Dominick DiOrio is an imaginative, enthusiastic, and energetic conductor and composer who has won widespread acclaim for his contributions to American music. Whether leading an ensemble or crafting a new score, he brings equal passion and determination to his work in vocal and instrumental music, and 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, one of the most historic choral organizations in the United States, now in its 147th season.

DiOrio believes that singing together brings people joy. He 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 collaborated with many of today’s leading composers including Paquito D’Rivera, Melissa Dunphy, Tawnie Olson, Caroline Shaw, Moira Smiley, Christopher Theofanidis, and the late Swedish composer 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 underrepresented populations.

His love for contemporary repertoire spans the gamut of path-breaking works from the 20th and 21st 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 of 2017. Equally at home with music of earlier eras, he 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 UK. He writes music for singers and players of all ages and experiences, and his recent commissioning partners include the Children’s Chorus of Washington, the Worcester Youth Orchestras, the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble & Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, The Choral Arts Society of Washington, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and several universities including Oberlin, Princeton, Smith, and the Universities of Michigan, Oregon, and Illinois.

DiOrio believes in the power of education to change lives and impact our communities. Since 2012, he has been a member of the choral conducting faculty at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he leads the select, new music chamber chorus NOTUS. He has elevated NOTUS to national acclaim through commissions, recording projects, and invited performances at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). NOTUS was also 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. NOTUS' critically acclaimed debut album, Of Radiance & Refraction, featured the world premiere recordings of five commissioned works.

DiOrio is deeply committed to strengthening the profession by empowering others, and he currently serves as president of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. He has also previously served as treasurer of NCCO (2014-2017), as chair of ACDA’s Composition Initiatives Standing Committee (2016-2020), and as a member of the board of directors for Chorus America (2015-2018). 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. He proudly credits his mentors Janet Galván, Simon Carrington, and Marguerite Brooks for serving as model leaders and for making him the person that he is today.

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