About Dr. Black

Conductor. Composer. Educator.

Dr. Bryon K. Black II (b. 1989) is an active choral conductor and composer. He is an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at DePauw University, where he conducts the Chamber Singers, Vox Animae (treble choir), and the Putnam County Festival Choir. He earned his D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of South Carolina, an M.M. in Choral Conducting from Kent State University, and a B.M. in Music Education from Ashland University. Previously, he served on the Kent State University School of Music faculty, where he conducted several choirs and taught undergraduate choral conducting courses. Additionally, he has extensive experience in church music, including six years as Director of Music at Tallmadge Lutheran Church. He has also led international choral performance and study experiences, including a recent tour of London and Paris with the DePauw University choirs.

Dr. Black’s choral compositions have been performed by numerous collegiate, church, and community ensembles. In May 2022, he conducted the premiere of his choral‑orchestral arrangement of Be the Change at Severance Hall — a commission from Kent State University in commemoration of the campus shootings on May 4, 1970. His live concert album In the Spirit! An Encounter with Spirituals, featuring original choral arrangements by him and Durrell LeGrair, is currently on streaming platforms. In 2017, he founded The Harvest Choir to perform uplifting original works, including premieres of his own compositions. Dr. Black regularly serves as a guest conductor and clinician for choral festivals and educational events throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

Dr. Black’s research explores the intersections between gospel music and European choral traditions, offering conductors pedagogical tools and accessible repertoire in gospel-influenced choral music. He has also conducted operatic works such as Stinney: An American Execution and The Handmaid’s Tale with Glow Lyric Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina. As a chorister, Dr. Black has performed at Carnegie Hall with Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). He prepared the Tallmadge Lutheran Church Chancel Choir to sing in DCINY’s 2019 performance of Mary McDonald and Joel Raney’s original cantata Sing Christmas.

Dr. Black is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and College Music Society. He formerly chaired the Standing Committee for Diversity on the Ohio Choral Directors Association Board.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Dr. Black now resides in Indianapolis with his wife, Briannah. More of his choral work and academic contributions are available at bryonblackii.com.