| As part of an extensive search process that focused on finding someone with broad experience as a choral director, a musical mission aligned with our own, and a good sense of Mystic’s culture, we invited Mike to direct us this fall. The season was a grand success, widely lauded by singers and concert audience alike, and we are confident we have found our match!
Mike is widely known and respected for being an innovative and engaging conductor, educator, and community music maker. His pioneering projects to safely make music together during Covid-19 were profiled in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and on television news broadcasts. An advocate for creating strong and diverse communities through concerts featuring music from a wide variety of places, cultures, and eras, often including songs of social justice, he embraces Mystic’s inclusivity.
Currently serving as Choir Director at Deerfield Academy, Mike has previously conducted choruses at a number of universities, including Harvard and BU and has led international performances in Cuba, Romania, and Brazil. He has also conducted dozens of musical theater and opera productions, led clinics and orchestral festivals, and performed as an oratorio soloist.
Mike is only the second permanent Music Director for Mystic Chorale’s fall and spring seasons, assuming the role after Founder Nick Page’s move to the Midwest earlier this year. He’s thrilled and humbled to carry the baton forth as Mystic wraps up its 34th year this spring. If you sang with us in the fall, you had the pleasure of being directed by Mike in How Can I Keep From Singing, laughing at his weekly silly Dad Jokes, and learning more about yourself as both an individual and community chorus singer.
Mystic Board co-president, Olivia Tappan, expressed her delight with Mike’s hiring, noting that he “has all the right stuff for Mystic – he is enthusiastic, supportive, encouraging, and inclusive regardless of our ability or skill level. Mike definitely ‘gets us’ and our Mission. We feel blessed that he will be joining us!”
And Mike’s message to us all… “I could not be happier to be appointed as Mystic Chorale’s new Music Director. The organization was built by Nick Page and our incredible staff and volunteer leadership to be a welcoming musical home for all who love to sing, and that tradition continues in full force today. I look forward to working with everyone at the Mystic Chorale to continue the group’s deep and storied history into its next chapter!” |
