Joe Lerangís

director

Joe Lerangís has appeared as a conductor and tenor both internationally and across the United States. They are Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Music at Cornell, where they oversee the university's choral programs and conduct the Cornell University Glee Club and Chorus.

Prior to Cornell, Joe's main appointments include serving as Director of Choral Activities at Colgate University, Director of Music at Spiritus Christi Church in Rochester, NY, and Assistant Conductor of both the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Camerata.

Previously, Joe spent several years in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where they completed a Fulbright fellowship and founded and developed the first music department in a general education secondary school in Mongolia to offer youth choir, orchestra, and band programs. In 2017, they reached the final round of Mongolia’s nationally televised pop idol competition, winning the Judge’s Choice Award and an award from the Mongolian Ministry of Culture.

Joe has studied choral conducting with William Weinert, Marguerite Brooks, Jeffrey Douma, and André J. Thomas, and orchestral conducting with Donald Schleicher, Mark Gibson, Brad Lubman, Larry Rachleff, and Carl St. Clair. They hold previous degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, Nanjing University, Kenyon College, and the Bronx High School of Science.

Dr. Yen-Hsiang Nieh

Assistant director

Originally from Taiwan, Yen-Hsiang Nieh received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he studied under Dr. Jo-Michael, Dr. Nick Strimple, Dr. Cristian Grases, Dr. Tram Sparks, Dr. Livingston and Dr. Morten Lauridsen. Nieh was the Teaching Assistant of the USC Thornton University Chorus, Apollo Chorus, and Concert Choir from 2018-2020. Nieh received his master’s degree in choral conducting from Fu Jen Catholic University, where he studied under the guidance of Prof. Julian Chin-Chun Su. Dr. Nieh is one of the excellent conductors in Taiwan and was the Executive Director of Taiwan Choral Association during 2013-2016.

Dr. Nieh won numerous prizes in national and international choir competitions. In 2009, Nieh conducted Taipei Male Choir (TMC) to join the 25th Takarazuka Chamber Choir Contest in Japan and won the Grand Prix. In 2011, he led Taipei Male Choir to win the Male Chamber Choir Category in the 6th Harmonie Festival in Germany and won an award for Outstanding Artistic Achievements. In 2013, Taipei Youth Choir and Cheng-Gong High School Choir conducted by Nieh won two Gold Medals and Grand Prize in the 9th Busan Choral Festival & Competition (South Korea), and Nieh himself won the Conductor Prize in addition. In 2015, Nieh had appointed a jury in World Youth & Children’s Choir Festival-Hong Kong and became the winner of the Jebsen Co. Choral Arts Scholarship.

Currently, Dr. Nieh serves as the assistant director of choral music at Cornell University. He is the conductor of Cornell Chorale and assistant director of Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club. Additionally, Dr. Nieh was the first artistic director of the TMC Culture & Arts Foundation (Taipei Male Choir, Taipei Youth Choir, Taipei Sängerknaben, Taipei Elegant-Song Choir, Taipei Male Singers, TMC Shanghai Chamber Choir, Taipei Female Choir) in Taiwan from 2015 to 2017. After beginning his studies in the United States in 2017, he continues to be the board of directors member of this foundation. Nieh’s composition, Ave Maria (2010), was chosen as one of the compulsory pieces for the 2019-2021 Taipei International Choir Competition. Recently, his arrangement Cina (2019) was one of the winners of the 2022 Western Regional ACDA “Call for Scores.”