Jamie Hillman

JAMIE HILLMAN is a Canadian and American musician, active as a conductor, singer, pianist, music educator, and composer-arranger. He holds the endowed Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting at the University of Toronto where he is Director of Choral Studies and an Associate Professor. He conducts the U of T MacMillan Singers and leads the master's and doctoral degree programs in Choral Conducting. Professor Hillman is a Senior Fellow at Massey College and is cross listed as faculty in Emmanuel College's Master of Sacred Music program. In 2024, Dr. Hillman received the Faculty of Music's Teaching Award which recognizes excellence, commitment, and innovation in teaching.

Dr. Hillman has served on the faculties of Boston University Metropolitan College/Prison Education Program, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Kodály Music Institute, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Phillips Academy. As a Boston University Prison Arts Scholar, Hillman co-initiated an innovative vocal music program in the Massachusetts prison system. He has served as a music director in churches in Massachusetts, Ontario, and Rhode Island.

​Dr. Hillman is an examiner for Conservatory Canada and has adjudicated, guest conducted, performed, and presented throughout Canada and the United States, and in Brazil, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Portugal, Taiwan, and Thailand. He has led All-State, festival, or honor choirs in Alberta, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and in Taiwan. Most recently he made three appearances at Carnegie Hall conducting national festival choruses with Manhattan Concert Productions and National Concerts. Hillman has conducted premieres by Shireen Abu Khader, Matthew Emery, Norbert Palej, Sarah Quartel, and Marie-Claire Saindon, among others.

Dr. Hillman has adjudicated for ACDA Pearl Prize, Alberta Music Festival Association, Allerton Vocal Chamber Festival, Bandung International Choir Competition (Indonesia), Canada's Top Choirs, Cantabile Choirs BIPOC Song Competition, Cantando Music Festival, Carowinds Festival of Music, Chronos Vocal Ensemble Choral Composition Competition, Contemporary Showcase, Fantastic Festivals, Festivals of Music, 14th World Choir Festival on Musical and Competition (Thessaloniki, Greece), Great East Festivals, Kings Dominion Festival of Music, Kitchener-Waterloo Kiwanis Music Festival, Kiwanis Music Festival of Guelph, Kiwanis Music Festival Windsor-Essex County, Lacombe and District Performing Arts Festival, Lambton County Music Festival, Loyola Marymount University Invitational Choral Festival, Manitoba ChoralFest, Marietta Public Schools (Georgia), Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, Massachusetts Music Educators Association, MusicFest: The Nationals, Music in the Parks, National Collegiate Choral Organization, National Endowment for the Arts, New Brunswick Federation of Music Festivals, New England Music Festival Association, Oilsands Rotary Music Festival, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincials, Ontario Vocal Festival, Peel Music Festival, Providence College High School Choral Festival, Roberts Wesleyan University Invitational Choral Competition, Rhythms International, San José State University Invitational Choral Festival, Saskatchewan Music Festival Association Performing Arts Competitions, Sherwood Park Music Festival, Stratford Kiwanis Festival for the Performing Arts, Thailand International Choir Festival (Bangkok), Tomohon International Choir Competition, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Choral Composition Competition, Rhode Island ACDA, Windsor Choral Festival, and WorldStrides. Recent conference presentations include Association for Moral Education, College Music Society, Music Conference Alberta, Nova Associação Brasileira de Regentes de Coros, World Choral Expo, and state/provincial music education association conferences in Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ontario, Utah, and Vermont.

Dr. Hillman has given lectures, masterclasses, and workshops and spoken on panels at a number of universities including Acadia University, Anna Maria College, Dalhousie University, Harvard University, Hong Kong Baptist University, Loyola Marymount University, Northwestern Polytechnic, Roberts Wesleyan University, San José State University, Shu-Te University, University of Connecticut, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Regina, and Western University.

As a tenor soloist, Hillman has performed major choral-orchestral works by Beethoven, Dett, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Ramirez, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, and Schütz with choruses and orchestras in Canada, the United States, and Southeast Asia. As a professional choral singer, he has sung with Beckenhorst Singers, Canadian Chamber Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers, Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Soundstreams Choir 21, Toronto Mendelssohn Singers, and Vox Futura.  

Dr. Hillman's schedule of upcoming engagements includes conducting honor choirs and festival choirs in British Columbia, Manitoba, New York, Ontario, Québec, Virginia, and in China, Italy, and London, United Kingdom; and residencies at several Canadian and international universities. He is the curator and editor of The Jamie Hillman Choral Series published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing. Choral pedagogical curriculum that he has co-written with composer Dan Forrest is published by Beckenhorst Press. He is also co-editor of Beckenhorst Press' Concert Series. Hillman has written articles on choral literature and choral pedagogy that have been published in International Choral Bulletin, Massachusetts Music Educators Journal, and Mass Sings.

Hillman earned an associate diploma (ARCT) from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and a Bachelor of Music from Western University (London, Canada). In 2024, he was inducted to Western's Don Wright Faculty of Music's Alumni Wall of Fame. He completed his Master of Music at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Doctor of Musical Arts at Boston University, where he studied with Ann Howard Jones. Other significant teachers include Kevin McMillan and Ollie Watts Davis. He is the 2012 laureate of the Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting from the Ontario Arts Council.