Bio

Anthony J. Maglione is an American conductor, composer, producer, and tenor whose multifaceted career reflects a deep commitment to artistic excellence, collaboration, and innovation across the choral arts. He currently serves as Director of Choral Studies at the University of Houston, Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus, and Artistic Director of Cardinalis, a professional choir based in Kansas City, MO. A graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, East Carolina University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, Maglione has built a national reputation as a versatile musician and advocate for new and meaningful choral music.

As a composer, Maglione’s works are increasingly recognized for their emotional clarity, craftsmanship, and accessibility. His choral music is published through James Jordan’s Evoking Sound Choral Series with GIA Publications, the Amanda Quist Signature Choral Series with Gentry Publications, and the Jeremy Jones Choral Series on Walton Music Publications. His compositions have been performed at state, regional, and national conventions, and have appeared on television, in video games, and in commercial recordings on Albany, Centaur, GIA Choral Works, and Gothic Records. In 2016, he received the William Jewell College Spencer Family Sabbatical to compose The Wedding of Solomon, a large-scale cantata premiered at the 2018 American Guild of Organists National Convention. Other significant works include On Life, premiered by the Miami University Men’s Glee Club at the 2019 National ACDA Conference, and Dust Bowl, an extended dramatic work commissioned and premiered by Verdigris Ensemble in 2020 as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Elevator Project. Dust Bowl was later revised and restaged at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and multiple arts organizations. From 2023 to 2025, Maglione served as Composer-in-Residence for Te Deum, a professional choir based in Kansas City.

As a conductor, Maglione has led ensembles of diverse levels and styles. During his tenure as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at William Jewell College, where he held the Robert H. McKee Chair of Music, his choirs achieved national acclaim, performing at state, regional, and national ACDA and AGO conferences, earning two second-place finishes in The American Prize for Choral Performance (College/University Division), and releasing commercial recordings on Centaur and Albany Records. From 2015 to 2025, he also served as Director of Music and Choirmaster at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, fostering a vibrant liturgical music program.

As a producer, Maglione brings his artistic insight and technical expertise to recording projects nationwide. He garnered national attention for his work with Sam Brukhman and Verdigris Ensemble on Betty’s Notebook by Nicholas Reeves, a groundbreaking programmable art music project and the first choral album sold using blockchain technology. His production work continues to blend traditional artistry with emerging technology, expanding the reach of contemporary choral music.

As a tenor, Maglione has performed with leading ensembles including Artefact Ensemble, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Kantorei KC, The Same Stream, The St. Tikhon Choir, Sunflower Baroque, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and Capella Romana.

A sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor, Maglione has led All-State and honor choirs across the United States, including in California, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. From 2008 to 2024, he also served on the summer faculty at Westminster Choir College, mentoring young conductors and singers.
 

 - Conducting - 

"The audience responded with enthusiastic applause. Maglione had to be dragged out to take more than one bow. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Haydn played with a small ensemble is always a good time, and the first half featured works completely unknown to me. Hearing the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra conducted with such gripping authority was immensely satisfying." - Paul Pattison, KC Arts Beat

“Jones Hall leans towards acoustic dryness, but the excellent chorus was able to achieve luminous subtlety nonetheless, in perfect balance with the orchestra, which gleamed throughout. The quiet choral moments were especially moving, while the final section of the Psalm was particularly exciting.“ - Steven Kruger, florentschmitt.com

"Also, special regards to the Houston Symphony Chorus and Houston Chamber Choir for their incredible vocal prowess. It is clear that the musical direction by Anthony J. Maglione and Betsy Cook Weber, respectively, allows these volunteer singers to perform at the top of their game." - Armando Uridales, broadwayworld.com

"William Jewell College may be a small school in a modest-sized town but music there is big time and their choir is world-class.…This is a flat-out gorgeous program with light, zippy Pärt; a sumptuously dark "Lord, Now Lettest" by Nicholas Reeves; and pinpoint dynamic control in Albert Becker's spiritually rapt "Ich bin die Auferstehung" all hitting you right off the bat.…If you'd fancy meeting up with one of America's very best college choirs, look no further."  - Philip Greenfield, American Record Guide

"I wasn’t familiar with the William Jewell College Concert Choir (based in Liberty, Missouri), but throughout the disc’s first four numbers–beginning with a superb rendering of Arvo Pärt’s oft-recorded Bogoroditse Devo–it was easy to be impressed, not only with the sound, ensemble, and responsiveness of the choir, but with the choice of music..." - David Vernier, classicstoday.com

- Composition - 

“The first half of the concert concluded with a newly commissioned work, ‘I Am Silent’ by Anthony Maglione. Based on a poem by Rumi, it was a lovely complement to the other works on the program. Maglione combined the unique sound of the baroque instruments with vocal writing to perfectly express Rumi’s intense mysticism. The work at times was sparse and others gently propulsive and minimalist. It was a totally unique sound that makes me look forward to hearing more of Maglione’s music.” - Patrick Neas, KC Arts Beat

“The clarinet solo explores both high and low registers of the instrument, and stands in stark relief to the choir’s rhythmic simplicity by way of virtuosic runs and elegant ornaments. The piece builds to a thrilling moment in which the clarinet and choir join in rich chains of suspensions that are indicative of Maglione’s lush and lyrical compositional style.” - Lee Nelson, Melisma

“With its recorded accompaniment of student voices and sonorous chimes, Anthony J. Maglione’s “No More!” aroused memories of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s pioneering electronic collage “Gesang der Jünglinge” from the 1950s. From Maglione’s opening sonic collage the Pro Arte Voices quickly merged into an insistent choral ostinato that used the text “no more!” to protest the ever-increasing number of deaths by gun violence. A forceful, dramatic piece, “No More!” raised its fist against the lives destroyed each year by gun violence.” - Ken Herman, San Diego Story

"First was the setting of “Ave Maris Stella” by Anthony Maglione. Mr. Maglione, who is also director of choral studies at William Jewell College, paid great attention and devotion to the original hymn by having only the male voices sing the first verse in its original form. At the second verse, the female voices sang the plainsong while the men accompanied with a drone sound. The roles were reversed for the third verse. In each case, the drone was altered slightly. By the fourth and fifth verses, Mr. Maglione added modern harmonies while hints of the original plainsong were heard. These harmonies were wonderful to hear with soft dissonances accenting the plainsong in a most remarkable way. A lovely, high descant sounded ethereal. The sixth verse returned to plainsong with drone and the seventh verse a further return to the original plainsong.

Maglione had given us a short history of harmony. The Middle Ages witnessed an era of experimentation in music, first with drones as a rudimentary harmony, then expanding into parallel fifths and finally, polyphony. Even the musical notation we use today came into being at this time. Maglione’s ingenious, reverent treatment was delightful to hear and beautifully sung." -  Paul Pattison, KC Arts Beat