Justin Bischof

Dr. Justin Bischof joined our staff as Director of Music in June of 2024.  Justin directs and leads our parish choirs, including the senior choir which includes four professional section leaders and more than a dozen volunteers, and our children's choir. He oversees Friends of Music at Christ Church and programs our concert program. He is an internationally renowned concert organist and orchestral director who offers concerts at Christ Church and arouind the world.

Lauded as “impressive…spontaneous…subtle…” by The New York Times, Justin Bischof is one of the most eclectic artists and leaders of his generation. He is an internationally acclaimed orchestral & opera conductor as well as concert/liturgical organist, pianist and improviser. He has performed in some of the world’s great venues including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Lincoln Center, Rose Theatre Lincoln Center, Tonhalle of Zurich, Eli Broad Theatre of Los Angeles, Royal Opera House Oman, St. Paul’s Cathedral London, Notre Dame Paris, Cologne Cathedral, to name a few. He has collaborated with some of the world’s most prominent artists including Joshua Bell, Philippe Entremont, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun and Roberta Peters. As an orchestral conductor, he has worked with numerous ensembles including National Arts Center Orchestra, The Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Vancouver Symphony, the Royal Symphony of Oman, the State Philharmonic Kavkazskiye of Russia, the WAAPA orchestra in Perth Australia, and the National Orchestra of Haiti.

He is the Founder & Artistic Director of MOO Modus Operandi Orchestra of New York City which is comprised of 65 of New York’s finest orchestral musicians. MOO’s mission is to present symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire at the highest artistic level with the goal to engage and enrich the local community. A vital component of the mission is to provide the opportunity for some of the finest freelance musicians in New York City to perform the staples of the great symphonic and operatic repertory as well as contemporary works and world premieres with their colleagues. Many of MOO’s players have gone on to perform with major ensembles including Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Metropolitan Opera, NY Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony. MOO’s post COVID return concert in April 2022 featured the World Premiere, outside of Cuba, of Guido Gavilan’s Afro Cuban Antilles Violin Concerto with Harlem String Quartet founder Ilmar Gavilan as soloist.

The concept of music playing a transformative outreach role in the world plays an important role in Maestro Bischof’s career. He co-founded, with Dorothy E. Yewer, an Annual Children’s Benefit for 10 years in Scarsdale to help at-risk children from Mount Vernon attend a life-altering summer camp which raised over $1,000,000 and helped over 800 children. The final four concerts took place at SUNY Purchase Recital Hall with the 10th Anniversary Gala Concert (2017) featuring soloists from the Metropolitan Opera in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 about which New York Arts declared “Beethoven’s 9th Symphony does not get much better than this!” These concerts also featured the Children’s Choirs of St. James the Less (Scarsdale), Westchester Reform Temple (Scarsdale) and The Edward Williams School (Mount Vernon) performing with the orchestra. Expanding this concept internationally, Justin made three annual outreach trips to Haiti to lead the Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte Trinité (OPST), the orchestra of the Episcopal Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince and Les Petits Chanteurs, in concert. The orchestra and choir consist of students/players from the age of 12 to over 50. Their Music Director, Father David Cesar, of blessed memory, was the progenitor of this inspirational partnership .

MOO’s recent engagements include the great honour of serving as guest orchestra and conductor for Saint Thomas Church 5th Avenue’s two Bicentennial Concerts this past spring. Additional concerts included Handel Messiah (IHM Scarsdale, NY) Merkin Hall Three Great Romantics (Chloe Kiffer, violin), Mozart Requiem (IHM), Gala Closing Concert for Organ and Orchestra in Rye for the American Guild of Organists Convention (David Enlow, organ) and Mozart and a Debut (NYC). Their next concert is taking place on Saturday September 28th 6pm at SUNY Purchase Recital Hall featuring the works of Boston composer Rachel Burckardt.

Maestro Bischof made his Australian Opera Conducting Debut in Perth at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts leading a critically acclaimed production of the Australian Premiere of Robert Ward’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Crucible about which The Western Australian (Perth) pronounced “Maestro Bischof is as versatile an artist as he is talented”. This nationally celebrated artistic event was a highlight of the Australian classical music season. Other important opera premieres include the Hawaiian premiere of Menotti’s The Medium and The Telephone, working with members of The Honolulu Symphony and Hawaii Opera Theatre. With MOO, he led several full productions including Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan Tutte. With international mezzo-soprano Ariana Chris, he conducted and led from the piano several benefit concerts entitled Opera Trash at Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge (NYC) and The Drake Hotel (Toronto) receiving rave reviews. In 2019, he led a production of Britten’s Rape of Lucretia at the newly renovated historic Flea Theatre to rave reviews.

Dr. Bischof has a long and distinguished history of liturgical leadership including several music directorships in historically prominent Episcopal parishes. He served as Associate Director of Music at 5th Avenue’s Church of the Heavenly Rest while still a graduate student during which time he oversaw an extensive and growing professional music program including a 16-voice professional choir weekly, several Youth Choirs, the annual Christmas Pageant with 100 children, and established the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in residence at this New York City Cardinal Episcopal parish. He devoted two years coordinating the restoration of their 140-rank organ following a devastating fire. He then served as Director of Music at the 19th century Anglo Catholic Church of the Resurrection East 74th Street where he established the 10-voice professional Schola which presented a full Renaissance mass weekly. For 11 years, he was Director of Music & Organist at the 1851 Church of St James the Less in Scarsdale. During his distinguished tenure, he initiated a much-needed complete overhaul and expansion of the music program which included growing the Parish Choir to 16 voices with 4 section leaders while raising the musical bar considerably and founding three Youth Choirs ages 7-18. He instituted the tradition of a full orchestra at Christmas Eve and Easter Day services. Maestro Bischof was the catalyst that inspired the parish to replace their failing organ with a glorious world class $2,000,000 4 manual 61 rank organ by Klais Orgelbau of Bonn Germany. He oversaw every aspect of the project included all fundraising and design.

Justin was Music Director of Westchester Reform Temple (Scarsdale), one of America’s leading Reform synagogues, for 15 years under the inspiring leadership of the now President of Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Richard Jacobs. Bischof oversaw the professional program that included working with legendary MET soprano Roberta Peters as well as various guest artists including Klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer, renowned Jewish song leader Debbie Friedman and American String Quartet cellist David Geber.

Described as “a master virtuoso” by The Frankfurt News, and “virtuosic” by the Los Angeles Times, he is one of the profession’s most respected concert organists and has concertized extensively globally including presenting numerous premieres for solo organ as well as organ and orchestra. He was awarded the First Prize at the 2000 AGO International Organ Improvisation Competition and is a leading proponent of the craft with his all- improvisation performances which have been met with critical acclaim throughout the world. Bischof has performed and recorded with numerous orchestras including the Zurich Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Milwaukee Symphony. A regular guest organist at the Royal Opera House on their Klais orgel in Muscat Oman, he has presented several Middle East premieres of important organ concerti including Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva for Organ & Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, and Percy Whitlock’s Poem for Organ & Orchestra with the Capitol Symphonie Orchester of Frankfurt, Germany. Recent solo organ recitals include recitals at St. Andrew’s Ottawa (Canada) Green’s Farms Church Westport, CT (in honour of Rick Tripodi) and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church Manhattan.

Bischof is an active composer who receives commissions on a regular basis, his most recent being his Romp for Pedals & Orchestra which had its World Premiere at the American Guild of Organists Convention in Rye in the summer of 2023. This was the birth of a new genre and was received to great acclaim. He has been commissioned by Park Avenue Synagogue (NYC) for several choral works recently which are regularly presented. He has been commissioned privately for choral works that have received their premieres on various occasions.

Leadership/Mentoring plays a major role in Maestro Bischof’s career both on and off the podium. His effective ability to engage with audiences is well known. Off the podium, he coaches conductors, instrumentalists, board members and donors on a variety of leadership strategies including the art of fundraising with which he has extensive experience. As Chair of The Alumni Council of Manhattan School of Music (his alma mater) he has been an effective leader during the past challenging years transforming the organization to better serve the 19,000 members of the international alumni community. He serves as the Board Chair of the Conductors Retreat at Medomak, an inspirational summer program that attracts aspiring conductors from around the world to work in an holistic setting in Maine under the mentorship of Kenneth Kiesler.

Dr. Bischof served as professor for many years at the esteemed Manhattan School of Music as well as Barnard College Columbia University and is sought after as a guest clinician for master classes internationally.

www.justinbischof.com
www.moonyc.org

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