Duane Cottrell is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of Delaware, where he directs the Concert Choir and the University Singers, a select women’s ensemble, teaches conducting and choral music education courses, and supervises student teachers. Prior to his appointment at UD, he was the Interim Director of Choral Activities at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Cottrell also served as a Doctoral Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas, where he assisted with all aspects of the world-renowned choral program, including conducting four university choirs, organizing a summer choral workshop and teaching conducting classes.

Dr. Cottrell received a Bachelor of Music Education from Louisiana State University where he studied under Kenneth Fulton, and completed Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of North Texas, where he studied choral conducting with Jerry McCoy, voice science and pedagogy with Stephen Austin, and music education with Warren Henry.

While at Portland State University, Dr. Cottrell conducted the Chamber Choir, the University Choir, and the Symphonic Choir. In addition to seasonal concerts, he prepared the PSU Symphonic Choir for a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana for the Oregon Music Educator’s Association convention, as well as a performance of Ernest Bloch’s Sacred Service for the Ernest Bloch International Jubilee. Dr. Cottrell also rehearsed and led the Mount Hood Pops Orchestra in their spring concert as a guest conductor. Previously, Dr. Cottrell was the director of the 120-voice UNT Men's Chorus, served as the associate conductor for Schola Cantorum of Texas, a Fort Worth-based community chorus, assisted with various ensembles at UNT, and taught in the public schools at the middle and high school levels. Dr. Cottrell is an active member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, the College Music Society, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the American Choral Directors Association, as well as Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.

Dr. Cottrell’s primary research interest is the science of the singing voice and its application to choral music, on which he has had two articles published in the Choral Journal and one in the inaugural issue of The Choral Scholar, the official journal of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. He has also presented lectures on voice science for choral conductors at the Texas Music Educators Association convention, the 4th International Conference on the Physiology and Acoustics of Singing, and the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association. His doctoral thesis is entitled, "Increasing glottal closure in an untrained male chorus by integrating historical, scientific, and clinical practice into choral voice building exercises."