Pamela McDermott
Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Department of Music

Dr. Pamela McDermott is the Director of Choral Activities at Longwood, and also teaches Conducting, Aural Skills, and Show Choir Techniques. Dr. McDermott tours and performs regularly with Camerata Singers and Chamber Singers, including a 2023 appearance at Carnegie Hall.

Dr. McDermott earned her DMA in Choral Conducting at UNC-Greensboro, studying conducting with Dr. Welborn Young, Dr. Carole Ott, and Dr. Kevin Geraldi. She was the recipient of the Charles Hayes Graduate Fellowship and the Adelaide Fortune Holderness Fellowship, and worked extensively in the opera program under the artistic direction of David Holley. Her dissertation, “The Requiem Reinvented: Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and the Transformation from Literal to Symbolic”, was nominated for the Julius Herford Dissertation Prize through the American Choral Directors Association.

Dr. McDermott often shares her research at professional conferences. She developed a system of Rhythm Gestures to teach rhythmic literacy, has presented repertoire reading sessions, and has presented interest sessions on Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Romancero Gitano, strategies for Unlocking Artistry, and more.

She has worked with classical organizations such as The Piedmont Singers, the Bel Canto Company and the Virginia Symphony Chorus; community organizations such as church choirs and The Commonwealth Chorale; and in jazz and popular venues such as the Sawyer Sisters and the Mount Washington Hotel. Her experience as a singer, conductor, choreographer, arranger, pianist, teacher, adjudicator, and clinician informs her teaching and professional work.

Dr. McDermott is Past-President of the Virginia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and is also a member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) and the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA). She serves on the Board of the Commonwealth Chorale, and is a regular adjudicator at the Kings Dominion Festival of Music.