Very Merry POPS

Conductor/Composer/Producer Anthony J. Maglione is the Director of Choral Studies at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri where he holds the Robert H. McKee Chair of Music. Maglione is a graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Under his direction, William Jewell College choral ensembles performed at regional and national conferences, were twice named Runner Up (2nd Place) for the American Prize in Choral Performance College/University Division, and released two commercial recordings on Centaur and Albany records. Maglione is founder and Artistic Director of the professional choir, Cardinalis, and Director of Music and Choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City. In addition to his responsibilities in Kansas City, he serves on the summer faculty of Westminster Choir College.

An active composer, Maglione’s choral works are growing in popularity and are published on James Jordan’s “Evoking Sound” choral series through GIA Publications as well as “The Amanda Quist Signature Choral Series” on Gentry Publications. His music has appeared at state-, regional-, and national-level conventions, on TV, in video games, and has been recorded on Albany Records, Centaur Records, GIA Choral Works, and Gothic Records. In 2016, he was awarded the William Jewell College Spencer Family Sabbatical, a year-long fully funded sabbatical to compose a large-scale cantata, The Wedding of Solomon, which premiered at the 2018 American Guild of Organists National Convention. The Miami University Men’s Glee Club premiered Maglione’s On Life the at the 2019 National ACDA Conference. In early 2020, Verdigris Ensemble premiered his extended dramatic work Dust Bowl as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project in Dallas, Texas. Dust Bowl was recently revised and performed again at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas through a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and several other organizations. Maglione is currently serving as Composer-In-Residence with Te Deum, a professional choir based in Kansas City and looks forward to additional premieres in 2025.

As a producer, Maglione lends his ears to recording projects around the country and recently received national attention through his production work with Sam Brukhman and Verdigris Ensemble on Betty’s Notebook by composer Nicholas Reeves. This ground-breaking programmable art music is the first of its kind and the first to be sold using block chain technology.

As a tenor, Maglione has appeared with Artefact Ensemble, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Kantorei KC, The Same Stream, The St. Tikhon Choir, Sunflower Baroque, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and made his debut with Portland-based Capella Romana on the 2021–2022 season.

A sought-after clinician and frequent guest conductor, Maglione regularly teaches workshops and has conducted All-State and honor choirs in California, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The Houston Symphony Chorus is the official choral unit of the Houston Symphony and consists of highly skilled and talented volunteer singers. Over the years, members of this historic ensemble have learned and performed the world’s great choral orchestral masterworks under the batons of Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others.

In addition, the Chorus enjoys participating in the Houston Symphony’s popular programming under the batons of conductors such as Steven Reineke and Michael Krajewski. Recently, the ensemble sang the closing subscription concerts with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Singers are selected for specific programs for which they have indicated interest. A singer might choose to perform in all 45 concerts, as was the case in a recent season, or might elect to participate in a single series. The Houston Symphony Chorus holds auditions by appointment and welcomes inquiries from interested singers.