Jodi Hitzhusen is the music world's version of a renaissance woman --- classically trained soprano, accomplished pianist, commissioned composer, inspiring teacher. Her music has taken her all across the United States, as well as to the Philippines, England, Canada, France, Scotland, and Germany.
As a vocalist, Jodi moves easily between different styles. She made her operatic debut in 2003 as Pamina in "The Magic Flute," and has sung premieres for several New England composers. She also loves musical theater and was asked to record solos for a demo of a new musical, "Queen" in 2010.
Jodi also sings and composes folk music, and In 2007 she began playing the djembe. That same year, she started Voci Angelica Trio with two conservatory friends and began using her new-found love of percussion with the trio's arrangements of international folk music. As an advocate for ethnomusicology, Jodi has collected music and instruments from Panama, South Korea, Ireland, Poland, and Mexico. In 2008, she was awarded an Emerging Artists Grant from the St. Botolph Foundation to gather music from the Iona Community in Scotland and the Taize Community in France. Both groups emphasize the importance of participatory worship, something Jodi is very passionate about as one of the music directors for the Wellesley Village Congregational Church.
Jodi has been instructing both voice and piano students since 1999. She believes in the importance of music in schools and has done outreach programs with the Handel and Haydn Society and on her own as a soloist.
Jodi completed a Master of Music at New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and a Concentration in Music Education. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English. She was honored as the most outstanding graduate in both fields.