Profile: Charlene Archibeque

Charlene ArchibequeConducting the Choraliers
By Cathleen Miller

Dr. Charlene Archibeque was a leading choral conductor, yet she felt jealous of her male contemporaries. “Conducting is an all consuming occupation. And most men have somebody at home to take care of the house, the family, and daily living—whereas the woman conductor has to do everything for herself. In addition to having a full-time job and studying scores and rehearsing at night and going on tours and performance demands, you also have to cook and shop and keep house and raise your kids. I have many friends in the business and I was always jealous of the men who had their wives or partners to choose their performance outfits, make the tour plans, and book the bus.”

Dr. Archibeque’s lack of a stay-at-home partner, however, hardly seems to have crippled her career. She has conducted in many of the major concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Berlin Philharmonic, and Royal Albert Hall in London. Considered one of America’s foremost choral conductors and teachers, Archibeque served as director of choral activities at SJSU for thirty-five years. During her tenure, her choirs completed sixteen concert tours to Australia, Mexico, and throughout Europe; she also has presented choir clinics and conductors’ workshops around the globe.

This prestigious career began at a time when there were few women conductors and grew out of Archibeque’s early desire to be a music teacher. Her education took her beyond this initial goal when she realized how much she liked performing and the actual art of conducting. “I was the first woman to get a DMA (doctor of musical arts) in choral conducting in 1969. Back then there were very few women choral conductors at the college level.”

Her advice to others who want to follow in her footsteps is characteristically no-nonsense: “You have to really love music and love teaching because you can’t be a conductor without teaching at the same time. A lot of people believe when they become a conductor they’re going to just wave their arms and make music. But you have to really have the mindset of a teacher and not waste people’s time.” She adds, “Be sure that your musical skills are top-notch. If you’re not a great musician, then you shouldn’t go into conducting.”

When asked about the toughest part of her career at San José State, she admits it was attracting talented students because male choir directors tend to send their students to another male choral director. How did she get around this problem? “I always reached out to the schools. To attract the talented students, I took my choir out on tour every spring to schools that had good choral programs. I took them to conventions where other students could see the quality of work we were doing at SJSU.” This strategy worked: Dr. Archibeque helped put San José State University on the world map by winning seven international choral competitions with the famous SJSU Choraliers.

Now, by becoming a donor, she still is supporting the Choraliers, having endowed a scholarship in her name. As a former faculty member, Dr. Archibeque states, “I know firsthand what it means to a student to be able to stay in school or have to quit to work and support a family and pay the bills. You see it everyday. That’s the reason I put my money in scholarships.” She also would like to see funds available to endow the choral conductor’s position to make it secure.

Dr. Archibeque has retired from SJSU, but her three and half decades as a Spartan gave her an informed perspective on the university. “There are very few problems that San José State has that money won’t solve.” We are grateful to Dr. Archibeque for her ongoing commitment to SJSU! She is an outstanding ambassador for the College of Humanities and the Arts and the university.

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