Paladin

Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Photo from the 1983-1984 Furman Singer Scrapbook Hugh Floyd, in his senior year at Furman, leads a group of Furman Singers in his position as Student Conductor.

For nearly forty years, the face of the Furman Singers has been Bingham Vick, conductor of the group since 1970. Next fall, as Vick steps down, Hugh Floyd of Oberlin College Conservatory of Music will take up his position and baton.

A Furman Singer himself (class of 1984), Floyd was the student conductor during his senior year. Vick remembers him as a "very intense, very hard-working individual," putting him on level musically with Keith Lockhart, another former Furman Singer directed by Vick who has gone on to direct the Boston Pops.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Hugh Floyd is the right choice to continue to move Furman Singers forward," Vick said.

Floyd said when he was at Furman, he was "highly, highly energetic, even hyperactive, but very determined." He joked that when Vick won the Furman Meritorious Teacher of the Year Award in 1984, it was because Floyd had been his student conductor that year.

"That was his penance prize for having to teach me," Floyd said. "If he could teach me, he could teach anyone."

When he takes over next year, Floyd will be only the third director of the group, after DuPre Rhame, the group's founder, and Vick.

"To continue a tradition like that is really awe inspiring and a little nerve wracking," said Floyd. "There are big shoes to fill."

Musically, Floyd knows he is up to par, as does Vick. Floyd, the director of choral studies at Oberlin, holds a master's degree from the Eastman School of Music and a doctorate from the University of Michigan.

However, the heart of the Furman Singers goes beyond just the music.

"We developed key relationships and lifetime friends," Floyd said, recalling the family atmosphere he experienced during his days as a Singer, which he now hopes to continue. "The kind of intense love [Vick] has for his students and the intense dedication is something I'm going to have to focus my energy on."

Generally, the Furman Singers are optimistic about the promise Floyd brings.

"The student opinion was that he was a very talented candidate and would do a great job," said Stephen Stacks, the president of the Singers and student liaison for the search committee. "From the beginning, we could see that he is very committed to making Furman Singers better, and will continue the great tradition."

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