“In Remembrance: Honoring the victims of the World Trade Center bombing 25 years later” | Featuring graduate conductors Ryan Block and Augusto Girotto

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Repertoire
Arvo Pärt: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten (1977)
David Conte: September Sun (2002)
Britten: Hymn to St. Cecilia, Op. 27 (1942/66)
James MacMillan: Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993)

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.

David Conte is the composer of over 150 works published by E. C. Schirmer Music Company, including 7 operas, works for chorus, solo voice, orchestra, band, and chamber music. He has received commissions from Chanticleer, the San Francisco, Oakland, Stockton, and Dayton Symphonies, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and the American Guild of Organists. In 2007, he received the Raymond Brock commission from the American Choral Directors Association, one of the nation’s highest honors in choral music. His work is represented on many commercial CD recordings, including in 2015 Chamber Music of David Conte (Albany), in 2016 Choral Music of Conrad Susa and David Conte (Delos), and in 2018 Everyone Sang: Vocal Music of David Conte (Arsis). His opera The Gift of the Magi has received over 30 productions in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He co-wrote the film score for the acclaimed documentary Ballets Russes, shown at the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals in 2005, and composed the music for the PBS documentary Orozco: Man of Fire, shown on the American Masters Series in the fall of 2007. In 1982, Conte lived and worked with Aaron Copland while preparing a study of the composer’s sketches, having received a Fulbright Fellowship for study with Copland’s teacher Nadia Boulanger in Paris, where he was one of her last students. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Cornell University. He is professor of composition and chair of the Composition Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. From 2011 to 2022, he served on the composition faculty of the European American Musical Alliance in Paris. In 2014, he was named composer-in-residence for Cappella SF, a professional chamber choir in San Francisco. In 2016, his song cycle American Death Ballads won First Prize in the NATS Composition Competition and was premiered by tenor Brian Thorsett and pianist Warren Jones at the NATS Conference in Chicago.