Joan Szymko (born 1957) is an American choral conductor, music educator and composer. She was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and studied choral conducting and music education at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

, graduating in 1978. She settled in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and worked as a music teacher, composer and choral conductor. In 1993 Szymko took a position directing the Aurora Chorus in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. She founded the women's choir Viriditas Vocal Ensemble in 1994. Szymko composed the music for the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''Do Jump!'' and Jan Maher's play ''Most Dangerous Women''.

Works

Szymko composes mainly for theater and choral ensembles. Selected works include: *''All Works of Love'' for the

Brock Commission The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization with the stated purpose of promoting excellence in the field of choral music. Its membership comprises approximately 22,000 ...

2010, Retrieved March 2016 *''Nothing But Mud'' (text: ''The Church, Zillebeke, October 1918'' by William Orpen) *''The Call'' *''Carpe Diem'' *''Ein grosser Gesang'' (text: poems by Rainer Maria Rilke) *''Entro en la vida'' (text: by Teresa of Avilaz) *''The Freshness'' (text: Rumi) *''Hear Me! We Are One'' *''Herbst'' (text: Ranier M Rilke) *''How Did the Rose'' (text: Hafiz) *''I Lift My Eyes'' *''I Dream a World'' (text: poem by Langston Hughes) *''Illumina la tenebre'' (text: St Francis of Assisi) *''It Takes a Village'' (text: West African adage) Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including: *''Openings'' (Audio CD, 1998) Virga Records *''2010 IMEA Honors Chorus & All-State Chorus'' (Audio CD - Mar 31, 2010) Mark Records *''Texas Music Educators Association 2008: All-State Women's and Men's Choir'' (Audio CD - Apr 1, 2008) Mark Records *''Consecrate: the Place and Day to Music'' (Audio CD - Oct 2, 2007) Mark Records *''Faces of a Woman'' (Audio CD - Jan 8, 2008) MD&G Records *''Cradle of Fire: A Tribute to the Women of World War II'' (Audio CD - Dec 14, 2004) Indianapolis Women's LabelAmazon.com listing
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References

External links

1957 births Living people 20th-century classical composers American women music educators American women classical composers American classical composers Musicians from Chicago University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign School of Music alumni American choral conductors American women conductors (music) 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers Educators from Illinois Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century women composers {{US-composer-20thC-stub