A.J. started his music studies in 2004 at Illinois Wesleyan University under J. Scott Ferguson. In 2014 he received his Master of Music, Choral Conducting degree from Northwestern University and is currently there completing his Doctor of Musical Arts, Choral Conducting degree. His main teacher and mentor is Donald Nally, Northwestern’s Director of Choral Organizations and Founder and Conductor of the Grammy-Award Winning professional choir, The Crossing. A.J. is heavily involved in the Chicago choral community and has worked with Chicago Opera Theater, North Park University choral department, and is currently Director of Music at Glencoe Union Church. As a champion of new music by living composers, A.J. has also created a Chicago-based choral project called Stare at the Sun which had its inaugural performance last year. Beyond Chicago he has served as the Visiting Assistant Chorus Master of the New York Philharmonic helping prepare a 200-voice male chorus for the world premiere of David Lang’s opera Prisoner of the State. Earlier this year he served as Visiting Conductor of Ensemble Edge in Denmark.
