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The American choral conductor and baritone, Colin Mann, earned his initial music certification in New York State. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance summa cum laude from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia (2011-2015). While there, he served as assistant conductor to the University Chorus and was music director for the Student Opera Theatre Association’s annual opera scenes. During his studies, he also worked as Summer Program Intern and Assistant at Columbia University School of Continuing Education in New York (June-August 2013); Student Teacher at Penfield Central School Dist (2015). He obtained his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting with an advanced certificate in community music teaching from the Eastman School of Music in Rocester, New York (2016-2018). His conducting teachers include William Weinert, Brad Lubman, Ann Howard Jones, and Gerald Gray. He is a candidate for the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in conducting at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, where he studies with Dr. William Weinert.
Colin Mann served as choir director at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Greece, New York (2016-2018). He has great interest in community music-making and intergenerational singing. In summer 2016, he organized the East Ave Chorale of high school through retired adult singers; they performed a program in celebration of peace in Rochester collaborating with the M.K. Gandhi Institue for Nonviolence. He has participated in many national conducting symposiums and continues to let his experiences inform his teaching and leadership. In March 2017, he collaborated with his colleagues in the complete presentation of J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), conducted by David Chin.
From 2018 to 2022, Colin Mann served as Director of Choirs at the Williston Northampton School in western Massachusetts. Over four years, the choral program grew from 10% to 16% of the school’s total population including over eighty singers ranging from secondary school students to adult community singers. Mann developed the school’s first honors level, auditioned choir and a professional, adult choir. Williston Choirs commissioned a new work by composer Geoffrey Hudson for chorus and instruments, and it was performed virtually in May 2021 to celebrate the school’s 180-year anniversary. Mann organized a high school choral invitational with nearby singing communities and hosted renowned guest clinicians and performers including Lorelei Ensemble, Chanticleer, and Northern Harmony.
As Artistic Director of the Monadnock Chorus in Peterborough, New Hampshire (2021-2022), Colin Mann conducted a variety of works for chorus and orchestra. Under his direction, the chorus has performed Marianna von Martine's Dixit Dominus, W.A. Mozarts Missa Brevis in F, J.S. Bach's Cantata Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut (BWV 117), Finzi's In terra pax, and Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Prior to moving to New England, he founded the East Avenue Chorale in Rochester, New York. This vocal ensemble performed many works for a cappella chorus and partnered with the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in a benefit concert. Currently, he is conductor of Viva Bach Peterborough, and Music Director of the Hobart and William Smith Community Chorus (since 2022).
Colin Mann has sung with a variety of professional choruses and is a baritone soloist of art song and operatic arias. He has sung solos in Francesco Durante's Magnificat, Schubert's Mass in G, and Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and has performed Samuel Barber's Dover Beach with the Cushman String Quartet. In 2019, he traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to sing J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with the Malaysia Bach Festival. His voice teachers include Daniel Ihasz, Jan Opalach, and William Hite. He currently lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts. |
