Betsy Burleigh, in her second year as Music Director of The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, is also the Assistant Director of Choruses for The Cleveland Orchestra and the Coordinator of Choral and Vocal Music at Cleveland State University.

A frequent guest conductor, she most recently led Opera Cleveland’s critically acclaimed 2007 performances of A Little Night Music. In 2006 she conducted Messiah with the Mendelssohn Choir and the Pittsburgh Symphony, and she has led subscription concerts with the Akron Symphony and the Canton Symphony Orchestras. In 2000 she received the Northern Ohio Live achievement award for music direction of Viktor Ullman’s opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Other credits include guest appearances with the Heights Chamber Orchestra, and numerous choral festivals.

Ms. Burleigh was Chorus Master for the Cleveland Opera from 2002-2006 and Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus from 1998-2006. She has also served as director of both the Canton Symphony Chorus and Akron Symphony Chorus. Her career began in Boston, where she was Music Director of The Master Singers for six years, conducting the chorus in their subscription concert series and preparing them for collaborations with groups including the Boston Pops and Monadnock Music. She served as guest conductor for the Dartmouth Handel Society and the Dedham Choral Society, and as Music Director for the Cambridge Madrigal Singers.

Her academic posts have included positions at Tufts University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Clark University, the Longy School of Music, Southeastern Massachusetts University, and in both public and private high schools. She holds a doctorate in choral conducting from Indiana University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. 

Mendelssohn Choir staff bios and publicity photos can be downloaded from the Press section.