Oltman Brings Shenandoah Choir to Middleburg
“I
By James Ivancic
f my mother was here she’d tell you that I was singing before I was walking,” said Dr. Matthew Oltman, director of choral activities at the Shenandoah University Conservatory in Winchester. After a long career as a performer with the Grammy Award-winning male vocal ensemble Chanticleer, Oltman is now training the new generation of music performers. The 26-member Conservatory Choir will present a Christmas Spirit concert in Middleburg on Dec. 12 at 4 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, 15 W. Washington St. A reception follows and tickets can be purchased at the door or through Eventbrite. Matthew Oltman of The choir will perform arrangements of Shenandoah University Good Christian Men Rejoice, O Come, O Come Emmanuel and O Holy Night along with ancient and modern choral masterpieces. Three new arrangements for choir and brass players will be performed and brass, piano and organ musicians will provide accompaniment. Organist Dudley Oakes, a Middleburg Concert Series board member, also will perform. The student singers coming to Middleburg are mostly music majors with one acting major. Oltman teaches voice and conducting at Shenandoah Conservatory. He leads two ensembles, including a new tenor bass ensemble. Linda Taylor, chair of the Middleburg Concert Series, calls Oltman “a rock star.” The chorus performed in Middleburg in 2019 and participated in the town’s Christmas parade. Last year, it provided a “virtual Christmas card” in the form of a socially distant concert. Oltman grew up in Iowa, where he sang and played piano at an early age. His talent was evident even then. “I was lucky enough to be cast in a Des Moines Metropolitan Opera production of The Turn of the Screw,” he recalled. “I met professional singers and I grew up very fast. I sang at every opportunity I had.” He earned his undergraduate degree in music from Simpson College in Iowa, a master’s at the University of York in England and a doctorate from the University of Nebraska. His studies in England were made possible by a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. “I developed more of a love of choral singing, especially early music, the music of the Renaissance.,” he said of his experience in England. “I was able to learn it at a high level.” In 1999, he joined Chanticleer. “I was made aware that it was holding auditions, I had a few CDs of theirs,” Oltman said, adding that being accepted wasn’t a certainty. “I never thought I would get it.” His voice can be heard on 12 recordings and he toured extensively with the group in the U.S. and abroad, eventually becoming Chanticleer’s music director. The group toured 25 weeks each year, performing between 100 to 120 concerts and recording at least one album yearly. “There was no time for anything else.” Oltman said. Chanticleer features a dozen singers, a size he likes. Some choruses can have well over 100 members. “I feel more comfortable leading or performing with smaller groups,” he said. “They are more democratic.” That is, the singers have input on the sound, breathing and interpretation of a work. The performers and the Shenandoah University community adapted to the pandemic and, Oltman said, “in my opinion, did everything right. It gave professors and students the resources to continue with a meaningful education and musical opportunities rather than create busy work.” Many concerts were held outdoors when possible. “We look back and we feel pleased with what we accomplished,” Oltman said. “We turned lemons into lemonade.”
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