dominickdiorio
conductor composer
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NOTUS to perform at 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. DiOrio will also moderate and serve on a panel titled "Considering Collegiate Choral Excellence."

upcoming events

saturday, october 14 2023

WE REPLY TO VIOLENCE

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia - Dominick DiOrio, artistic director & conductor

Dominick DiOrio leads the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia in WE REPLY TO VIOLENCE, the first concert of MCP's 150th Anniversary Season. Featuring the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the program opens with Haydn's powerful Mass in Time of War (Paukenmesse), followed by Joel Thompson's visceral and moving Seven Last Words of the Unarmed for the tenors and basses, string orchestra, and piano. DiOrio's own We Reply concludes the concert with music of resilience and determination, as we work to end racial violence through awareness and action.

saturday, october 14 2023

LISTEN: A CD Release Concert

Resonance Ensemble - Katherine FitzGibbon, Founder & Artistic Director

Join Resonance Ensemble for a performance of the music from our first album, LISTEN. This concert features a collection from the first ten years of Resonance’s innovative commissions and regional premieres—including works by Melissa Dunphy, Dominick DiOrio, Mari Esabel Valverde, Stacey Philipps, Lee Hoiby, Renée Favand-See, and more. More information.

sunday, october 15 2023

LISTEN: A CD Release Concert

Resonance Ensemble - Katherine FitzGibbon, Founder & Artistic Director

Join Resonance Ensemble for a performance of the music from our first album, LISTEN. This concert features a collection from the first ten years of Resonance’s innovative commissions and regional premieres—including works by Melissa Dunphy, Dominick DiOrio, Mari Esabel Valverde, Stacey Philipps, Lee Hoiby, Renée Favand-See, and more. More information.

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. 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

18 may 2023
Piffaro revives the music of South America on the Hill

DiOrio led his choristers and organ accompanist Clara Gerdes Bartz in a stunning interpretation of this modern masterpiece. The chorus’ singing was both supple and powerful, and Bartz employed the countless woodwind and string registrations of First Presbyterian’s legendary pipe organ to symphonic effect.

20 may 2023
REVIEW: NOTUS "What Is Ours: Music for an America in Progress"

Dominick DiOrio leads NOTUS in a shining collection of contemporary compositions that span genres and languages to paint a complex picture of twenty-first century America.

recent news

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.

World Premiere Virtual Release: Moira Smiley "Wire You Here"
Wire You Here

Released today, August 6, 2020: the world premiere recording and virtual release of Wire You Here by singer, composer, song-collector, and IU alumnus Moira Smiley. Recorded individually during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work focuses on the spoken words of thirteen Indiana University students as they create art and share their anxieties and hopes in a time of disconnection and upheaval. Featuring NOTUS and produced by Moira Smiley, IU Jacobs School faculty members Dominick DiOrio and D. James Tagg, and video designer Samantha Dowd. Watch the video.

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dominick smiling and looking out