• Incidents and Accidents, Hints and Allegations: Six Degrees of Paul Simon Morningside University Humanities Speaker Series, Feb. 21, 2024.

    View powerpoint slides here and playlist here

  • I Learned the ABCs teaching kindergarten, for the SCCSD music teachers, Sioux City, IA, Feb. 19, 2024.

  • Treasure Hunt: Choral Music in the Public Domain. Iowa Music Educators Association annual conference, Ames, IA, Nov. 2022.

    View document here, slides here, and contribute here.

  • Lift Every Voice and SIng? Radical Inclusion in Church Music (with Joanna Hawkins Nannestad) Southwestern Division: American Choral Directors Association, Little Rock, March 2020.

  • Preconcert Lecture: Britten’s ‘War Requiem.’ Canterbury Voices, Oklahoma City, OK, Nov. 2018.

  • Intergenerational Projects and Student Retention. Oklahoma Choral Directors Association, Norman, OK, July 2018 -and- Southwestern Division: American Choral Directors Association, Oklahoma City, March 2018.

  • Collegiate Reading Session. Oklahoma Choral Directors Association, Norman, OK, July 2018 -and- July 2017.

  • Premiere: ‘Four Soft Memories’ by Jeff Morris (toy piano and hand drums). South Central Chapter: The College Music Society, Durant, OK, March 2018.

  • The Rhythm and Melody of the Classroom: Using Music to Enhance Learning. EngageOK (OK Dept. of Education), Durant and Ada, OK, July 2017.

  • Thank God I Have Not Got to Control Them All Myself! – Noah’s Task. DePaul Humanities Center, ‘The Biblical Humanities’ event, Chicago, Feb. 2016.

  • Implications of ‘Noye’s Fludde’ for Conductors, Composers, and Educators. Rocky Mountain Chapter: The College Music Society, Denver, CO, March 2015.

  • The Ins and Outs: Commissioning Music (panel). Massachusetts Music Educators Association: All-State Conference, Boston, March 2014.

  • Britten’s Music for Children. MassACDA Summer Conference, Hampshire College, MA, July 2013.

  • The Verdi ‘Requiem’ and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. MassACDA Summer Conference, Hampshire College, MA, July 2013.

  • High School Reading Session, MMEA All-State Conference. Boston, March 2012 and March 2013.

Scholarly Articles

Benjamin Britten’s
Noye’s Fludde

Published in ACDA’s Choral Journal

Nannestad’s review and analysis of Britten’s beloved opera as “an intergenerational experience for church music programs” dives full-force into every aspect of Noye’s Fludde, from scoring and casting, to the structure and influence of hymns within the performance, to the importance of childhood creativity within the production and its continued relevance within modern culture.

 
 

Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde: an analysis and repositioning for contemporary use

Dr. Nannestad’s 2014 dissertation on Noye’s Fludde.

This study of Britten’s 1958-debut opera covers Britten and his enduring work in comprehensive detail. Beginning with a biographical sketch of the composer and an introduction of Noye’s Fludde and its roots, Nannestad’s dissertation provides an analysis of the opera, from hymns to tonality to structure, and looks into Britten’s particular method of scoring his work, as it allows and encourages local communities to adapt the opera as needed. With an eye (and ear) for functionality, Nannestad closes his analysis with a practical guide to producing Noye’s Fludde, from technical requirements to strategies for teaching and rehearsal of the opera.

 
 

Assisted: The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music

Editorial Assistance

Provided editorial assistance for The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, edited by André deQuadros, 2012.

Features + Reviews

 

Handel and Haydn Sings to Choral Pros

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

A review of the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus, conducted by Harry Christophers, in their performance of J.S. Bach’s Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225 in Boston’s Symphony Hall. 

 
 
 

Harmony in the Pews

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Nannestad’s review of a historic and captivating performance of four shorter works and an extended premiere, performed by the chamber group, Castle of our Skins.

 
 
 

Intimate Chamber Music for Winds

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

A thoughtful review of a spring chamber concert for winds, including critiques of both the composed works and the group performance.

 
 
 

Temple Singers Weren’t Too Churchy

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Nannestad’s appreciative and detailed review of the Temple University Concert Choir, under the direction of Paul Rardin, in a Cambridge performance of refreshing, contemporary, and skillfully delivered music.

 
 
 

Britten Aflame for Opera Britennica

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

A review of the new Boston-based musical company, Opera Brittenica, in its highly welcomed performance of The Burning Fiery Furnace.

 
 
 

Trinity Church Prepares for Flood

Published in The Boston Musical Intelligencer

In anticipation of a revival of Britten’s acclaimed 1958 opera at Boston’s Trinity Church, Nannestad primes the reader for the upcoming participatory performance. Placing Noye’s Fludde in the context of both its historical origin and modern day incarnations, Nannestad uses lessons learned from prior productions and Britten’s own recommendations to show the reader just what it takes to put on this inclusive, genre-bending work.