Biography
Dale Warland earned distinction as the founder of the acclaimed Dale Warland Singers while also building a multifaceted career as arranger, composer, guest conductor, and festival adjudicator. His ensembles consistently produced a warmly sheathed tonal refinement whose tensile core drew admiration from peers, and the precise intonation he elicited from his own groups or from choruses under his temporary direction remained equally striking.
Born April 14, 1932, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Warland completed his undergraduate studies at St. Olaf College in 1954. He then served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, where he established the Scott Male Chorus at Illinois’ Scott Air Force Base. After his discharge he pursued a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota and became minister of music at University Lutheran Church in Hope, Minnesota. In 1960 he entered the University of Southern California School of Music to begin doctoral studies; two years later he joined the faculty of Humboldt State College, and in 1965, after receiving the doctorate, he was named chairman of the music department at Keuka College.
Approaching his mid-thirties, Warland returned to Minnesota as director of choral activities at Macalester College in St. Paul. That same year he assisted Robert Shaw at the Meadowbrook School of Music, preparing the chorus for the American premiere of Penderecki’s Passion According to St. Luke under the composer’s direction. A 1971 Ford Foundation grant allowed him to study with Eric Ericson in Sweden and with David Willcocks, then director of music at King’s College, Cambridge, in England.
Warland established the Dale Warland Singers in 1972, giving their first performance at the Walker Art Center. Between 1976 and 1977 he collaborated with Norman Luboff on two recordings and led the ensemble on a Scandinavian tour. By 1980 he had launched a subscription series and had been appointed to the choral panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He left Macalester College in 1985 to concentrate on the Singers, yet he brought the college choir along when the combined forces performed in Germany during Bach’s 300th-anniversary celebrations. A 1987 grant from the Major Jerome Foundation enabled him to launch the Dale Warland Singers’ New Choral Music Program for Emerging Composers, which yielded notable additions to the repertory.
In 1988 Warland received the St. Olaf College Distinguished Alumnus Award, and his singers appeared with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He also became the first recipient of the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence. Following the ensemble’s disbandment in 2004, Warland devoted greater attention to composition, arranging, and teaching while continuing frequent guest-conducting engagements throughout Europe and in Japan. Among his works are Benedicamus Domino, commissioned by the Utah Chamber Artists, and Always Singing.
Most of his recordings appeared on Gothic Records with the Singers, including the Grammy-nominated Walden Pond and Lux Aurumque. In 2019 Gothic Records issued Hodie!, a second volume in its Dale Warland Singers Live Series that re-presented earlier live performances.
Born April 14, 1932, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Warland completed his undergraduate studies at St. Olaf College in 1954. He then served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, where he established the Scott Male Chorus at Illinois’ Scott Air Force Base. After his discharge he pursued a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota and became minister of music at University Lutheran Church in Hope, Minnesota. In 1960 he entered the University of Southern California School of Music to begin doctoral studies; two years later he joined the faculty of Humboldt State College, and in 1965, after receiving the doctorate, he was named chairman of the music department at Keuka College.
Approaching his mid-thirties, Warland returned to Minnesota as director of choral activities at Macalester College in St. Paul. That same year he assisted Robert Shaw at the Meadowbrook School of Music, preparing the chorus for the American premiere of Penderecki’s Passion According to St. Luke under the composer’s direction. A 1971 Ford Foundation grant allowed him to study with Eric Ericson in Sweden and with David Willcocks, then director of music at King’s College, Cambridge, in England.
Warland established the Dale Warland Singers in 1972, giving their first performance at the Walker Art Center. Between 1976 and 1977 he collaborated with Norman Luboff on two recordings and led the ensemble on a Scandinavian tour. By 1980 he had launched a subscription series and had been appointed to the choral panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He left Macalester College in 1985 to concentrate on the Singers, yet he brought the college choir along when the combined forces performed in Germany during Bach’s 300th-anniversary celebrations. A 1987 grant from the Major Jerome Foundation enabled him to launch the Dale Warland Singers’ New Choral Music Program for Emerging Composers, which yielded notable additions to the repertory.
In 1988 Warland received the St. Olaf College Distinguished Alumnus Award, and his singers appeared with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He also became the first recipient of the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence. Following the ensemble’s disbandment in 2004, Warland devoted greater attention to composition, arranging, and teaching while continuing frequent guest-conducting engagements throughout Europe and in Japan. Among his works are Benedicamus Domino, commissioned by the Utah Chamber Artists, and Always Singing.
Most of his recordings appeared on Gothic Records with the Singers, including the Grammy-nominated Walden Pond and Lux Aurumque. In 2019 Gothic Records issued Hodie!, a second volume in its Dale Warland Singers Live Series that re-presented earlier live performances.
Albums
