Dr. Stephen Gusukuma joined the faculty at Baylor University in 2015 and serves as Lecturer in Choral Music and conductor of both the Baylor Concert Choir and director of VirtuOSO. Teaching assignments at Baylor have included beginning conducting, choral conducting, private conducting, choral methods, and choral literature, and ensembles under his direction have appeared across the US and internationally, garnering invitations to compete and perform at the Vocal Asia Festival in Taitung, Taiwan, the National A Cappella Convention, and quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Additionally, he serves as Minister of Music at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco, TX.
Dr. Gusukuma has appeared as conductor and singer with the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club in tours across the United States and Canada, and has appeared as conductor and singer on tours across the east coast and south-central United States with the Baylor A Cappella Choir. He has conducted on the stage of Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, at the 2014 MusicFest Canada, 2010 Texas Music Educators Association Convention, and in top tier venues such as National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 2013, he was a Conducting Fellow at the Lisbon Summer Choir Fest, a partnership between the World Youth Choir, the University of Michigan, and the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. He prepared choruses for the GRAMMY nominated recording of Milhaud: Oresteia of Aeschylus, released by Naxos in 2014, and his work is featured on Ye Shall Have a Song! Celebrating America’s Three Oldest Collegiate Choirs, a 2013 CD release by the Harvard, Michigan, and Yale Glee Clubs.
Dr. Gusukuma holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, where he studied with Jerry Blackstone and Eugene Rogers. Conducting appointments at the University of Michigan included Interim Conductor of the University Choir, Conductor of the Residential College Singers, Assistant Conductor of the University Choir, Assistant Conductor of the Men’s Glee Club, and Co-Conductor of Orpheus Singers. Dr. Gusukuma holds the Bachelor of Music Education and the Master of Music degrees from Baylor University where he studied conducting with Alan Raines, Stephen Heyde, and Eric Wilson during the master’s degree, and Donald Bailey and Christopher Bianco during the undergraduate degree. At Baylor, he was awarded the Bennett Award for outstanding potential in music education, the Ken Howard Award for choral music education, and the ACDA National Student Award. He studied voice at Baylor with Daniel Scott and Robert Best. Dr. Gusukuma was Associate Director of Choirs for three years at McKinney Boyd High School in McKinney, TX, where he conducted multiple ensembles and taught AP Music Theory. An active conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and singer, Dr. Gusukuma is an active baritone soloist, and has sung professionally with sounding light: the chamber choir of Many Voices, One Song. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Chorus America.
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Stephen Gusukuma
