UWs Lamartine Chosen for China Exchange

A national committee has selected University of Wyoming Choral Activities Director Nicole Lamartine to represent the United States as a conducting fellow June 15-25 in Beijing, China.

Lamartine, an associate professor in the UW Department of Music, will represent the Northwestern division of the 10,000-member American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). During her time at the Beijing Conservatory, she will give presentations, lead master classes, work with conducting students and rehearse choirs ranging from collegiate to professional.

“The University of Wyoming's strong commitment to internationalization is at the core of what I intend to offer as a representative of the university,” she says. “I hope to forge strong and lasting professional relationships that will have a positive influence on our students for years to come.”

For her audition, Lamartine submitted a 15-minute video of her conducting the Laramie High School Plainsmen Singers.

“I chose to submit a video of me conducting a choir that was not my own because I felt it gave a better representation of what I could do with a choir who did not know me,” she explains.

The ACDA International Conductors Exchange Program was launched in 2010 to create meaningful international collaborations and to forge stronger professional relationships with choral associations around the world. As part of the exchange, Beijing Conservatory conductor Jun Wang came to the United States this spring.

Lamartine conducts the select mixed Collegiate Chorale and the 80-voice men’s choir, the UW Singing Statesmen. Additionally, she advises the male a cappella Happy Jacks and teaches conducting and studio voice to both undergraduate and graduate students.

While primarily a university-level conductor, she has extensive experience singing professionally for world-renowned conductors, and regularly works with high school students in festivals and through guest conducting.