SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Emmy award-winning documentarian and renowned conductor at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Dr. Tim Seelig, will present two public events as part of his residency at Centenary College’s Hurley School of Music in late January and early February.
Dr. Cory Wikan, the dean of the Hurley School of Music, says Centenary is thrilled that Dr. Seelig will be visiting the college to share his gifts with the campus, the local community, and the students. He says Seelig is known for great work in a variety of areas, from music education to choral conduction to LGBTQ+ advocacy.
Seelig is the Conductor Emeritus of the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, Texas, and is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
The Hurley School will host a screening of Gay Chorus Deep South, an award-winning documentary, on Monday, Jan. 30 at 7:00 p.m. The documentary was directed by David Charles Rodrigues and follows the Lavender Pen Tour of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus through the Deep South. Under Seelig’s direction, the choir made 23 appearances in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina during a resurgence of anti-LGBTQ sentiments in the region.
The documentary won an audience award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and will be shown at Centenary, followed by a talkback with Seelig, in Kilpatrick Auditorium on campus. The event will be free and open to the public.
On Thursday, Feb. 2 at 11:00 a.m. in Anderson Auditorium, Seelig will give a lecture titled “The Music Within.” The lecture explores how to rediscover one’s creativity by reconnecting with the joy and emotion associated with childhood—a joy that can become muted or even suppressed by the societal expectations associated with adulthood.
Seelig has published seven books and DVDs on choral technique, plus a memoir. He performs opera and holds four degrees, including a doctor of musical arts from the University of North Texas. His commissioned works include the first AIDS Requiem, When We No Longer Touch; Sing for the Cure for the Komen Foundation featuring Dr. Maya Angelou; “Testimony,” by Stephen Schwartz; the 2022 “Songs of the Phoenix” by Andrew Lippa, Stephen Schwartz, and Stephen Sondheim; and Stargazing and #twitterlieder by Centenary alumnus and Hurley faculty member Dr. James Eakin.
Seelig has conducted over 50 recordings that have been on Billboard Top Ten and iTunes Top Ten classical charts. His choruses have been the topic of three documentaries, one of which won a national Emmy.
The Attaway Professorships in the Civic Culture Program underwrote Seelig’s residency at Centenary.
