University of Arizona
College of Fine Arts - School of Music

Choral Studies

Distinguished Speakers Series – Students and Alumni/ae

Erik Peregrine

St. Hildegard von Bingen

Prior to their appointment at UC Davis, Peregrine has served in a wide variety of conducting and teaching positions across North America, including with the University of Arizona Collegium Musicum, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, One Voice Mixed Chorus (MN), Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, and the University of British Columbia Choirs, among others. 

An advocate for greater equity in the choral field, Peregrine’s ensembles are regularly recognized for their innovative, diverse, and inspiring presentations of underperformed repertoire. In both 2018 and 2019, Ensemble Companio was awarded third prize in the American Prize for Choral Performance (community division) as well as third prize in the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music (community division) for performances of works by living, historically-excluded composers. Also in demand as a guest speaker, Peregrine has recently given presentations at national, regional, and state-level conferences hosted by Chorus America, GALA Choruses, the American Choral Directors Association, and other organizations about creating inclusive ensembles for LGBTQ+ singers, transgender vocal pedagogy, and other topics related to diversity in choral music.

Peregrine holds a DMA in choral conducting and historical musicology from the University of Arizona. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Peregrine also holds a MM in choral conducting from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC) and a BA in Music from Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR). In addition to their work on LGBTQ+ affirming pedagogies, Peregrine’s current research interests include topics on the margins of early music, mindful embodiment in choral practice, and teaching music history through performance.

Selected Bibliography

Online Resources

  • International Society of Hildegard von Bingen Studies
    Start your research here! ISHBS provides free performance editions of most of Hildegard’s works with texts/translations, extensive commentary, and bibliographic sources for further research. This is an ongoing project; new scores are added regularly.

Biography, Historical Context, etc.

  • Burnett, Charles, and Peter Dronke. Hildegard of Bingen : The Context of Her Thought and Art. London: University of London, 1998.
  • Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179 : A Visionary Life. London: Routledge, 1998.
  • Newman, Barbara. Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Musical/Performance Topics

  • Bain, Jennifer. Hildegard of Bingen and Musical Reception : The Modern Revival of a Medieval Composer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

  • Lister, Rebecca Crow. “A Hildegard ‘How-to’: Steps for the Thoughtful Preparation of a Chant.” Journal of Singing 67, no. 3 (2011): 277–289.

Hildegard’s Writings (selected)

  • Hildegard, and Barbara Newman. Symphonia : A Critical Edition of the Symphonia Armonie Celestium Revelationum [Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations]. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988.

  • Hildegard, and Nathaniel M. Campbell. The Book of Divine Works [Liber divinorum operum]. 1st ed. Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press, 2018.

  • Hildegard, Columba Hart, Jane Bishop, Barbara J. Newman, and Caroline Walker Bynum. Scivias. New York: Paulist Press, 1990.