East Studio Building, JS333
Education
- D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, Yale School of Music, 2012
- M.M., Master of Music, Yale School of Music, 2008
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Ithaca College, 2006
Biography
Dominick DiOrio is professor of music in choral conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he joined the faculty in 2012. He is also the fourteenth artistic director and conductor of the historic Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia.
Whether leading an ensemble or crafting a new score, he brings equal passion and determination to his work in vocal and instrumental music and has been recognized with The American Prize in both Choral Composition (2014) and Choral Performance (2019, with NOTUS).
At IU, DiOrio is the director of NOTUS, a new music chamber chorus that he has elevated to national and international acclaim through commissions, recording projects, and invited performances at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).
NOTUS was one of only 24 choirs in the world selected by competitive audition to perform at the International Federation of Choral Music’s 12th World Symposium in Auckland, New Zealand (before it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic). NOTUS’s critically acclaimed debut album, Of Radiance & Refraction, featured the world-premiere recordings of five commissioned works by IU faculty composers.
DiOrio has taught courses in undergraduate and graduate conducting, choral literature, advanced ear training for conductors, score reading, and music career development (in partnership with the Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development).
An accomplished conductor, DiOrio has guest conducted ensembles around the world, from the Grammy-winning Houston Chamber Choir and Choral Arts Initiative in the U.S. to Allmänna Sången and Ars Veritas abroad. A strong advocate for new music, he has collaborated with many of today’s leading composers, including Paquito D’Rivera, Melissa Dunphy, Texu Kim, Tawnie Olson, Caroline Shaw, Moira Smiley, Christopher Theofanidis, and late IU composers David Baker and Sven-David Sandström.
Committed to diversity, inclusion, and representation in artistic programming, DiOrio proudly programs works that reflect the gender, ethnic, and racial diversity of our world, and he works to amplify the voices of composers from historically underrepresented, minoritized, and marginalized populations.
DiOrio’s love for contemporary repertoire spans the gamut of path-breaking works from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words, Steve Reich’s The Desert Music, David Lang’s the little match girl passion, Sofia Gubaidulina’s Sonnengesang, and Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion, which he had the honor of preparing for the composer in November 2017.
Equally at home with music of earlier eras, DiOrio has also conducted performances of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, W. A. Mozart’s “Great” C Minor Mass, Felix Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
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 music has been praised for its “depth of vision, mastery of compositional technique, and unique style” (The American Prize). His over 50 published works have appeared at major venues around the world, including the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, as well as in Austria, Canada, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Korea, Sweden, and the U.K.
He writes music for singers and players of all ages and experiences, and his recent commissioning partners include the Children’s Chorus of Washington, Worcester Youth Orchestras, Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble & Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Choral Arts Society of Washington, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and colleges and universities including Illinois, Michigan, Oberlin, Oregon, Princeton, and Smith.
DiOrio is deeply committed to strengthening the profession by empowering others and currently serves as president of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO, 2018-21). He has also previously served as treasurer of NCCO (2014-17), chair of the ACDA Composition Initiatives Standing Committee (2016-20), and a member of the board of directors for Chorus America (2015-18).