Dr. Ianthe Marini is the Paul S. and Jean R. Amos Distinguished Chair for Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music in the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. From 2014-2017 she was Professional Chorus Master for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, MD. She currently serves as Professional Chorus Master for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in GA and has also prepared collaborations with the Schwob Philharmonic and the CSU Wind Ensemble. Her professional preparations include: Handel’s Messiah for subscription performances with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center under the direction of Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann; preparation of the a cappella repertoire of Sir James MacMillan under his own baton at the Kennedy Center; preparation for the NSO Pops under the direction of Maestro Steven Reineke at the Kennedy Center; preparation for performances with the Baltimore Symphony SuperPops Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Jack Everly; preparation of Verdi’s Requiem for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro George del Gobbo, preparation of Bach’s Magnificat in D for the CSU Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Paul Hostetter, and preparation of Zhou Long’s The Future of Fire for the CSU Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jamie L. Nix. Marini was just selected by National Concerts to be the chorus master for the East Coast premiere at Carnegie Hall of Jocelyn Hagen’s piece The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci to be conducted by Dr. Eugene Rogers. Dr. Marini’s choir, the Schwob Singers, was selected to perform solo at Carnegie Hall under her direction.
Marini received her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland where she studied with Edward Maclary and James Ross. She was the recipient of the University’s Pomeroy Prize for scholarship and performance in 17th and 18th century music, the sole graduate award at the School of Music. She served the UMD Men’s Chorus as its first female director. She conducted Mozart’s Requiem as the Director of the UMD Summer Chorus and Orchestra, and BWV 26, 12, and 44 as Conductor of the UMD Bach Cantata series. Dr. Marini’s research involves the effects of acting on choral singing, and her dissertation explored these effects through her new rehearsal method, including the teachings of Stanislavski, Strasberg, and Uta Hagen. Her artistic and creative philosophies govern her choral direction and teaching, and strive to give opportunity to all students to actualize their full potential as artists and creative thinkers, and her dissertation is published in the Journal of Singing. An active performer, she recently danced Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite for the UMD Repertory Orchestra, and was recognized by Boston Broadway Awards as Best Actress in a Musical for her work as Anita in West Side Story. She is the first Female Pit Conductor for a Main Stage production at the Springer Opera House, Georgia’s State Repertory Theater, and has also performed as an actor with the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.
Marini has sung professionally for Marin Alsop, Nathalie Stutzmann, James MacMillan, Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, Markus Stenz, Laurence Cummings, Matthew Halls, Simon Carrington, and Simon Halsey. She has worked as a Conductor in a Master Class setting with Simon Halsey, Simon Carrington, David Woodcock, Peter Philipps, Jerry Blackstone, Eugene Rogers, Paul Rardin, and Christopher Kiver. In 2014 she was one of five winners of the International Conductor’s Competition and received the opportunity to work with Jon Washburn and the Vancouver Chamber Choir. She received her MM in Choral Conducting from Temple University where she was the recipient of the Elaine Brown Memorial Scholarship and the Helen Laird Scholarship for Academic Achievement, and her Bachelor of Science in Music Education where she received the Flute Performance Scholarship and the Creative Achievement Award. She is an active clinician and has been an invited guest with choirs in California, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. At the University, she directs the Chamber Singers, the Schwob University Singers, and the Choral Union, teaches Undergraduate Advanced Conducting Lessons, and directs an MM program in Performance with an Emphasis in Choral Conducting. Marini originally hails from Boston, MA and Cape Cod, and is an avid Audra McDonald enthusiast.