John Black is Director of Choral Activities and Lecturer in Music at Assumption University. He conducts the Assumption Chorale, and VOCE, the university’s auditioned chamber ensemble. He also teaches undergraduate conducting at Boston University and serves as assistant conductor of the BU Singers.
In demand as organist, pianist, and conductor, Black previously served as assistant conductor of the Providence Singers, a symphonic chorus which regularly collaborates with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. He has served for nine years as Director of Music at Greenwood Church, where he conducts the semi-professional chancel choir, oversees the youth and handbell ensembles, and conducts the fifty-voice Greenwood Concert Choir, which frequently performs with professional orchestra. Black was also conductor of the Carillon Women’s Chorus and the Boston University Treble Chorus, and was assistant conductor of the BU Symphonic Chorus. He has assisted in preparing choirs for performances under Leonard Slatkin, Bramwell Tovey, Larry Rachleff, and Tanya Miller, including Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Symphony no. 2, and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.
Black is an active organ recitalist, delivering pinnacles of the repertoire including the Duruflé Toccata, the Reger Fantasy and Fugue on BACH, and the F Major Toccata and Fugue of J.S. Bach. Collaborations include live concerts and album recordings with Ensemble Altera, recently traveling to Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, TX and St. Paul’s in Boston. Black has also performed in orchestral collaborations at Boston’s Symphony Hall under James Burton, at Mechanics Hall for studio recordings on the famed “Worcester Organ,” at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter & Paul in Providence on the largest mechanical-action organ on the continent, and on the Hook & Hastings instrument at Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Black served for ten years as pianist for the Rhode Island Children’s Chorus, has served as collaborative pianist for major works including the Requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé, and Brahms, and regularly performs with all-state and festival choirs throughout New England. He also frequently appears as continuo artist, performing at the harpsichord and organ with early music ensembles, and leading workshops introducing children to historical keyboard instruments.
Black is in the final semester of the Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting at Boston University, studying under Dr. Daniel Parsley and serving as teaching assistant to the graduate conducting seminar. He previously earned a Master of Sacred Music at BU, studying organ with Peter Sykes and sacred music with Andrew Shenton. A certified music educator for all grade levels, Black earned a master’s degree in music education from Rhode Island College, where he also completed undergraduate studies as a piano major. He received a full scholarship to the Young Professional Artist Program of the Newport Music Festival, and was awarded a conducting fellowship for the University of Toronto choral conducting symposium.
Black resides in Warwick, Rhode Island, with his wife, Olivia, a music educator, choral conductor, and soprano soloist. The two frequently collaborate on projects together.