Dr. Joshua W. Rohde is the Director of Choral Activities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he conducts all four of the university’s choral ensembles – Men’s Glee Club, Women’s Alden Voices, Festival Chorus, and the Chamber Choir. He is also the Music Director of both the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra and the Quincy Choral Society, and performs as an active professional cellist throughout the Boston area.
Dr. Rohde’s work spans multiple musical genres, with an emphasis on new music from living composers. This is seen in his dissertation on living Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan and work as the founding manager of Harvard University’s New Music Initiative. Notable world premieres include Rohde’s work with Pulitzer Prize winning composers David Lang (Birmingham New Music, England, 2014) and John Luther Adams (Lincoln Center, New York City, 2018).
Previous experience includes work at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, the Harvard University Choruses, the University of Birmingham (UK), and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus (UK). He has prepared choruses to sing for conductors such as Harry Christophers, Andris Nelsons, and John Storgårds. As a cello soloist, he has played cello concertos with orchestras including Elgar, Haydn, Boccherini, and Shostakovich, and regularly works as a continuo cellist playing the choral-orchestral works of Bach. Dr. Rohde holds degrees from Boston University (DMA and MSM - Conducting), the University of Birmingham in England (MM - Conducting), and the University of Minnesota (BM - Cello Performance and BS - Civil Engineering).
Conducting performances for the 2018-2019 season include: Johannes Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem; Jessica Curry – The Durham Hymns (USA premiere); James MacMillan – St. Luke Passion (Massachusetts premiere); Ralph Vaughan Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem; and works by living Norwegian composers Kim André Arnesen and Ola Gjeilo.
Conducting performances for the 2019-2020 season include: Handel - Messiah; Mozart - Requiem; Haydn - Lord Nelson Mass; Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"; Copland - Appalachian Spring; and works by living composers Jocelyn Hagen - Soft Blink of Amber Light; Martin Sedek - Nature has a Thousand Choirs; and Joel Thompson - The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.
