MALCOLM J. MERRIWEATHER
CONDUCTOR
BIOGRAPHY
Grammy nominated conductor, Malcolm J. Merriweather, is Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and Music Director of New York City’s, The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. He is Professor and the Tania León Endowed Chair of Music at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
He is a sought-after interpreter of symphonic choral works most recently conducting grand performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Messiah. In addition to core symphonic works, he is known for the world premiere recordings of The Ballad of the Brown King, Credo, and Simon Bore the Cross by Margaret Bonds (AVIE Records) with The Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra. A frequent guest conductor, he has conducted the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Novus Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Merriweather’s 2025-2026 season includes four world premieres including preparing the New York Philharmonic Chorus for David Lang’s The Wealth of Nations and Ellen Reid’s Earth Between Oceans. He sings the baritone role in the world premiere of Mark Campbell and Peter Boyer’s A Hundred Years On with The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Crossing and the title role in Frederick with Music Worcester. Celebrating his tenth anniversary with the Dessoff Choirs, he conducts Herbert Howells' Requiem, Adolphus Hailstork's The World Called, Bach’s B minor Mass with a period orchestra, reprises Tania León’s It’s a journey, and will lead their annual Messiah Sing!. He will also be a Guest Artist in Residency with the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, with SUNY Fredonia, will lead Masterclasses with New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), and he is honored to be making two appearances with Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Garden.
READ MORE
Merriweather opened the 2024-2025 season conducting works of Mary Lou Williams at Disney Concert Hall for Solange Knowles’s series, Glory to Glory (A Revival For Spiritual and Devotional Art). At the historic Town Hall he conducted Brahms’s Requiem for the centennial celebration of the Dessoff Choirs with soloists Will Liverman, baritone, and Joélle Harvey, soprano. He led the Buffalo Philharmonic in performances of Mark Campbell and Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road and Margaret Bonds’s Montgomery Variations. The centennial celebrations for the Dessoff Choirs culminated with performances of Verdi’s Requiem at Trinity Church with Angela Meade, J’Nai Bridges, Won Whi Choi, and Kevin Short. His season concluded with another performance of Solange Knowles’s Glory to Glory at Jones Hall in Houston, Helga Davis’s The Messenger, and preparing the Caramoor Festival Chorus for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
Highlights from his 2023-2024 included a return to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to conduct choir and orchestra in the world premiere of Handel: Made in America with Terrance McKnight and soloists, Latonia Moore, J’Nai Bridges, Noah Stewart, and Davóne Tines. With the Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra he conducted Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and two contemporary oratorios about the lives of Sojourner Truth (Valerie Capers) and Anne Frank (James Whitbourn). Continuing in his role as Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, he prepared the professional choir for the reprise of Émigré, An Oratorio and Mahler 2 with the New York Philharmonic. In China with the New York Philharmonic Choir, he prepared the ensemble for the world premiere of Émigré with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Merriweather’s 2022-2023 began leading the Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Novus Orchestra in three performances (staged) of Considering Matthew Shepard. His new appointment as Director of the New York Philharmonic Chorus launched by preparing the professional choir for three programs throughout the season for Maestro Jaap van Zweden including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for the reopening of David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. With the Dessoff Choirs and Orchestra he conducted Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John Passion, and motets by Vicente Lusitano, the first Black composer to have music published. This season included the long-awaited release of the premiere recording of Margaret Bonds’ Credo and Simon Bore the Cross with the AVIE label.
He has served on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music and was the founding Artistic Director of “Voices of Haiti,” a 60-member children’s choir in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, operated by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.
Dr. Merriweather has earned degrees from Eastman, Manhattan School of Music, and Syracuse University and was a fellow at Tanglewood. Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram @maestroweather and at malcolmjmerriweather.com.
Current as of September 4, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...always precise and smooth..." – New York Classical Review
Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem – "The Dessoff current music director, the excellent Malcolm J. Merriweather, led the musicians for most of the piece. Merriweather, always precise and smooth, projected a feeling of concentration on all parts with equal care and confidence. As a whole, this was a worthy celebration of a fine and under-appreciated ensemble."
__________
"Meticulously prepared by Malcolm J. Merriweather..." – New York Classical Review
Mahler's Symphony No. 2 – "The ultra-pianissimo entrance of the New York Philharmonic Chorus was every bit as 'misterioso' as the composer indicated. Meticulously prepared by Malcolm J. Merriweather, the ensemble sang with heart and precise intonation, and one didn’t mind trading some articulation of the text for their richly blended tone."
__________
"...exacting preparation by...Malcolm J. Merriweather..." – New York Classical Review
Mostly Mozart – "The chorus, though variously billed as the Mostly Mozart Festival Chorus and the Summer for the City Chorus, suffered no confusion as to how to sing, thanks to exacting preparation by its director, Malcolm J. Merriweather. For energy and breath support, accuracy of pitch, clear articulation in fast passages, and variety of tone color, the group added luster to its name, whatever that is."
__________
"[T]he New York Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Malcolm J. Merriweather...leaned into Ravel’s rich tonal colors." – The New York Times
Daphnis et Chloé – "Style came mainly from soloists — especially the principal flutist Robert Langevin’s shapely contributions — and from the New York Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Malcolm J. Merriweather, which leaned into Ravel’s rich tonal colors. School may be almost out, but the Philharmonic passed this particular test with grit."
REPRESENTATIVES
General