BIOGRAPHY

Colin Cossi is a conductor, composer, and choral artist whose work is guided by the values of community, inclusion, and storytelling, woven throughout intentional arts and education experiences. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he serves as a Graduate Assistant to the Choral Area. Concurrently, he is the founding Artistic Director of LGBTQ+ Choir Shenandoah and the Director of Music Ministries for Otterbein United Methodist Church. 

Colin earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Oregon in 2016, subsequently teaching K–5 general music and serving as the Director of Choirs for Coweeman Middle School and Kelso High School in Washington from 2016 to 2022. He earned a Master of Music in Choral Conducting with Distinction from Arizona State University in 2024. Alongside his graduate coursework in Tempe, Colin served as the Graduate Assistant Conductor for the GRAMMY Award-winning Phoenix Boys Choir and as the Artistic Intern for the GRAMMY Award-winning Phoenix Chorale. His collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to ensemble leadership was featured by ASU News in the profile article, “ASU graduate student builds community and inclusion through choral conducting and composition.”

As an educator and conductor, Colin’s podium experience spans the educational and collaborative continuum, including K-5 elementary general music, youth choruses, secondary public schools, sacred music programs, and collegiate treble, tenor-bass, and mixed ensembles. His collegiate pedagogical background includes teaching and assisting with undergraduate coursework in beginning, intermediate, and advanced conducting, choral music methods, vocal techniques, and global music cultures, as well as supervising student teachers in the field.

Recent conducting engagements include the JMU Middle and High School Choral Invitationals, the Rockingham Public Schools All-County Middle School Honor Choir, and a combined Good Friday performance of the Fauré Requiem. He has studied conducting under Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy and Herbert Washington, and has studied in various capacities with Dr. Edith Copley, Dr. André J. Thomas, Dr. Sharon Hansen, and Christopher Gabbitas.

As a composer, Colin’s work is gaining national recognition, most recently being named a Choral Arts Initiative PREMIERE|Project Festival Composer Fellow in June 2026. Recent commissions include "Make Room for Good" for the One Voice Mixed Chorus (Minneapolis, MN), "Finding Home Again" for the California State University Dominguez Hills Chorus (Los Angeles, CA), and "Light from Light" for the In Medio Chamber Choir (Portland, OR). His a cappella work "The Lost Lagoon" won the Phoenix Chamber Choir’s 2023 Student Composition Competition in Vancouver, B.C., and his music has been featured on the ACDA Western Region Conference Composer Playlist. In 2023, he served as Composer-in-Residence for both the Nā Wai Chamber Choir in Honolulu and the Sun Valley Community School in Idaho.

As a researcher and scholar, he has presented and written on varied topics across choral and classical music. His article, “Beach, Hensel, Schumann, Smyth – The Successes and Struggles of Four Romantic Era Women Composers,” was featured in the ACDA Western Region publication, TACTUS. He co-presented a poster session at the 2023 ACDA National Conference, “Filipina Composers Then & Now: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Paired with Repertoire,” and at the 2024 ACDA Western Region Conference, “Catalyzing Our Choral Communities: Queer Joy as the Liberatory Path Forward.” His doctoral document, “Resonant Futures: Storytelling and Community Impact as Sustainable Solutions for the Choral Arts,” is scheduled for completion in May 2027. The project operates at the intersection of community music frameworks and participatory action research, launching three distinct civic music initiatives throughout the Shenandoah Valley.