Biography of J. Timothy Caldwell

J. Timothy Caldwell is an internationally recognized teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics. He is Professor of Music at Central Michigan University where he teaches voice, techniques for the singing actor, and choral conducting, all using Eurhythmics concepts. He is also currently the Director for the Music Theatre program.

His undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the University of Michigan. As a vocal performance major, he studied with the noted tenor, John McCallum, while also pursuing his interest in conducting with Elizabeth Green and Theo Alcantara (orchestral), and Maynard Klein and Thomas Hilbish (choral). His interest in teaching was born when he was appointed the first Teaching Fellow in Conducting while in the Master of Music program

After graduating from U. of M. and spending two years in the Army, Caldwell’s first academic position was as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Maine, Orono. After two years in Maine (1972-1974), he was appointed to the voice faculty at Central Michigan University where he has remained until the present.

One of his principal duties at CMU was the development of the Opera Workshop. While he had an active career as a conductor and performer in musicals, operettas, and on the recital and concert stage, he had no experience as a stage director. He found his first teacher in Boris Goldovsky, the opera impresario. Goldovsky had gained the reputation for training singers to act for the operatic stage (for a number of years the biographies of American born and trained singers who appeared at the Metropolitan Opera would list tours and workshops with Boris Goldovsky) and aspiring opera stage directors.

Several years later, Caldwell studied with Wesley Balk, then the Artistic Director for the Minnesota Opera. Balk’s approach to training singers to act was revolutionizing the industry, and certainly revolutionized Caldwell’s directing and training of singers.

As Caldwell’s teaching and performing changed, so did his thinking about musical education and the education of performers. While the caliber of technical proficiency continued to rise in most areas of performance, the quality of musical expression did not. Singers with flawless vocal techniques were inexpressive in four languages, and singers, pianists and instrumentalists performed as if meters had never been created. Was excellent musical performance simply a matter of technical proficiency, beautiful sounds and correct notes? Something was missing, and it seemed that “something” was the ability to use sound to affect the souls of the listeners.

Enter Dr. Guy Duckworth. Duckworth was, and is, the genius who raised musical pedagogy to an unprecedented level. During Caldwell’s studies with Duckworth at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1982-83, he was introduced to the use of cognitive psychology and group dynamic theory in teaching, and applied Eurhythmics.

Caldwell’s interest in Eurhythmics led him to study with Robert Abramson, the best-known American teacher of Eurhythmics. Here, for Caldwell, was the lynchpin of all of his studies in musical education. The method assembled by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) and presented by Abramson encompassed all the elements of a valid and profound musical education: a coherent educational philosophy; tested developmental, educational and psychological theories; movement training and expressive techniques.

It is from this background that Caldwell draws his love and excitement in teaching and performing.The list of his Dalcroze presentations includes state and national conventions of music teachers, and universities, conservatories, choruses, and orchestras throughout the United States. He is the executive producer and writer for the videotape, Dalcroze Eurhythmics with Robert Abramson, published by G.I.A. Publications, Chicago. His book, Expressive Singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmics for Voice is published by Prentice Hall.

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