“Where the Two Roads Cross”

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Repertoire
Diana Syrse: Alas de Noche (2023)
Dominick Argento: Peter Quince at the Clavier (1979)
CREDO Project (2025, U.S. premiere)*
Michael Markowski: Where the Two Roads Cross (2025)

*Composite work by Mårten Jansson, Keiko Harada, Grayston Ives, Viktoriia Polʹova, Martín Palmeri, and Dominick DiOrio

About the Artists

Recognized with The American Prizes in both Choral Composition (2014) and Choral Performance (2019, with NOTUS), Dominick DiOrio is an imaginative, enthusiastic, and energetic conductor and composer who has won widespread acclaim for his contributions to American music. He is professor of music and chair of the department in choral conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he joined the faculty in 2012, and where he serves as director of NOTUS, IU’s storied contemporary vocal ensemble, which has been invited to perform at regional, national, and international choral conferences, and with which he has released three commercial albums to critical acclaim. DiOrio also serves as artistic director and conductor of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, which he regularly prepares to sing with The Philadelphia Orchestra. DiOrio’s love for contemporary music is reflected in his conducted repertoire, including works by such path-breaking composers as James MacMillan, Steve Reich, and Krzysztof Penderecki. Guest conducting appearances frequently feature his original compositions, including with the Choral Arts Society of Washington (SOLARIS), Houston Chamber Choir (I Am), Choral Arts Initiative (All Is), and the Young Naperville Singers (Young Today). As a composer, DiOrio has been hailed for a keenly intelligent, evocative style, which shows “a tour de force of inventive thinking and unique colour” (Gramophone). His over 70 published works have appeared at major venues around the world, including the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. He composes for musicians of all ages and experiences and maintains an active writing schedule—completing over 70 commissions in the last decade. Recent commissioning partners include the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the San Francisco Symphony, Children’s Chorus of Washington, The Choral Arts Society of Washington, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. DiOrio earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the Yale School of Music, as well as M.M.A. and M.M. degrees in conducting from Yale and a B.M. in composition summa cum laude from Ithaca College.

Aram Arakelyan is senior lecturer in music in collaborative piano at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and has been a member of the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department since its inception in fall 2016. He has performed extensively with choirs and large ensembles and has worked with such renowned conductors as Carl St. Clair, Helmut Rilling, Barlow Bradford, and Jerry Junkin. Arakelyan’s tenure with the University of Southern California Thornton Chamber Singers under the direction of Jo-Michael Scheibe yielded numerous performances of a wide range of standard and contemporary repertoire, both at home and abroad. Other choral ensembles Arakelyan has performed include the Utah Chamber Artists and IU’s NOTUS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. A versatile musician, he has performed in variety of different genres and settings, including the American Contemporary Ballet, high holy days with the Congregation Kol Ami in Los Angeles, and a fun-filled Wah-Hoo Revue! at the Sun Valley Opera House in Idaho. He has partnered such artists as tenor Hui Jin, violist Patricia McCarty, hornist Dale Clevenger, flutists Marco Granados and Alberto Almarza, and tubists Sergio Carolino and Eugene Pokorny, and regularly shares the stage with his Jacobs colleagues. He has also performed at the Festival International de Flauta Latino in Monterrey, Mexico, the Schubert Club Series in St. Paul, Minnesota, and many other venues. Arakelyan previously held collaborative piano staff positions at the Colburn School and the Meadowmount School of Music. He has served as a member of the collaborative staff at the Primrose International Viola Competition (2014) and the International Horn Symposium (2015, 2022). He has also been on faculty at the Indiana University Summer String Academy. Arakelyan earned a B.M. in Piano Performance from The University of Utah, an M.M. in Collaborative Piano from The University of Texas at Austin, and a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts from the University of Southern California. He received his education under the mentorship of Susan Duehlmeier, Anne Epperson, Norman Krieger, and Alan L. Smith.