Office Information

Office Schedule

Biography

Vernon Taranto Jr. has been Director of Choral Activities at St. Petersburg College since the Fall of 1996. During his tenure the SPC choruses have grown in stature and ability reflected in recent performances attended by capacity audiences in and around St. Petersburg, the region, and abroad.

In seasons past, the 130-voice SPC Concert Chorus has undertaken numerous performances of great choral literature some of which are: John Rutter's Gloria and his Requiem, Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, the Vivaldi Gloria, C.P.E. Bach's Magnificat, Mass in Time of War by Josef Haydn, Randall Thompson's The Peaceable Kingdom, Frostiana, and Testament of Freedom, Händel's Messiah, the Fauré Requiem, and Howard Hanson's spectacular Song of Democracy.  Notable recent adventures include the acclaimed ten-day "Musical Ambassadors Tour of Russia" in which the SPC Madrigalians performed for delighted audiences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Orenberg (Siberia)!                       

Dr. Taranto received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1983 from Louisiana State University where he studied with Peter Paul Fuchs (opera conducting and production), Richard Aslanian (opera and music theater), Paul Knowles (studio voice), L. Bruce Jones (instrumental and choral conducting); and he performed choral music under the baton of master choral director, Dallas Draper.   His training in Music Theory and Composition was directed by Dinos Constantinides, Kenneth Klaus, Paul Louis Abel, Frank Crawford Page, and James Drew.

His professional career includes a five-year tour of duty with The United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., nine performance tours of Japan (with his wife-singer, Mary Ann), and two presentations of his original musical compositions at Carnegie Hall, NYC.  His music has been recorded on numerous CDs, and has been published by Pro-Art, Augsburg, Latham Music, Lorenz, and others.

Subjects Taught

Course Schedule

0470   Summer Term 2013
Course	Section	Campus	Format	Starts	Ends
MUC 1107  MUSIC COMPOSITION IV: CHAMBER ORCHESTRA	2247	SPG	In Class	May 13 2013	Jul 19 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisite: MUC 1101 and departmental permission. Continuation of MUC 1101 with an emphasis on orchestration skills culminating with a composition, in one of the large forms, for orchestra. May be taken up to two times for credit. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1618  FILM SCORING II - TELEVISION EPISODIC	2286	SPG	In Class	May 13 2013	Jul 19 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisites: MUC 1616 and departmental permission. This course is a continuation of MUC 1616 with an emphasis on underscoring of dialog, composing main title themes, and writing scene-in and scene-out interludes and bumpers. This is a project-oriented course that culminates in scoring a full-length television episode. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1619  FILM SCORING III - FEATURE LENGTH	2248	SPG	In Class	May 13 2013	Jul 19 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisites: MUC 1618 and departmental permission. In this course, the student will focus on scoring a feature-length industry film in its entirety, with full orchestral resources. The student will explore numerous varieties of scenic, action, and dialog issues, and will retain a DVD copy of finished project as a portfolio sample. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUN 1310  COLLEGE CHORUS	233	SPG	In Class	May 20 2013	Jun 26 2013
Credits: 1 Description: Open to all students, non-music majors welcomed. The College Chorus is both a training organization and a performance group. Basic techniques of singing are developed through group and sectional rehearsals. This training and the preparation of works for performance, with the experience inherent in this learning process, take precedence. Basic repertoire and rehearsal techniques, valuable tools in the music profession, are also emphasized. Course may be taken up to six times for credit. 47 contact hours.
0465   Spring Term 2013
Course	Section	Campus	Format	Starts	Ends
AAP 0831	5481	CTS	In Class	Jan 7 2013	Apr 15 2013
Credits: Description:
MUC 1102  MUSIC COMPOSITION II: STRINGS AND WOODWINDS	2589	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisite: MUC 1101 and departmental permission. Continuation of MUC 1101, but with an emphasis on (a) orchestration technique in composing for the string instruments both as solo instruments, and as a family. Projects for duo, trio, string quartet, and string orchestra; and (b) for the woodwind family. May be taken up to two times for credit. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1104  MUSIC COMPOSITION III: BRASS AND PERCUSSION	4675	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisite: MUC 1101 and departmental permission. Continuation of MUC 1101, but with an emphasis on (a) orchestration technique in composing for the brass instruments both as solo instruments, and as a family. Projects for duo, trio, brass quartet and quintet, and for brass choir; and (b) for the percussion family. May be taken up to two times for credit. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1616  INTRODUCTION TO FILM SCORING	4686	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisite: MUC 1101 or equivalent, and departmental permission. This course is an introduction to film scoring comprised of (a) an overview and discussion of the history of music as used for the purpose of underscoring motion pictures; (b) discussion and demonstration of the function of "incidental" music in film, and the various philosophies regarding its usage; (c) projects and assignments in composing for actual film sequences, learning to master the devices and techniques of editing and synchronizing music "cues" to the film clips. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1618  FILM SCORING II - TELEVISION EPISODIC	4687	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisites: MUC 1616 and departmental permission. This course is a continuation of MUC 1616 with an emphasis on underscoring of dialog, composing main title themes, and writing scene-in and scene-out interludes and bumpers. This is a project-oriented course that culminates in scoring a full-length television episode. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUC 1619  FILM SCORING III - FEATURE LENGTH	4674	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 2 Description: Prerequisites: MUC 1618 and departmental permission. In this course, the student will focus on scoring a feature-length industry film in its entirety, with full orchestral resources. The student will explore numerous varieties of scenic, action, and dialog issues, and will retain a DVD copy of finished project as a portfolio sample. One-hour private lesson plus one-hour seminar class each week. 32 contact hours.
MUN 1310  COLLEGE CHORUS	554	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 1 Description: Open to all students, non-music majors welcomed. The College Chorus is both a training organization and a performance group. Basic techniques of singing are developed through group and sectional rehearsals. This training and the preparation of works for performance, with the experience inherent in this learning process, take precedence. Basic repertoire and rehearsal techniques, valuable tools in the music profession, are also emphasized. Course may be taken up to six times for credit. 47 contact hours.
MUN 1310  COLLEGE CHORUS	555	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 1 Description: Open to all students, non-music majors welcomed. The College Chorus is both a training organization and a performance group. Basic techniques of singing are developed through group and sectional rehearsals. This training and the preparation of works for performance, with the experience inherent in this learning process, take precedence. Basic repertoire and rehearsal techniques, valuable tools in the music profession, are also emphasized. Course may be taken up to six times for credit. 47 contact hours.
MUN 1340  MADRIGALIANS	556	SPG	In Class	Jan 7 2013	May 3 2013
Credits: 1 Description: Corequisite: MUN 1310. This course is offered as a select choral performance ensemble to those students who have successfully auditioned for the director. Survey and performance of secular choral music from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries will be conducted during the semester. Extensive sight-reading of ensemble literature and frequent performances. Open to all students, non-music majors welcomed. Course may be taken up to six times for credit. 47 contact hours.