Faculty Receive Innovation Grants
Marylhurst faculty received "excellence and innovation" grants supporting work in business, interior design, art, sustainability and music therapy.
Justin Smith, DMA
Department of Music
St. Catherine Hall
503.534.4067
jsmith@marylhurst.edu
Education
DMA, University of Houston
MM, University of Oregon
BA, Wesleyan University
Instrument/Subject
Director of Choral Activities
About
Dr. Justin Smith conducts several choirs and teaches courses in history, aural skills and vocal technique. Before taking up his present position, he served as visiting assistant professor at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where he conducted the Concert Women's Chorus and the University Men's Chorus. Prior to that, he served as director of music at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, where he conducted and supervised four ensembles, included the well-regarded St. Philip Choir, and oversaw a thriving music program. In the summer of 2010, he founded the Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir, a select ensemble of 38 accomplished singers already garnering acclaim for its excellence. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2012, conducting the Fauré Requiem for MidAmerica Productions.
He holds the DMA in Choral Conducting from the Moores School of Music, where he studied with Charles Hausmann and Betsy Cook Weber. He is a noted scholar of American choral music of the 20th century, having been published twice in Choral Journal on neglected choral works of Marc Blitzstein and Vincent Persichetti.
Dr. Smith is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the Oregon Music Educators Association. He serves as collegiate chair on the board of the Oregon ACDA chapter.
