HOUSTON (January 23, 2025) – The Houston Symphony announced today the appointment of Anthony J. Maglione as Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus effective with the 2025–26 Season. He succeeds Allen Hightower, who held the position until February 2024. Julia Hall, who has been serving as Interim Chorus Director, will return to her role as Assistant Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus. This marks a joint hiring venture with the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where Maglione will hold the position of Professor of Choral Studies and Director of Choral Activities.
“We could not be happier to partner with our friends at the Moores School of Music to welcome a director of Anthony’s caliber to Houston,” said Houston Symphony Interim Executive Director and CEO Elizabeth Condic. “We look forward to hearing him take the Houston Symphony Chorus to new heights, given his professional history as a world-class chorus director, complemented and informed by his work as a composer in his own right.”
Maglione is currently the Director of Choral Studies at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and serves on the summer faculty of Westminster Choir College. He is also an active composer whose works are well represented on recordings, and who serves as composer-in-residence for Te Deum, a professional choir based in Kansas City. The first program he’ll prepare with the Houston Symphony Chorus will be for the opening concert of the 2025–26 Season. The organization is set to announce the new season in March, which is expected to feature a number of performances with the Chorus.
“I’m overjoyed to be joining the Houston Symphony organization as Director of the Symphony Chorus,” said Maglione. “When I visited this past fall, I was impressed by the tremendous musicianship and joy with which the Chorus learned symphonic literature. I’m honored to be part of the team which will create beautiful artistic performances alongside Maestros Valčuha and Reineke in the coming seasons.”
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 Music Director Juraj Valčuha, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Robert Shaw, and Helmut 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 opened the Houston Symphony’s 2024–25 Season performing Martinů’s Czech Rhapsody, and rang in the holidays with the Symphony’s annual performances of Very Merry POPS and Handel’s Messiah.
Audition information is at https://houstonsymphony.org/about-us/chorus.
About Anthony J. Maglione
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.
About the Houston Symphony
Under the leadership of Music Director Juraj Valčuha, the Grammy Award-winning Houston Symphony continues to inspire and engage diverse audiences in Houston and beyond with exceptional musical performances and enduring community impact. The Symphony held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Now in its second century as one of America’s premier orchestras, the Houston Symphony is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Texas and remains a cultural cornerstone of the region.
With an annual operating budget of $40.7 million, the Symphony presents over 130 concerts each year, making it one of the largest performing arts organizations in Texas. Its reach extends far beyond the concert hall, delivering more than 600 performances annually at schools, community centers, hospitals, and other venues, engaging over 160,000 people throughout Greater Houston.
The Symphony’s innovative response to the COVID-19 pandemic—completing its 2020-21 Season with in-person audiences and weekly livestreams—earned national recognition and the ASCAP Foundation’s Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Broadcast/Media Award. Its commitment to innovation continues, with its 2024-25 Season reaching audiences in over 45 countries and all 50 states via livestreaming, making it one of the few American orchestras to sustain such global digital engagement.
Renowned for its artistry, the Symphony has a distinguished recording legacy under prestigious labels, including Koch International Classics, Naxos, RCA Red Seal, and Pentatone. Highlights include a Grammy and ECHO Klassik Award-winning live recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck and recent releases such as Jimmy López Bellido’s Aurora and Ad Astra (2022) and Jennifer Higdon’s Duo Duel (2023).
The Symphony’s educational impact is equally remarkable, with its Harry and Cora Sue Mach Student Concert Series reaching over 50,000 students annually. Its In Harmony after-school program and partnerships with institutions like the Houston Methodist Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital further demonstrate the Symphony’s commitment to fostering community connections and accessibility to the arts.
With a vision centered on artistic excellence, community engagement, and accessibility, the Houston Symphony remains a cultural leader in Houston and a global ambassador for the transformative power of music.
Media Contacts:
Eric Skelly: eric.skelly@houstonsymphony.org
Jessica Henderson: jessica@theckpgroup.com