 |
|
Mark Simmons is Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Tennessee at Martin. At UTM, he conducts two choral ensembles, teaches beginning and advanced conducting, and secondary choral methods for music education majors. Prior to this appointment, Simmons held positions as the Head of Choral Music Education at the University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana, Director of Choral Activities at Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa, and Assistant Professor of Music at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York. He also taught middle and high school choral and instrumental music for three years at St. Mary’s School, Medford, Oregon.
Dr. Simmons is consistently in demand as a guest conductor and adjudicator throughout the region and country. He has conducted Honor and Regional All-State choirs in New York, Arizona, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee. In 2001, he was invited by the Saudi ARAMCO school system to conduct a two-week series of workshops and clinics for western music educators in four cities across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This engagement culminated in his conducting a 300-voice middle school choral festival in the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Most recently, he conducted the University of Tennessee at Martin Honor Choir, a festival in which 250 West-Tennessee high school students participated.
Simmons has undertaken significant studies in choral conducting with Janet Galvan, Hugh Floyd, Timothy Koch, David Effron, Samuel Adler, Alfred Mann, and David Stocker. He has also participated in masterclasses with Helmuth Rilling, Kenneth Jennings, and Doreen Rao. Simmons holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.