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Bio
Based in the NYC/NJ Tri-state area, Dr. Steven Seigart's musical pursuits and interests are diverse and occupy a unique niche in the worlds of sacred music and music education. Dr. Seigart enjoys a rich and varied musical life as conductor, organist, pianist, composer, and teacher.
Dr. Seigart is currently the Minister of Music at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ, where he conducts several children's and youth choirs, handbell groups, Chancel Choir, and Oratorio Choir, as well as manages the West Side Concert Series and in-house Oratorio Series. Previously, he served as Director of Music and Organist at the historic Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria, VA, where he directed several amateur and professional choirs, supervised the youth and children's music programs, and ran their popular "Concerts with a Cause" series, whose recent highlights included period-instrument performances of Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, and Mozart's Requiem.
Dr. Seigart also served as Associate Conductor and Keyboard Artist with Northern Virginia's preeminent semi-professional auditioned chorus, Choralis.
Dr. Seigart earned the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he studied with Dr. Edward Maclary. At UMD, he served as co-conductor of the University Chorale, chorus master and assistant conductor for the Maryland Opera Studio, and assistant conductor of the Chamber Singers, which he has prepared for concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra. Previously, he completed the Master of Sacred Music degree at Boston University, specializing in choral conducting under the tutelage of Dr. Ann Howard Jones. He also served as Assistant Conductor for the BU Tanglewood Institute Chorus for three consecutive summers. As an opera conductor and coach, Dr. Seigart served as the musical director/conductor for the Arezzo Opera Festival, Assistant Conductor/Coach for Opera Saratoga, and chorus master for the Boston University Opera Institute. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
As a composer and arranger, Dr. Seigart's works have been heard in the US and Europe, and has had several commissions from choirs and instrumental ensembles across the country. His anthem, "Rejoice in the Lord Always" was the winning submission for the Eighth International Anthem Competition of First Baptist Church, Worcester, MA and his arrangement of the Widor Toccata for Harp Quartet continues to be performed around the world. He has written works for chorus, organ, handbells, harp, piano, brass, strings, and voice, and is published by GIA Publications, the University of Rochester Press and his own company, Steven Seigart Publishing. Dr. Seigart is an ASCAP licensed composer and publisher.
As an organist, Dr. Seigart has held numerous positions in churches across the northeast, including St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Parish (Bronxville, NY), St. Paul's Cathedral (Syracuse, NY), Christ Church Episcopal (Rochester, NY), St. Margaret Mary Roman Catholic Parish (Westwood, MA), and St. Stephen Lutheran Church (Silver Spring, MD). Dr. Seigart studied organ at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) with David Higgs and William Porter, earning his Bachelor’s degree in 2008. He specializes in improvisation of various styles, and his improvisations have been featured on NPR's Pipedreams Live!, and was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2012 National Competition in Organ Improvisation. He is an avid performer of music to accompany silent films, and recent screenings with live organ have included The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), From the Manger to the Cross (1912), A Trip to the Moon (1902), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Nosferatu (1922), and many others. On CD, his organ playing can be heard on Loft Record’s "Mendelssohn: Rarities," distributed internationally through Naxos. Dr. Seigart was the winner of the 15th annual L. Cameron Johnson Organ Competition (Storrs, CT), and is a member of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society.
As a music educator, Dr. Seigart regularly conducts choirs festivals and workshops, including three recent youth choir festivals with Pueri Cantores, the official children's choral organization of the Catholic Church. He has also served as the Professor and Director of Choirs at Manhattanville College, and has also taught choral and general music and musicianship at the Westminster Schools (Atlanta, GA), Saint Joseph's Parochial School (Bronxville, NY), Boston University, and the University of Maryland (College Park, MD). Dr. Seigart maintains a small private studio where he currently teaches piano and organ lessons to students of all levels. He is a member of the College Music Society and the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
Dr. Seigart is also active as a collaborative pianist and is frequently in-demand as a continuo player (harpsichord and organ), performing recently with the Congressional Chorus, DC Honor Choir Festival, Meeting House Orchestra, Orchestra of Saint Joseph, the University of Maryland Chamber Singers and Chorale, the Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, the Eastman Collegium Musicum, the Schola Cantorum of Christ Church, Rochester, and numerous theater companies.
updated 6/2024
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