a choral conductor, Ristow is in demand as a teacher of Dalcroze eurhythmics, a method of teaching music through movement. He served as instructor of eurhythmics at the Eastman School of Music (2009-11) and between 2004 and 2011 frequently directed the Eastman Summer Dalcroze Institute, an intensive program for teachers looking to incorporate Dalcroze eurhythmics techniques in their teaching. He served on the faculty of the Eastman Summer Choral Conducting Institute, where he taught eurhythmics-based movement classes for conductors and classes on using eurhythmics in choral rehearsals.
Ristow earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting at the Eastman School of Music, where he taught undergraduate and graduate conducting and was assistant conductor of the Eastman Chorale and the Eastman-Rochester Chorus. While at Eastman, Ristow received the TA Award for excellence in teaching and the Edward Curtis Peck Award for excellence in teaching by a graduate student. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education at Oberlin Conservatory, master’s degrees in conducting and music theory pedagogy at the Eastman School of Music, a Dalcroze certificate at the Juilliard School (studying with Robert Abramson), and a Dalcroze license at the Longy School of Music (studying with Anne Farber and Lisa Parker). He has studied piano with Lydia Frumkin, harpsichord with William Porter, and voice with mezzo-soprano Kathryn Cowdrick.
In addition to his role at Oberlin, Ristow is artistic director of the Cleveland Chamber Choir. For sixteen years, he taught on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp, where he conducted the Interlochen Singers and World Youth Honor Choir. Previously, he served as director of choirs at the DePauw University School of Music (2011-15), the Rochester Institute of Technology (2009-11), and at Lone Star College-Montgomery (2004-09), where he received the 2008 Faculty Excellence Award.
