Zhanna Lehmann
A Conductor, Author, Speaker, and Singer
Who is Zhanna Lehmann
A choral conductor, music educator, pianist, and speaker located in Central Illinois. The founder and director of The Illinois Orthodox Choir, a Christian choir of singers from all ethnic and religious backgrounds performing the beautiful music of the Orthodox Church of different styles.
Conducting is a bodily expression
It is like dancing. Flexibility and ability to control physical motions are crucial in dancing, the same in conducting. Relaxed, but clear, avoiding tension but being engaged, keeping arms lifted but with great mobility and control, being able to express with minimal gestures but still radiating energy of music rhythm and much more.
Conducting is the expression of your body, and the body is sacred, and these motions are the expression of that.
So you need awareness of your body even as you are evoking sound from your singers. But you’re not just expressing on your own, because you can't completely control the singers. They're creating their own sound through their voices and hearts and souls. You are evoking that synergy and work to be able to shape it in the way that you hear it. In this way, conducting is a spiritual discipline as well. It's that mysterious, mystical work that happens between conductor and singers. Thus, the conductor should mature spiritually as well, because you’re touching somebody's hearts and souls to sing. I didn't think this way 20 years ago.
This is what I have experienced in my later years.
God is the Word. Any word that we sing is a living matter and the sound of this word doesn’t exist separately from it but as a sacred part of it.
“There is also a cultural element in choral conducting and teaching that is important. In any group setting, there's culture, a certain way of communication and behavior, attitudes, shared beliefs and values that shape the group’s interactions. If a choir doesn't have that culture, then it mostly fails. Creating the culture within a group is a process and takes time and hard work by both the conductor and singers. For a choir, singing as one voice is always my goal.”
Abbess Katherine Weston, Composer
“Zhanna Lehmann dedicates herself to glorifying God at the highest level through her extraordinary musical gifts. Her professionalism shines in all aspects of her work. As a conductor she interprets selections impeccably, and the enthusiasm of her singers is palpable. As a teacher she both challenges and encourages her students. In her role as a music editor, she retains the essence of a score while elevating it to its fullest potential. And her soprano voice is clear and angelic!”
“Listen to the voice of your heart, breathe in unison with God and reveal your creative potential.”
— Zhanna Lehmann
“Dr. Lehmann has been a Godsend to me, as I learn how to direct my church choir.
Not only is she a master at her art, but she also somehow manages to find what it is in every one of her students that sets them apart and teaches them how to make it part of their conducting. She's taken me from a former high school drum major to a much more refined and intuitive director, who is in tune (no pun intended, or...maybe it is!) with my feminine energy as I lead my group through Divine Liturgy, weddings or holiday services.
Make no mistake...Dr. Lehmann is tough!
She gives as much of herself as she expects of her students. I think ANY student at any level would greatly benefit from her guidance.