Conductors
Mark Stover, Choir
Regarded as a leading conductor and pedagogue in the U.S. and abroad, Mark Stover shares his passion for people and building community through pursuing the highest levels of artistry. He joined the University of Michigan in 2018 as associate director of choirs, conducting the Men’s Glee Club and the University Choir, teaching undergraduate conducting, and serving as the conductor of the Michigan Youth Chamber Singers.
Stover came to Ann Arbor from Northfield, Minnesota, home of Saint Olaf College, where he served on the music faculty as conductor of the St. Olaf Chapel Choir (SATB) and Viking Chorus (TTBB) while teaching conducting and a new course he designed titled “Music and Social Justice.” Additionally, Stover served for multiple seasons as the artistic director of Magnum Chorum, a semi-professional choral ensemble of over 60 voices based in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Magnum Chorum was a featured ensemble in the 2017 ACDA National Conference in the Raymond C. Brock Commission performance under the baton of Robert Spano.
Stover has been featured as a conductor and pedagogue throughout the United States and abroad and has led ensembles in Ukraine, and France. In the Fall of 2018, Stover led major concerts and performances in Rome, Italy as the co-artistic director of the Together In Hope Project. He is the former R&R chair of music in worship for ACDA of Minnesota, and in the summer of 2018 acted as lead faculty coordinator for the biennial St. Olaf Conference on Worship, Theology, and the Arts. Stover holds degrees from St. Olaf College and Luther Seminary, where he studied conducting and choral repertoire under the mentorship of Dr. Anton Armstrong and Dr. Paul Westermeyer.
Ignatius Wang, Band
Noted for his versatility and dynamic performances, Ignatius Wang (b. 1990) is regarded as one of Singapore's rising conducting talents. He is the Director of Music of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Central Band, founding Music Director of the Lion City Brass Band, Music Director of SEIRA, as well as Associate Conductor of the Temasek Polytechnic Band.
Having joined the SAF Central Band in 2011, Ignatius served as Associate Principal Euphonium and was later awarded an SAF scholarship to the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
A recipient of the Distinguished Star, the Bandmasters’ Course Conducting Prize and the Baldwin’s Award for Best Conductor, Ignatius emerged top of his class and was the first international student to attain Director of Music qualification from Her Majesty's Royal Marines Band Service. He graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Master of Music) and the University of Plymouth (Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours). Ignatius is also a Fellow of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM) in Music Direction.
Ignatius studied with Bjørn Sagstad, Chan Tze Law, Clark Rundell, Darrell Ang, Douglas Bostock, Jason Lai, Mark Heron, Nicholas Childs, Tan Beng Wee, Timothy Reynish and Tsung Yeh – in collaboration with renowned groups such as the Argovia Philharmonic, Black Dyke Band, European Union Youth Wind Orchestra, Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.
Ignatius is the winner of the 2014 Bob Harding Bursary and served as the Young Conductor for the Havant Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he was selected to represent Singapore at the International Conductors’ Competition at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Ignatius also served as assistant to Tsung Yeh in the 2019 ballet production of Don Quixote by the Singapore Ballet.
As a guest conductor, Ignatius has conducted some of the most prominent groups in Singapore, such as the Singapore Wind Symphony, The Philharmonic Winds and Orchestra Collective. In Europe, he has also been invited to conduct regularly, including the Sinfonisches Verbandsblasorchester Markgräflerland and the Benefiz - Musik und Kukltur für andere Orchestra in Germany, and the EVAM Estagio de Verão in Amarante, Portugal. In 2022, Ignatius was selected to assist Finnish maestro Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and conducted the international LEAD! Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki, Tampere and Lahti.
Ignatius has also been featured regularly at the WBAS Youth Band Festival and the Asia Arts Festival as a clinician and adjudicator. He has led several conducting and music leadership workshops, including the International Brass Band Summer School, and the Music Leaders Camp and Student Conductors' Workshop for the Arts Education Branch, Ministry of Education. In addition, Ignatius also serves as a board member of the Wind Bands Association of Singapore.
Ignatius was commissioned as a Senior Military Expert on 1 April 2015 and appointed as the Director of Music at the age of 24 – one of the youngest in the history of the SAF.
James R Tapia, Strings
James R Tapia is an internationally-known conductor, clinician, author, and teacher with over thirty years of experience dedicated to empowering performers and ensembles around the world. He is a lauded conductor with a wide-range of skills collaborating with orchestras, bands, and choruses in a wide range of genres including orchestral and wind band masterworks, choral/orchestral masterworks, concerti, opera, ballet, and contemporary music. He is in high demand as a guest conductor and has conducted in England, France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, South Korea, and Singapore as well as numerous All-State ensembles in 38 states across the United States.
Dr. Tapia has held esteemed positions in band and orchestra serving on the faculties of The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Syracuse University, where he is in his 23rd year as Director of Orchestral Activities at the Setnor School of Music.
Dr. Tapia is a tireless champion of music education and has been music director and conductor of four outstanding youth programs throughout his career; the Michigan All State Youth Orchestra, the Michigan All State Youth Band, the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Syracuse Youth Orchestras. These groups have toured, recorded, and have performed in outstanding venues like Carnegie Hall, Hill Auditorium, Symphony Hall in Detroit, Symphony Center in NYC, and Avery Fischer Hall.
Dr. Tapia is conductor of the Central Winds: A Music Educators’ Wind Ensemble. This group performs as artists who model their craft for their students and who serve their community as artist/professionals with numerous outreach concerts each year. This group has performed twice at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois as well as performances at the Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, the Crane School of Music, and the NYSSMA Winter Conference.