José (Peppie) Calvar

Biography

José “Peppie” Calvar, D.M.A., is professor and assistant director of choral activities at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University. He directs the Hendricks Chapel Choir and serves as artistic director of Holidays at Hendricks. He is also chair of the Setnor school’s Department of Applied Music and Performance.

Calvar also directs the University tenor-bass ensemble called Setnor Sonority and teaches conducting, graduate, and upper-class choral literature and choral arranging. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse University, Calvar taught high school and middle school chorus and AP Music Theory at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 2004-13. Currently, he serves as the director of music at the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Ann in Manlius, New York.

Calvar was an International Choral Exchange Program (ICEP) fellow through the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), interfacing with Guatemala in 2018. He has since also enjoyed residencies at the University of Guanajuato in Mexico and at the National University of Costa Rica. He frequently travels across North and Central America, providing clinics, masterclasses and adjudications. He recently traveled to Africa to serve as a clinician at the International Conference for Organ and Choir in Accra, Ghana.

Calvar is also an accomplished composer. His “Mass of Reconciliation” for mixed chorus, soloists and jazz orchestra is available on cdbaby.com and has been performed at Temple University, Coastal Carolina University and Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Many of his compositions are published by Colla Voce publications, and he serves as a reader for the AP exam in music theory. Calvar holds degrees from East Carolina University, Georgia State University and the University of South Carolina.

Education

• D.M.A., University of South Carolina

Areas of Expertise

Choral conducting, composition