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The American conductor, tenor, and composer, Joshua Harper, completed his Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) with a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Composition/Theory at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee (2007-2011), where he held the Irma Lee Batey Voice Scholarship all four years. He studied with Jerome Reed, Gary Wilson, and Patricia Roberts. In May 2013, he completed his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting on a full scholarship under Dr. Tony Thornton at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) (2011-2013). He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music degree in Choral Conducting at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University (since 2016; expected graduation in 2021), where he studies with Betsy Burleigh, Dominick DiOrio, Walter Huff, and Carolann Buff.
Joshua Harper enjoys a multifaceted career as a conductor, tenor, and composer. As Graduate Assistant at UMass (September 2011-May 2013), he nearly doubled the size of the Women's Choir over his first year thanks to innovative programming, exciting concert experiences, and collaborative rehearsal techniques. He also conducted the Recital Choir and University Chorale. Joshua led the UMass Lab Orchestra in Spring 2013 and in the same semester was selected to be the Assistant Conductor for the University Opera program under Maestra Teresa Cheung and Professor Amy Johnson.
Joshua Harper was Director of Choirs at the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, Massachusetts (May 2013-June 2016) where he held the George E. Gregory and Catherine B. Gregory Instructorship. At Williston, he doubled the size of the choral program in just three years, overseeing five choirs of 140 students. He brought in ensembles ranging from Roomful of Teeth to The Whiffenpoofs. He is currently on the faculty of The Putney School's Summer Arts Program (since April 2014), where he conducts the Vocal Ensemble and teaches songwriting and composition.
Since August 2016, Joshua Harper serves as an Associate Instructor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where the 2017-2018 season sees him as the Associate Conductor for NOTUS: IU Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, Associate Chorus Master for the 2018 new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, and helping prepare the 170 member Oratorio Chorus for Krzysztof Penderecki's St. Luke Passion which was conducted by the composer in November 2017. He also teaches classes to undergraduate students in conducting.
In January 2016, Joshua Harper made his Canadian debut as one of the five conductors in North America invited to participate in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir's "Emerging Conductor Symposium" where he conducted the Grammy nominated Elora Festival Singers and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, studying under Noel Edison. He was selected as a Conducting Fellow at the Yale University Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 2015 studying with Simon Carrington, where he also sang as a tenor. He previously sang with the ensemble the summer before in 2014, being awarded an Ellen Battell-Stoeckel Fellowship.
Trained first as a singer, Joshua Harper has sung an extensive range of vocal literature and appeared as a soloist with the Lipscomb A Cappella Singers and the UMass Chamber Choir. 2017 ensemble engagements include recording sessions with composer/conductors Dan Forrest, Craig Courtney, and Dominick DiOrio. Previously, he sang with the Illuminati Vocal Arts Ensemble based in the Pioneer Valley and Novi Cantori of Greater Springfield. He sang with the Grammy award-winning Nashville Symphony Chorus for three seasons and has been featured as a soloist with the ensemble. He has sung under conductors such as Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Hollingworth, Eamonn Dougan, Giancarlo Guerrero, and George Mabry. He previously has served as the Tenor Section Leader for Edwards Church in Northampton (September 2012-May 2014) and is currently the Director of Music at Tabernacle Christian Church in Franklin, Indiana (since August 2016).
As a composer, his pieces have been performed by the Williston Male Concert Choir, Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts Chorale, Lipscomb A Cappella Singers, the Lipscomb Chamber Choir, the Lipscomb New Music Ensemble, Hartsbrook High School A Cappella (September 2012-May 2013), as well as the TGSFTA Faculty Artists. His scholarly edition of Franz Schubert's Die Ensiedelei is published by Colla Voce Music, LLC and was featured on the company's reading session at the 2015 National ACDA Conference in Salt Lake City.
A powerful advocate for new music, Joshua Harper commissioned and premiered works of new composers for both orchestra and chorus while at UMass and continues to commission and program new music in each of his concerts. He will premier an original work by 2017 American Prize Winner Matthew Recio on his first Doctoral Recital in September 2017 and will conduct two works by Corey Rubin in January 2018. Equally focused on the future of music education, Joshua served as the High School Repertoire and Standards Chair for the Massachusetts ACDA board from 2013 to 2016 where he oversaw the state's High School & Collegiate Choral Festival each year. He has presented at MMEA State Conference, both in 2014, 2015, and 2016, leading the conference's High School Choral Reading Session. He currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana. |
