Dr. Joshua Boggs is excited to join Ames Town & Gown as Artistic Director in its 77th Season. He believes strongly in the organization’s mission to offer world-class chamber music here in Central Iowa. He attributes his professional music career to the educational opportunities provided by schools and music non-profits growing up, and looks forward to continuing outreach efforts with guest artists in our local community.

Josh has a decade of experience leading choral programs at the University level. He is the Director of Musical Arts at Grand View University in Des Moines, IA, where he directs the Grand View Choir and Chamber Singers, teaches a robust voice studio, and oversees all music programming. He has taught at institutions of higher education in Indiana, Iowa, and Virginia, including a prior term position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Grinnell College. He is also the conductor of the Drake University Community Chorus (DUCC) and Music Director at Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames.

Josh graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Music in Voice, and the University of Notre Dame with a Master of Sacred Music degree. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Notre Dame where he studied with Carmen-Helena Téllez. Prior conducting fellowships include the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Princeton Festival, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Symposium, and Big Sky Choral Initiative, studying with choral leaders Simon Carrington (Yale University and The King’s Singers), Jan Harrington (Indiana University-Bloomington), Jean-Sébastien Valée (McGill University), and Donald Nally (The Crossing).

As music director, he has conducted musical theatre and opera, and served as Chorus Master for the South Bend Lyric Opera. He has led performances of choral masterworks for orchestra, including Messiah (G.F. Handel), Dona Nobis Pacem (R.V. Williams), and period instrument orchestras in works by Bach, Handel, and Schütz, among others. 

As a countertenor, Josh maintains an active profile as a soloist. He has performed as a soloist and abroad in Mexico, Italy, Chile, and the United States. Solo performances include works by Bach, Britten, Buxtehude, Charpentier, Handel, Mozart, Pärt, Spears, Vivaldi and more. Past solo engagements include Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the Central Ohio Symphony, alto solos in Mendelssohn's Elijah with baritone Nathan Gunn in the title role, and interdisciplinary performances of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with the Jessica Lang Dance Company. A lover of new music, he has sung premieres of song cycles, choral works, and roles in opera and oratorio. Works include the premiere of Latens Deitas by French-Armenian composer Michel Petrossian and the staged role of Saint Bernard in Robert Kyr's oratorio Paradiso.

Contact Josh at town.gown@gmail.com.