Overview
Kristin Zaryski is a visiting lecture of music at Cornell University, serving as the conductor of the Cornell University Chorale for the 2020 Spring Semester.
Full time, she is the director of choral and vocal music at Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York where she teaches two curricular choral ensembles, group voice lessons, two extra-curricular SA/TB choirs, and AP Music Theory. In the classroom, she finds joy helping singers find confidence by building music literacy skills, encouraging creativity, and cultivating a community where all students know they can contribute, musically or otherwise.
Building music literacy skills and vocal confidence is a cornerstone of Ms. Zaryski’s teaching. Her expertise in this area has led to invitations to present Bel Canto Solfege sessions at statewide and regional conferences, as well as graduate-level music literacy courses at Michigan State University and Drake University (IA). This past December, she and her Ithaca High School students presented a session at the NYSSMA Winter Conference titled “Mixed Bag: Engaging All Learners in Every Rehearsal” which spoke to her philosophies and techniques for working with non-auditioned choirs.
Happily plugged into the greater Ithaca musical community, Ms. Zaryski spends summers on faculty at Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy, co-teaching summer camps at Opus Ithaca, and accompanying local choral ensembles, voice studios, and individuals. She also enjoys singing with two choirs: The Cornell University Chambers Singers and the professional women’s choir, ~mirabai~, a resident ensemble at Michigan State University dedicated to enhancing the artistic expectations of women’s choral singing.
