Dr. Peter Jarjisian, Director of Choral Studies

Peter Jarjisian is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Ohio University where he conducts the Ohio University Singers, Choral Union, and Singing Men of Ohio. He teaches courses in conducting, choral methods and literature, guides graduate students majoring in choral conducting, and serves as Co-Chair of the Ensemble Directors Area.

After completing music degrees at Susquehanna University (under Robert Summer) and Temple University (under Robert Page), he undertook further study at Westminster Choir College and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting (under Robert Fountain). A native of Pennsylvania, he taught for ten years at Pequea Valley High School and served as Director of Choral Music at Franklin and Marshall College, Temple University-Ambler, and The Shipley School. For five summers he conducted choirs of high school and college musicians for American Music Abroad, a cultural-performing tour of Western Europe.  In 2004, in cooperation with American Music Abroad, he led the Ohio University Singers and Friends on a 14-day tour of Austria, Germany and France.

As a member of symphonic choruses, Dr. Jarjisian has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Mostly-Mozart Orchestra. Those collaborations afforded him the opportunity to rehearse and perform under the batons of preeminent conductors including: Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Eugene Ormandy, Christopher Hogwood, Yoel Levin, Robert Shaw, and Robert Page. For fifteen seasons, he sang tenor and served as Assistant Conductor of the professional choir, The Robert Page Cleveland Singers. He has also sung with the Lancaster Chorale, and in 2008 he prepared the Chorale for holiday performances with the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus.

Each year he travels to schools around Ohio auditioning 200-300 high school singers for selection to the 120-voice Ohio University Honor Choir (now in its 15th year) for which singers spend three days on the Athens campus in rehearsals, master classes and conversations about music and its unique role in society.

A past-president of the Ohio Choral Directors Association, Dr. Jarjisian was recently invited to return to the OCDA board as Repertoire and Standards Chair representing College and University choral directors in the state. In that role, he will coordinate the 2010 OCDA Intercollegiate Choral Festival held in Columbus.

Invitations to guest conduct and present choral clinics have taken him to several states around the country. In 2009-2010, he will guest-conduct at Adams State College in Colorado, lecture at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference in Cincinnati, and adjudicate for the prestigious WCLV-FM Jubilation Church Choir Festival in Cleveland. As conductor of the Singing Men of Ohio, he will lead Ohio University’s popular men’s chorus on their Spring Tour through the Mid-west, beginning with an invited performance at the IMC (Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses, Inc.) Conference at Miami University, Oxford.

Dr. Jarjisian is an adjudicator for Music Festivals, Cruise Festivals, and Music in the Parks. He also serves the Athens community as Director of Music at First United Methodist Church.