About Baker Purdon
Baker Purdon is an active educator, conductor, and pianist. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Music Education at Temple University where he was awarded a University Fellowship, the second-highest award at the university. He was also recently awarded the 2022 Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award. This $10,000 award will fund the professional recording of choral works by Black composers in the Summer of 2022. See the Walking Through The Valley tab above for more details. He previously earned an M.A. in Teaching from the University of Central Missouri and BFAs in Theater and Voice Performance from The University of Kansas.
As an educator, Baker has served as the Assistant Director of Choirs at Liberty High School, where the LHS Chamber Choir was named a finalist for the American Prize in Choral Performance and was featured on state and regional conference stages. He most recently served as the Director of Choirs at Olathe East High School where his ensembles premiered works by Libby Larsen and Ryan Main, and received critical praise for their "beautiful sound" (Sarah Quartle), "wonderful musicianship in every aspect" (Libby Larsen), and on their performance of Dan Forrest's Good Night, Dear Heart, the composer called it "one of the finer ones I've heard from any age choir."
He has presented interest sessions at the Kansas Music Educators Association Association In-Service Workshop, Missouri Choral Director's Association Summer Conference, and at the International Music Education Summit. Baker's research has been presented at the Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association In-Service Conference and at the American Educational Research Association's Annual Conference.
Alongside his academic and educational work, Baker has been active in liturgical music from an early age. He began his music ministry at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS accompanying the youth choir while he was a high school student. During his studies at KU, he served as a bass section leader at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence, KS. He has since served as Director of Music Ministry at Northminster Presbyterian in Englewood, MO and First Lutheran in Mission, Hills KS.
Baker is currently serving as the collaborative pianist for the Philadelphia Gay Men's chorus and at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement.
Baker's current research focuses on the Imposter Phenomenon in various music education settings, including secondary choral music courses, undergraduate and graduate music education students.
