Artistic Staff

CONDUCTOR, DR. MICHAEL SLON

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR OF CHORAL MUSIC

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (434) 924-6504

Degrees: D.M., M.M., Indiana University School of Music; B.A in Music and English, Cornell University

Active as a conductor of choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoire, Michael Slon is Director of Choral Music and Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, where he conducts the University Singers, Chamber Singers, and guest conducts the Charlottesville Symphony. His ensembles have recently sung for composer Philip Glass and the creators of Les Misérables, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, during their UVA residencies, and taken a two-week European concert tour. Since 2011, he has also served as Music Director of the Oratorio Society of Virginia. In that time, he has created a series of new artistic partnerships with the chorus, including an acclaimed 2014 semi-staged production of Bernstein’s Candide with Ash Lawn (now Charlottesville) Opera, a 2015 collaboration with the Charlottesville Ballet on Honegger’s King David, performances with regional orchestras and youth choruses, and a Community Sing-In to benefit local charities. Repertoire with the choruses has also included Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Verdi’s Requiem and La Traviata, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Bach’s St. John Passion, and Mass in B minor, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, and a range of shorter a cappella and accompanied works.

After substituting on one hour’s notice for a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1, Slon served in the 2005-2006 season as Interim Director of the Charlottesville Symphony, leading performances of Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and Copland’s Appalachian Spring. In 2005, he also created the University Singers & Charlottesville Symphony Family Holiday Concerts, now a beloved Charlottesville tradition. His opera and musical theatre engagements have included a production of Stephen Paulus’s "The Three Hermits: with Buffalo’s Opera Sacra, regional premieres of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza with the Heritage Theatre Festival, South Pacific and The Magic Flute with Ash Lawn Opera, and Into the Woods and Bernstein’s Mass at Indiana University. He is also active as a guest conductor for honors choirs and orchestras, and was recognized in 2006-2007 as a member of UVA's Mead Honored Faculty as a musician deeply committed to the education of young musicians.

Prior to his time at UVA, Professor Slon served as visiting conducting faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory. As Assistant Conductor of the Cornell University choruses and Cincinnati’s May Festival Chorus, he prepared and co-prepared choruses for concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. His ensembles have worked with artists including Moses Hogan, Bobby McFerrin, Meredith Monk, Peter Phillips, and Franz Welser-Möst; his groups have also taken on commissioning projects with composers including Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Eric Whitacre, and Judith Shatin. Also a pianist, composer/arranger, and writer, Dr. Slon holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music and Cornell University, where he was named a member of Phi Beta Kappa. His first book, Songs from the Hill, has been cited in a variety of other publications, and his work on Leonard Bernstein recently received the national Julius Herford Prize from the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). As a composer, he recently had work presented by the Vocalis Chamber Choir in concert at NYC’s Merkin Hall, and will have work performed at the 2018 ACDA Eastern Convention.

ACCOMPANIST, DEKE POLIFKA

Deke Polifka is Director of Music at St. Paul’s Memorial Church (Episcopal) on The Corner, where his duties include directing choirs for children and adults, serving as principal organist, and overseeing all aspects of the parish’s music. Deke accompanies the University Singers and Chamber Singers at UVA, and he has enjoyed recent collaborations with The Oratorio Society of Virginia and The Virginia Consort.

Previously, Deke served for eleven years as Organist and Choirmaster at Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs and was Assistant Conductor and accompanist for The Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble. An active performer, he has presented organ recitals in venues such as the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. He has appeared with orchestra for performances of Barber’s Toccata Festiva, the Poulenc Concerto, and organ symphonies by Widor and Guilmant. 

Deke holds degrees in piano performance from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and earned an Artist Diploma in Organ Performance from The University of Denver. In 2013, he spent a summer sabbatical in France, playing many of the significant instruments in and around Paris and studying French organ repertoire with Marie-Louise Langlais. Deke is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists (AAGO) and has served in various leadership positions for the organization. He and his wife Joyce have three children and very much like spending time outdoors, cooking, and making music together.

ACCOMPANIST, KAREN DALTON

Karen Dalton has been an active pianist/accompanist throughout Charlottesville. She has worked with the University Singers, as well as with vocal and instrumental students, the Drama Department, and Heritage Theatre at UVa. Her community work includes the Virginia Consort, the Charlottesville Opera, and the Oratorio Society. Mrs. Dalton also worked as a choral and handbell ensemble director at local churches. She is an Advisory Board member for the River City Opera. Mrs. Dalton received her musical training in piano and organ at Samford University (Witold Turkiewicz) and Southern Seminary (James W. Good). Before coming to Virginia, Mrs. Dalton worked as Company Manager of the Kentucky Opera in Louisville.