Mark Helms, Bach in Baltimore’s newly-appointed associate conductor, is an active musician who is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he studies with Jason Max Ferdinand. At the University of’ Maryland, Mark has served as primary conductor of the University Chorale, assistant conductor of the UMD Chamber Singers, chorus master for the Maryland Opera Studio, and has prepared choruses for performances with the Baltimore and National Symphony Orchestras. Mark also co- teaches the basic conducting course at Maryland, and serves as Assistant Director of Music at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ellicott City.
Prior to his move to Maryland, Mark was based in the Philadelphia area, where he served as Director of Music and the Arts at Doylestown Presbyterian Church, and also as Director of Choral Activities and Liturgical Music at DeSales University. Mark is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, where he earned a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting, and also of Furman University, Greenville, SC, where he completed a Bachelor of Music summa cum laude in Church Music. Mark is a life-long choral singer, and is excited to be joining the leadership team at Bach in Baltimore. “I had the privilege of singing Bach’s Mass in B Minor for the first time during my freshman year of college, and remember being struck by the profundity of this music,” says Mark. “Even today, I feel like I am constantly learning from Bach: truths not only about music, but also about humanity, and even the divine. The ability of choral music to bring people together and create a whole that is always greater than the sum of its parts has made choral singing a passion for me ever since I was a child, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share in music-making with singers and instrumentalists here in Baltimore.”