The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Classical Review have described American conductor Amanda Quist’s work as “transformative,” “beautifully prepared, gripping,” “bridging the vocal and instrumental textures with perfect intonation,” and “leaving the audience breathless.” A frequent collaborator with internationally recognized professional ensembles, Dr. Quist has partnered in choral preparations with orchestral conductors Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Marin Alsop, Daniel Harding, Alan Gilbert, Michael Tilson Thomas, and John Kennedy. She has collaborated with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Dresden Staatskapelle, Seraphic Fire, the Spoleto Festival, the Lincoln Center White Lights Festival, Juilliard415, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Dr. Quist will serve as guest conductor with GRAMMY-nominated vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire in 2025.
Dr. Quist is the Director of Choral Studies for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, where she is conductor of the award-winning Frost Chorale. Under her direction, the Frost Chorale has been invited to perform with the New World Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, in the Martha Mary Concert Series, and has been featured on WWFM, The Classical Network. In 2022, Quist led the Chorale on an international tour to perform in the historic cathedrals and abbeys of England and France. According to the French newspaper L’écho Républicain, “under the direction of Amanda Quist, the interpretations were remarkable in cohesion with a joie de vivre as obvious as it was communicative.” Dr. Quist was previously Chair of the Conducting, Organ, and Sacred Music Department at Westminster Choir College, Director of the Westminster Vocal Institute, and Director of Choral Activities at San José State University. Dr. Quist’s current and former students have won multiple honors, awards, and grants, and have become music leaders in their communities as well as in the professional and academic spheres within the United States and across the globe. A champion of student composers, Dr. Quist has published the original works and editions of several Frost students and alumni through Gentry Publications and Walton Music.
Quist frequently serves as a guest conductor and is regularly invited to headline conferences and to give lectures throughout the United States and abroad. She has been invited to travel to South Africa to conduct as part of the ACDA International Exchange Program, and to serve as a clinician and adjudicator for both the Penabur International Choral Festival in Indonesia and for Interkultur, the largest choral competition in the world. A professional member of the GRAMMY recording academy, Quist recently served on the Choral GRAMMY Screening Committee for the 64th awards ceremony. Quist’s early music ensemble, Westminster Kantorei, earned First Place in the American Prize (2018) for Choral Performance. Under her direction, Kantorei was invited to perform at the American Choral Directors Association’s Eastern Division Conference, the Boston Early Music Festival, the American Handel Festival, and Interkultur. In 2017, the ensemble released its first commercial recording, Lumina, distributed by Naxos.
Dr. Quist is the recipient of Westminster Choir College’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the Mazzotti Award for Women’s Leadership, and the Carol F. Spinelli Conducting Fellowship. Her other honors include the Audrey Davidson Early Music Award and the ACDA James Mulholland National Choral Award. Dr. Quist is a widely recognized expert on the intersection of voice science and choral pedagogy with recent publications in the Choral Journal and in books published by Hal Leonard, Lexington Books, and GIA Publications. She has published editions of music by Henry Purcell and John Dunstable, and her compositions are published by Walton Music. Dr. Quist additionally serves as editor for the Amanda Quist Choral Series, published by Walton Music and Gentry Publications.