About Bryon

Conductor. Composer. Educator.

Dr. Bryon K. Black II (b. 1989) is an active choral conductor and composer. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at DePauw University, conducting the Chamber Singers, Vox Animae (treble choir) and the Putnam County Festival Choir. He received his D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of South Carolina, his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Kent State University, and his B.M. in Music Education from Ashland University. He formerly served on the KSU School of Music faculty, conducting choirs and teaching undergraduate choral conducting courses. Dr. Black also has extensive work in church music, serving in congregations of various denominations. This includes six years as the Director of Music at Tallmadge Lutheran Church.

Dr. Black’s choral compositions have been performed by several collegiate, church and community ensembles. In May 2022, he conducted the premiere of his choral/orchestral arrangement of Be the Change at Severance Hall. The Kent State University School of Music commissioned this arrangement as part of the University’s commemoration of the campus shootings on May 4, 1970. He has also released a live concert album, In the Spirit! An Encounter with Spirituals, which featured original choral arrangements of African American spirituals by himself and Durrell LeGrair. Dr. Black started The Harvest Choir in 2017 to perform original, uplifting choral works for independent concerts, including premiere performances of his compositions. He has also served as a guest conductor and clinician for various choral festivals and other events throughout Indiana, Ohio and South Carolina.

Dr. Black’s research of the intersections between gospel music and European choral traditions provides choral conductors with accessible repertoire and pedagogy for approaching gospel music. Additionally, he has served as the conductor and music director for operatic staged works Stinney: An American Execution and The Handmaid’s Tale with Glow Lyric Theatre in Greenville, SC. His performance credits as a chorister include singing at Carnegie Hall with Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). He prepared the Tallmadge Lutheran Church Chancel Choir to sing in DCINY’s 2019 concert of Mary Donald and Joel Raney’s original cantata Sing Christmas at Carnegie Hall. Dr. Black currently holds membership with the American Choral Directors Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the College Music Society. He formerly served on the Board of the Ohio Choral Directors Association as the Chair of the Standing Committee for Diversity.

Dr. Black is a native of Akron, OH, and currently resides in Indianapolis with his wife Briannah. More of his choral work and research is available on bryonblackii.com.