dominickdiorio
conductor composer
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NOTUS to perform with William Shatner for IU's Eclipse celebration

Beloved actor William Shatner, an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner best known for his role as Captain Kirk in “Star Trek,” will deliver a spoken-word performance on April 8th at Indiana University's Memorial Stadium before the total eclipse of the sun. Shatner’s spoken-word performance will be a collaboration with students and faculty from the IU Jacobs School of Music. It will include new original music written for the occasion by Dominick DiOrio, performed by student musicians from NOTUS, the Jacobs School’s internationally renowned contemporary vocal ensemble. (Photo Credit: Jason Shook)

upcoming events

thursday, march 21 2024

Oberlin College Choir and the Oberlin Chamber Singers

Oberlin College Choir and the Oberlin Chamber Singers - Gregory Ristow, cond.

Program includes Igor Stravinsky’s Four Russian Peasant Songs, Jeff Scott’s Nǐ de Mìngyùn, Wǒ de Mìngyùn (Your Destiny, My Destiny) (world premiere), John Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance, Dominick DiOrio’s When Did We See You?, Brandon Waddles Set Me As A Seal, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe pour le Samedi de Pâques. Free.

friday, march 22 2024

NOTUS: CHARTING THE WORLD

NOTUS * Dominick DiOrio, director

NOTUS presents a concert of inspirational new music grounded in themes of family, discovery, and joy. Featuring IU faculty saxophonist Otis Murphy on a new original work by DiOrio, as well as IU composer (and harpist) Han Lash, the program includes Lash's Canticum Psalmi Falsum for chorus, harp, drum set, and piano; Dale Trumbore's Charting the World for chorus, flute, and strings; Zanaida Stewart Roble's Blühende Bäume for six soloists and strings; and the annual winners of the NOTUS Student Composition Contest. Free and open to all.

thursday, april 4 2024

IU Pro Cantare Concert

Pro Cantare - Dominick DiOrio & Raoul Carlo F. Angangco, conductors

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Pro Cantare Ensemble gives their Spring Concert performance, which includes my original works Leave My Heart Its Songs and Every Given Light.

about dominick

dominick smiling with arms crossed

Dominick DiOrio is a conductor and composer who has won widespread acclaim for his contributions to American music. He has been recognized with The American Prizes in both Choral Composition (2014) and Choral Performance (2019, with NOTUS). In July 2020, he became the 14th Artistic Director & Conductor of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, now in its 150th season, where he has had the honor of preparing the singers for performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra.

DiOrio has conducted ensembles around the world, from the Houston Chamber Choir and Choral Arts Initiative in the USA to Allmänna Sången and Ars Veritas abroad. A strong advocate for new music, he has he has premiered over 50 original works, and he has collaborated with Paquito D’Rivera, Melissa Dunphy, Marques L.A. Garrett, Han Lash, Caroline Shaw, Moira Smiley, and Christopher Theofanidis. Committed to diversity and inclusion in artistic programming, DiOrio proudly programs works that reflect the diversity of our world.

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 50 published works have appeared at major venues around the world including the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. He writes music for singers and players of all ages and experiences, and his recent commissioning partners include the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the Children’s Chorus of Washington, the Worcester Youth Orchestras, The Choral Arts Society of Washington, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.

Since 2012, he has been a member of the choral conducting faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he serves as Professor of Music and leads the select, new music vocal ensemble NOTUS, one of only 24 choirs in the world selected by competitive audition to perform at the 12th World Symposium on Choral Music in Auckland, New Zealand, before it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

DiOrio recently completed a term as president of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (2018-2022). For his leadership during the pandemic, he was honored with NCCO's inaugural Distinguished Service Award. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the Yale School of Music, as well as the MMA and MM in conducting from Yale and the BM in composition summa cum laude from Ithaca College.

press

05 february 2024
Janelle Monáe, William Shatner to perform at Hoosier Cosmic Celebration at IU Bloomington

Shatner’s spoken-word performance will be a collaboration with students and faculty from the Jacobs School of Music. It will include new original music written for the occasion by faculty member Dominick DiOrio, performed by student musicians from NOTUS, the Jacobs School’s internationally renowned contemporary vocal ensemble.

16 march 2024
A wacky piano with a curved keyboard made its debut at the Kimmel. But how did it sound?

Carmina burana seemed like an oaf next to the Mozart (even spaced by intermission), but the performance was near ideal. Among its strengths: the impressive high notes of soprano Audrey Luna; the appropriately creepy characterization of the Swan by tenor Sunnyboy Dladla; the immediacy of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia; and the sweet polish of a children’s choir drawn from the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Philadelphia Girls Choir.

recent news

NOTUS to perform with William Shatner for IU's Eclipse celebration
William Shatner. Photo by Jason Shook.

Beloved actor William Shatner, an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner best known for his role as Captain Kirk in “Star Trek,” will deliver a spoken-word performance on April 8th at Indiana University's Memorial Stadium before the total eclipse of the sun. Shatner’s spoken-word performance will be a collaboration with students and faculty from the IU Jacobs School of Music. It will include new original music written for the occasion by Dominick DiOrio, performed by student musicians from NOTUS, the Jacobs School’s internationally renowned contemporary vocal ensemble. Read the press release here.

NOTUS @ NCCO10 National Conference

NOTUS has been selected to be one of the performing ensembles for the National Collegiate Choral Organization's 10th Biennial Conference at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia: "Coming Home." DiOrio and NOTUS will present a program of music titled "America in Progress," which includes selections from NOTUS' recent album What Is Ours. Featured composers include Reena Esmail, Moira Smiley, IU alumni Kahan Taraporevala and Alex Berko, and DiOrio's own A Chain is Broken. Read more about NCCO10.

NOTUS second album release: "What Is Ours"
What Is Ours

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music new music chamber chorus NOTUS recently released its second album, “What Is Ours: Music for an America in Progress,” on Navona Records. The recording is available on numerous digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Learn more.

Fetter & Air Release with Navona Records
Fetter & Air Album Cover

An emotional and collaborative tour de force, Dominick DiOrio’s FETTER & AIR presents the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia’s own words set to a haunting soundscape that explores each member’s innermost hopes, fears, dreams, and desires. The massive undertaking is a skillful combination of 562 audio files comprising spoken word and singing by 61 chorus members, combined into a single piece by DiOrio and sound designer Justin “JG” Geller. The personal thoughts and interweaving arrangements create a raw expressiveness and intimacy, ultimately rendering a reminder of how our own stories echo within us.

Release date: January 28, 2022. Learn more and listen here.

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