Dwight Bigler
Dwight Bigler, Professor and Director of Choral Activities
School of Performing Arts
242-J Squires
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-5335 | dbigler@vt.edu
Dwight Bigler has directed the choirs at Virginia Tech since 2009. Past positions include director of choral activities at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and assistant conductor and pianist of the Dale Warland Singers. He has guest conducted and led workshops for high schools and universities across the country and internationally.
As a composer, he has published works with Oxford University Press, Hinshaw, Walton, and Alliance Music Publishers. Bigler is a 2015 recipient of the Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship Award from the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, a 2011 winner of the National Collegiate Choral Organization Choral Music Series publication contest, and a recipient of two Barlow Endowment for Music Composition grants.
- Director of Choral Activites
- Research/Production: Choral Ensembles and Music Composition
- Teaching Areas: Choral Arranging and Music Literature
- DMA, University of Texas at Austin
- MM, Brigham Young University
- BM, Brigham Young University
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love experiencing those magic moments with a choir where everyone is engaged, listening, and contributing 100% of their skill and heart to a performance. Things just click, and we experience one of those unforgettable moments that make life more beautiful, peaceful, and just better. Sometimes this happens in rehearsal, and sometimes it happens in a concert. I live for moments like that.
What is the most important quality for any student in the performing arts to cultivate?
Discipline. Achievement in any area of life takes focus, hard work, and consistent practice and study. The pay-off is tremendous.
What gives you the most satisfaction as a teacher?
When I see the light burning in a student's heart and eyes, and they participate in a class or an ensemble for the best reasons--to learn, to contribute, and to progress because of their passion for the subject. They forget about grades and they work hard because they love to learn. Work becomes play.