Chorus

Cina Crisara has recently been named the Chorus Master of Austin Opera.  Previously she held the position of Chorus Master for Opera Omaha spanning 17 seasons.  She was also serving as a full-time faculty member at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  Concurrently she completed 16 seasons as the Chorus Master for the Omaha (Nebraska) Symphony, culminating in Cina becoming the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus.  She made her conducting debut with the Omaha Symphony in 1999. Cina Crisara is also a professional singer, and has been a member of the Conspirare Symphonic Choir and Company of Voices since 2009. She has served as a Section Leader/Rehearsal Conductor for the Conspirare Symphonic Choir, and has performed on 10 Company of Voices recordings, including the Grammy award-winning “The Sacred Spirit of Russia”.

Presently, Dr. Crisara is the Director of Music at Saint John’s United Methodist Church in Austin.  In addition to regular Sunday services, she designs and directs special musical events and services which are offered throughout the year.  A production of the musical Godspell was given recently.  In the summer of 2016, several members of the Saint John’s Chancel Choir combined with singers from the Conspirare Symphonic Choir to perform in Italy with Craig Hella Johnson.  Cina co-directed concerts with Craig Hella Johnson in Australia in the summer of 2018.

Cina Crisara has a Master of Music in Piano Performance from New York’s Ithaca College, and she earned a DMA in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin, having studied with Dr. Morris Beachy and Dr. Fiora Contino.