Trent Patterson, D.M.A.

Director of Choral Studies and Music Education
Assistant Professor of Music
Conducting, music literature, choral studies, music education

Trent A. Patterson is Director of Choral Studies and Music Education at Webster University. Dr. Patterson brings to St. Louis extensive experience as a conductor and music educator in secondary public school and university choral music programs in Florida, Michigan, California, and Iowa. He has served as conductor of community choirs, festival choirs, chamber opera, and church choirs. An advocate of programming repertoire from all style periods as well as new music by living composers, Patterson has conducted or prepared world premiere performances of works by composers including Kirke Mechem and Adolphus Hailstork.

Dr. Patterson’s middle and high school choirs were commended for the quality of their performances at regional and national music festivals and regularly performed major works with orchestra. Choirs under Patterson’s direction consistently received superior ratings at district and state music performance assessments. At the university level, Patterson has worked with a wide range of choral ensembles, including select chamber choirs of advanced undergraduate and graduate students, large auditioned undergraduate choirs, opera choruses, and non-auditioned choirs.

Dr. Patterson is active as a choral adjudicator and workshop clinician for choirs of all ages and levels. His D.M.A., with a dissertation topic “Charlene Archibeque: An Iconic Figure in American Choral Music” is from Michigan State University. Patterson received a Bachelor of Music in choral music education from The Florida State University and a Master of Arts in choral conducting from San José State University. His primary conducting teachers are David Rayl, Sandra Snow, Jonathan Reed, Charlene Archibeque, and André J. Thomas.

As a collaborative pianist, Patterson has performed throughout the United States and abroad and has served as vocal coach for many solo singers and choirs. From 2007-09, he served as pianist for the Michigan State University Women’s Chamber Ensemble, appearing at the 2008 Central Division and the 2009 National Conventions of the American Choral Directors Association. In 2001, Patterson served as opera staff pianist at the American Institute of Musical Studies, Graz, Austria where he previously was a Fisher-Tye Fellow (2000) studying vocal accompanying and German Lieder. He has played much of the standard solo vocal and operatic repertoire during the past fifteen years and has frequently accompanied American opera and concert singers, including internationally recognized mezzo-soprano Jossie Perez and tenor Curtis Rayam. Patterson has collaborated with the voice studios of Erie Mills, Melanie Helton, Molly Fillmore, Joseph Frank, Stanford Olsen, Richard Fracker, and Jerrold Pope.

At Webster University, Dr. Patterson conducts the Chamber Singers, Choral Society, and supervises undergraduate and graduate students in music education. Active as a guest conductor of honor choirs, he conducted the St. Louis Suburban District Women’s Honor Choir in November 2010. Patterson is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Missouri Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and Missouri Music Educators Association.