artistic director
dr. joshua fishbein
info@marylandchoralsociety.org
A composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and singer, Dr. Joshua Fishbein specializes in the creation and performance of choral music. His choral compositions have won awards from the American Choral Directors Association, the American Composers Forum, the American Guild of Organists, BMI, Chorus America, Chorus Austin, the Guild of Temple Musicians, the National Lutheran Choir, and The American Prize, among several other performing arts organizations. Professional vocal ensembles, such as Cantus, Chicago a cappella, The Thirteen, Volti, and Washington Master Chorale, have premiered Fishbein’s music, which is published by E.C. Schirmer Music Company, Hal Leonard Corp., Transcontinental Music Publications, and Yelton Rhodes Music (Subito Music).
Since 2015, Dr. Fishbein has instructed musicianship, theory, and arranging courses as an adjunct faculty member of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Previously, he taught music courses at the College of New Jersey, Towson University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. An experienced church and synagogue musician, Dr. Fishbein currently serves as Director of Music and Arts at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville. He previously served Episcopal and Jewish congregations in the Baltimore/D.C. and San Francisco Bay areas. Fishbein has sung baritone professionally with the Choirs of Washington National Cathedral, the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, and Volti, among others.
Dr. Fishbein earned a Ph.D. in Music from the University of California Los Angeles, where he directed the UCLA Early Music Ensemble. He completed his Master of Music Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with additional graduate studies at the University of Maryland. Fishbein served for two years as assistant conductor to David Conte of the San Francisco Conservatory Chorus. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music (Composition) from Carnegie Mellon University, where he won the Harry G. Archer Prize in orchestral composition. Originally from Baltimore, Fishbein studied piano performance and music theory at The Peabody Preparatory. He lives in Aspen Hill, Maryland, with his wife and two children. fishbeinmusic.com