Peppie Calvar

Dr. Peppie Calvar is the Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Syracuse University. His duties include directing the Hendricks Chapel Choir and teaching freshman music theory. Formerly, Calvar served as high school choral director and music theory instructor at Northwest School of the Arts and Director of Music at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, both in Charlotte. The Northwest choirs have recently performed Vivaldi’s Gloria in collaboration with Davidson College, and Duruflé’s Requiem with Myers Park Presbyterian Church, St. John Neumann’s music ministry, and members of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Their collaboration with Myers Park Presbyterian Church on Mozart’s Requiem was broadcast on WDAV radio, and their performance of Händel’s Messiah with the Northwest Orchestra in 2010 airs each Christmas on CMS-TV3. The Northwest Choirs consistently receive superior ratings at adjudications and festivals nationwide. Calvar holds the D.M.A. degree in choral conducting from the University of South Carolina. He also studied at Georgia State University and East Carolina University. He performs frequently as a baritone both as a soloist and as a chorister. Recent highlights include singing for high Mass at The Vatican. A frequent guest conductor and clinician, he has worked most recently with the Opera, Concert Choir and Summer Chorus at USC, UNC-Charlotte, and the Iredell (NC) All-County High School Chorus. He has performed as a percussionist before the American Bandmasters Association as a member of the Olde English Wind Ensemble from Winthrop University, and as a soloist for the Charlotte Symphony and the All State choirs of North Carolina.  He has collaborated in Jazz recordings as a vocalist, percussionist and pianist. An accomplished composer, he has also been commissioned to compose for various organizations including the Charlotte Symphony, The Choir School at St. Peter’s (Charlotte), St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Columbia, The Firebird Arts Alliance, and others. Many of his choral compositions are published by Colla Voce Publications and performed worldwide. He serves as a reader for the AP exam in Music Theory. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM).