Mark Whitmire is Director of the NOVA Community Chorus and Professor of Music at Northern Virginia Community College. He has conducted choirs throughout the region, including performances at The National Theater, The Kennedy Center and Washington National Cathedral. In 2003 he was conductor-in-residence at Gloucester Cathedral; in 2006 he returned to England to direct choirs at Westminster Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. Dr. Whitmire has received numerous grants and awards, including a scholarship for post-graduate studies at the Britten-Pears School in England (where he studied with Sir Peter Pears), and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research and writing on the music of Benjamin Britten. In 1999 he was named “Outstanding Faculty of the Year” by the college, and in 2004 he was awarded the “President’s Sabbatical,” the highest honor given by the college. Dr. Whitmire attended Abilene Christian University, the University of Texas, and the University of Maryland, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Music and Liturgy at Virginia Theological Seminary and Music Director at St. James’s Church, Richmond.

Profile in Gentleman's Quarterly

NOVA Community Chorus is a part of the Music Program of the Alexandria Campus of NVCC. The 80-voice ensemble, comprising singers from both the college and the surrounding community, is open to all interested singers without audition. The chorus performs regularly with many of the region's orchestras and has performed in Washington National Theater, Carnegie Hall, and the Lincoln Center in New York City. In 1992, the chorus toured Spain and performed at the World's Fair in Seville.

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