James Reddan

Dr. James Reddan is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Central Washington University. Reddan is an active scholar, pedagogue, choral conductor, adjudicator, and clinician in demand regionally, domestically and internationally.

Reddan is an active scholar presenting research on music perception, music and gender, assessment in music and other areas both domestically and internationally. He has presented papers at Documenting Jazz (Ireland, 2019; Scotland, 2022; Wales, 2023), the 45th Meeting of the International Committee for Traditional Music (Bangkok, Thailand, 2019), Cultural Diversity in Music Education (Kathamandu, Nepal, 2018), and at many state and regional conferences. He recently served as editor and contributor of the Routledge Companion to Jazz and Gender (August, 2022) and serves on the editorial board of JazzEd.

As a choral music educator, ensembles under Reddan’s direction have achieved worldwide recognition performing at Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland; the Royal Academy of Music in London; Beijing and Tianjin, People’s Republic of China as part of the 2008 Summer Olympic Festivities, St. Pancras Cathedral in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 2023 Summer Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin, Germany, and festivals in Seattle, San Francisco, and New York City. Under Reddan’s direction, ensembles competed in the 8th World Choir Games in Riga, Latvia winning a World Championship. He gave his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in May 2022 with the Western Oregon University Choirs. Additionally, Reddan has prepared ensembles for performances with Darmon Meader, Eric Whitacre, Eric Dale Knapp, and Simon Halsey.

Reddan received the citation for “Excellence in Music Education” from the American Prize in Choral Music and was recognized as the conductor for the first Honored Artist Choral Ensemble by the American Prize. Additionally, Reddan arranges and composes works for Vocal A cappella ensembles.

Prior to his appointment at CWU, Reddan served as Chair and Associate Professor of Music at Western Oregon University, taught at Frostburg State University, and served as the Chair and Director of Choral Activities in the Performing Arts Department at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon. He also served as the choral music educator at Arbor View High School and Cannon Junior High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Reddan received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Education from Boston University, the Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting and Music Education from the University of Oregon in Eugene and the Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. Reddan completed additional studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, Australia, the Oregon Bach Festival, and interned with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.