The beginning of the fall semester is starting off with high honors for one member of the Seton Hill University (SHU) faculty.
Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Westmoreland Choral Society, Marvin Huls, received the 2008 Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence earlier this month.
By Rachel Prichard,
Assistant News Editor
The beginning of the fall semester is starting off with high honors for one member of the Seton Hill University (SHU) faculty.
Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Westmoreland Choral Society, Marvin Huls, received the 2008 Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence earlier this month.
The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Choral Association (ACDA-PA) gives the award to a Pennsylvania choral conductor who shows both innovative and honest values in the music they create.
Presented with the award at the annual conference banquet held at Penn State University, (PSU) the win came as surprise to Huls.
“Honestly, I never once considered myself as a candidate for receiving this award. I was stunned when I heard my name announced at the gala banquet a few weeks ago. Having been on the Board of ACDA-PA for a number of years, I was involved in the selection of many of the previous recipients and I knew the tremendous accomplishments of individuals who I consider to be major conductors,” said Huls.
As a senior faculty member, Huls has been teaching in the music department at SHU since 1971. He does not fail to recognize the people who he has both worked with and taught over the years.
“Although I’ve looked at different situations, I’ve stayed all these years because of the wonderful students I’ve had to work with and have become my musical colleagues and friends,” said Huls. “I’m surrounded by fine colleagues and a group of marvelous music students and consider myself so very blessed to do what I do.
Winning the Elaine Brown Award has meant much to him as both a choral conductor and music professor.
“Receiving this award helps affirm my work as a choral conductor and provides me with an assurance that I haven’t been too “off the mark” when it comes to choral conducting,” said Huls. “I hope that I’ve served Seton Hill well in a positive way and that this award will bring even more attention to the good things that are happening artistically and culturally at the university.”
Huls currently teaches several courses including choral ensembles, choral conducting, and both freshman and sophomore theory. Over the past few years he has also been a big part of recruiting many new music students to the university.