Mark Hijleh

Professor of Composition and Conducting

E-mail: mark.hijleh@houghton.edu
Phone: 585.567.9424

Mark Hijleh holds a doctoral degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory, a master's degree in conducting and composition from the Ithaca College School of Music, and a bachelor's degree in composition from William Jewell College. He is currently pursuing an MA in world music from the University of Sheffield (UK). His teachers included such noted artists as Karel Husa, Morris Moshe Cotel, Barney Childs, James Mobberley, and Thomas Benjamin. His professional biography appears in the International Who's Who in Music (Classical edition).

Dr. Hijleh was named the winner of the 2002 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Vocal Composition Award for his work "O Ignis Spiritus", on texts by Hildegard of Bingen, which composer Libby Larsen called "...stunning...". He has also received composition awards from the Oare String Orchestra (UK), Kappa Gamma Psi, T.U.B.A., Loyola College of Maryland and ASCAP. Hijleh has been featured on NPR station WXXI in Rochester, NY. His works have been performed by the Rochester Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Janus Orchestra, the Liberty Symphony, the Bach Ensemble of Baltimore, at Washington's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ResMusicAmerica in Baltimore, and Oxford University in England (where he also lectured publicly), and by major ensembles of the Peabody Conservatory, Ithaca College, Houghton College and William Jewell College. Some of his works and editions are published by Theodore Presser and Zimbel Press. In 1994, Dr. Hijleh founded the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers (www.cfamc.org <http://www.cfamc.org> ), a national non-profit ministry which includes James MacMillan, George Tsontakis, Charles Wuorinen, John Nelson, and Jeremy Begbie among its Honorary Members. He also served as a music theory and composition faculty member for the CPAF MasterWorks Festival. His book, "The Music of Jesus: From Composition to Koinonia", is available from Amazon.com.

An active film composer, Dr. Hijleh has written scores for a number of short animated and live action projects, and recently completed the music for the feature-length family film "The Prairie Pirates". He also composes concert music and church music for a wide range of occasions.

Dr. Hijleh has twice guest conducted the Rochester Philharmonic, as well as the NYSSMA Area All-State Orchestra (Zone 2), the Genesee Symphony, the Liberty Symphony, and the Cornell University Savoyards. He studied conducting with Philip Posey, Arnold Epley, and Rodney Winther, and also worked with such noted artists as David Zinman, Erich Leinsdorf, Jorge Mester and Maurice Abravanel through conducting programs of the American Symphony Orchestra League.

For more information, visit Dr. Hijleh's professional pages.

Courses:  Theory, Composition, Graduate Humanities Seminar, World Music