Dr. Eric Rubinstein is Associate Director of the School of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Nazareth University, where he directs the Chamber Singers and teaches additional coursework in conducting and music education. Prior to his appointment at Nazareth, Dr. Rubinstein served as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College (CUNY).
Ensembles under his direction have been recognized across New York and New England for performances of the highest artistic caliber with invited conference performances, tours throughout the United States and abroad, and innovative collaborations. Program highlights with the Nazareth Chamber Singers include a year-long partnership with Nazareth’s Department of Theatre and Dance, a performance tour of Poland, and two back-to-back invitations to perform at the New York State School Music Association Winter Conference (NYSSMA, 2023 & 2024). Back in 2022, Dr. Rubinstein led the Queens College Treble Choir to recognition by The American Prize as well as an invited performance at the Eastern Division Conference of the American Choral Directors’ Association.
Dr. Rubinstein’s scholarship and creative activity focus on the advancement of twenty-first century, progressive practices in choral music education. His work has appeared in such publications as Music Educators’ Journal, The Choral Scholar, SmartMusic, and Anacrusis (Choral Canada), as well as through regional, national, and international conventions of NAfME, ACDA, College Music Society. and the International Society for Music Education (ISME).
Prior to doctoral studies, Dr. Rubinstein amassed a decade of high school teaching in Monticello and Westhampton Beach, NY, where he concurrently served on the music education faculty at CUNY Brooklyn College. Under his direction, the choirs were selected for performances at Carnegie Hall, Chautauqua Institute, and abroad, and were featured at the 2015 NY-ACDA Conference at the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Rubinstein has also served on the artistic faculty at the New York State Summer School of the Arts, and remains active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for various choral festivals and conferences.
Additionally, Dr. Rubinstein enjoys a career as a professional solo and ensemble tenor. Favorite roles include Man 1 in Songs for a New World, Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd, Henrik Eggerman in A Little Night Music, and the title “role” in Craig Hella Johnsons’s passion-oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard. He has also appeared with Red Shift Choir, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, eVoco Voice Collective, and The New Musicals Project, and has worked with such notable artists as Craig Hella Johnson, Victoria Clark, and Kristin Chenoweth.
Dr. Rubinstein is a member of NAfME and ACDA, where he also serves as the New York- ACDA Repertoire & Resources co-chair for LGBTQIA+ Choral Music. He holds a D.M.A in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University, a M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, and a B.M. in Music Education from the State University of New York at Fredonia.
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