Dr. Neal Woodruff is the conductor of Orchestra and Concert Singers here at Olivet Nazarene University.
Dr. Woodruff began his work here at Olivet in 2000. He teaches a wide variety of music courses including church music, applied conducting and opera/music theater just to name a few. I interviewed Dr. Woodruff and asked him about his involvement with Orchestra.
First, I asked Dr. Woodruff about his past experiences and what led him to orchestra
Dr. Woodruff – “My experiences in orchestra began as an undergrad student. I have also sung professionally with fine orchestras, such as the Chicago Symphony and Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Now I serve as chorus master and guest conductor for the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra. When I arrived at ONU, we made a commitment to an all-student orchestra program. From a handful of students, the program has grown significantly.”
ONU’s orchestra in particular is unique. Unlike other universities, orchestra is completely made up of undergraduate students. I asked Dr. Woodruff how a student might go about joining orchestra.
Dr. Woodruff – “Students from any major across campus can be part of the Orchestra program. In many schools, student participation in music ensembles is limited only to music majors. Also, in many schools like Olivet, the orchestra is community-based, or players are hired. At Olivet our Orchestras are all undergraduate students. Students join through an audition process.”
Dr. Woodruff discussed his relationships with students on campus saying, “I make a concerted effort to maintain positive relationships with the students in the Orchestra. Working in a music ensemble is always a collaboration, and so the effort to create something beautiful is a mutual responsibility. I believe we impact one another in many meaningful ways.”
I asked Dr. Woodruff what his all-time favorite memory is in his years conducting orchestra.
Dr. Woodruff – “We have done a number of things that I recall- we performed the world premiere of music by American composer David Culross, we have played incredibly challenging musical scores and traditional orchestral literature, etc. One of my favorite experiences was at this year’s Homecoming, where we were joined by Orchestra alums, who themselves in both number and instrumentation could have been their own Orchestra. We had alums mostly from the past 20 years, but also some players who graduated more than 50 years ago.”
As a professor at Olivet Nazarene University I was curious if he felt his work had been beneficial to students as well as pleasing to God’s will? He said, “Absolutely! Some students come to Olivet specifically because we have an Orchestra program in which they may participate. A recent ONU young alum award recipient attended ONU from off-region because she could continue to play her violin, even though she was not a music major. Some students earn scholarships for their playing, and so the orchestra program helps some students to afford their education. Many students continue to play their instruments after they graduate, in their local churches and community orchestras. We speak often that stewardship of gifts is honoring to God. In that sense, rehearsals and lessons and practice rooms are all holy spaces as we work to turn ability into skill and offer it back to God for His use. We also speak of this as a metaphor for our whole lives- we ought to write papers and complete projects, and even stewarding time and showing up to class- and do all those things responsibly and well, as an offering to God.”
Finally I ended by asking Dr. Woodruff what he hoped the future of orchestra would look like and asked him what he hopes he will one day achieve in his line.
Dr. Woodruff – “My goals for the Orchestra are always adjusting because we meet and exceed what we set out to do. We have performed well with classical and contemporary musicians, we have premiered new music, and we’ve worked diligently to have a solid understanding and knowledge of how to play music of a wide variety of genres and historical eras. We have played arrangements of music from feature films, including playing along with film clips. it’s incredibly challenging and expensive, but one day I might like to perform an entire film score, while the film is playing, which is a popular thing for major orchestras to do these days.”
Dr. Woodruff is heavily involved in Olivet Nazarene University’s music program. His career spans generations and the lessons taught to students here on campus doesn’t just end with them, rather, that love of music will span lifetimes over.
