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Muriel Maharidge was born and raised in the Lorraine
region in Northeastern France. Her music education started when she entered
the local conservatory at the age of seven. As a child, her favorite musical
work was Mozart’s Magic Flute, and she used to whistle the opera in its
entirety during long car trips…
She completed the demanding 10-year curriculum at the
conservatory and graduated in oboe performance, chamber music and ear
training/music theory. Having graduated from high-school as well, she entered
the National Conservatory of the Region of Metz, attending it for seven more years.
There, in addition to perfecting her ear-training and formation as an oboist,
she undertook studies in orchestral and choral conducting, music analysis, harp
and voice, and obtained three more degrees. Meanwhile, she pursued and obtained a
specialized degree in Musicology from the University of Metz, founded her own choral
ensemble, worked as a choral arranger, and performed as the principal oboe of the
Saar-Lorraine orchestra (a French and German ensemble), as well as a member of several
vocal ensembles. She also worked in local schools and music schools, teaching
musicianship, oboe, and music education courses.
In the summer of 1998, while participating in a conducting master class with Pr. Michel-Marc
Gervais, former music director of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame in Paris, Muriel became very
interested in his research on the use of non-verbal communication and of the Laban
movement analysis in the field of choral conducting. During a stunning performance that
Gervais gave with his ensemble, she acquired the certainty of wanting to pursue a career as
a choral conductor. Three years later, with the help of a scholarship from the Rotary
International Foundation, Muriel was able to enter Gervais’ graduate program at the University
of California at Santa Barbara. In 2005, Muriel obtained her Doctorate of Musical Art in choral
conducting, after completing a series of 12 recitals and a dissertation on the evolution of the
choral conducting profession.
Although she had originally planned to return to France upon graduation, love and marriage
happily altered those plans. Soon after Muriel and her husband moved to the Capital Region,
Muriel joined the New York Catholic Chorale, motivated by the ensemble’s unique purpose. After
having the pleasure to guest-conduct it a few times, she became the new director of the Chorale
in August 2007. Additionally, Muriel and her husband are raising the couple’s first baby boy,
Quentin. Muriel is also working on two research projects on choral training and conducting pedagogy.
She is a capable pedagogue available for lessons or counseling in conducting and in ear-training /
sight-singing.
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