Joan Pi, DMA

Bio

Dr. Joan Pi earned her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Choral Conducting from Stony Brook University. She also holds her Master of Music (MM) in Choral Conducting and Artist Diploma (A.D.) in Choral Conducting/Sacred Music from Yale University, and Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) in Music Education with concentration in Choral/Voice from McGill University.

Pi comes from many places including Texas, New York, Connecticut, Montreal, Canada); Seoul, South Korea; but most recently from the greater Richmond, Virginia, area. She taught choral/vocal music at middle school, high school and college for seven years while in Texas. Since moving to Richmond, Pi was the director of Music Ministries at Three Chopt Presbyterian Church for the last 10 years, where she directed the chancel choir, worship band, the children/youth choir, handbell choirs, and several musicals/plays and oversaw the audio/visual team. She also taught music classes and co-directed the choir at John Tyler Community College in Midlothian, Virginia for three and half years prior to coming to Regent.

Pi loves collaborative works with other local church choirs and presented major choral works such as Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, to name a few. She also directed two of Puccini’s operas (Gianni Schicchi; Suor Angelica), with a chamber orchestra when she was an interim director of Choral Activities/Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A & M University-Kingsville.

Pi also has been a frequent guest singer of several professional/semi-professional choral ensembles for over 20 years. Praising God through singing, playing instruments, conducting, and teaching has been the center of her life, and she is answering to God’s calling by sharing the musical talents that God has granted to her with others. Her husband is a pastor and military chaplain; they have one child.

Affiliations

National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)
National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO)
Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA)
Virginia Choral Directors Association (VCDA)
Korean American University Professors Association (KAUPA)

Awards

• Sweepstakes at University Interscholastic League (UIL) Concert & Sight-Reading Contest
  • Burleson Centennial High School Treble Varsity Choir (2011)
  • Calallen High School Treble Varsity Choir (2009 & 2010)
  • Calallen High School Mixed Varsity Choir (2009)
  • Calallen Middle School Treble Honors Choir (2008)
• Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize (2001)
• The Richard Paul de Long Prize in Church Music (2001)
• Frances G. Wickes Scholarship from Yale School of Music (1999)
• A Semi-finalist on ACDA Student Conducting Competition (1999)
• Best Composition Prize in New York Gospel Song Contest (1998)
• Dean’s Honor’s List, McGill University (1995-97)