Deborah King

Deborah Simpkin King, Ph.D., is a conductor, new music advocate, and master teacher. She plays an active role in the vibrant Manhattan choral scene and serves the national and international music community through her guest conducting and body of published work.

Her current ongoing conducting affiliations include those as Founding Artistic Director of the semi-professional Ember, of Ember Choral Arts (formerly Schola Cantorum on Hudson); Director of Choirs at Manhattan School of Music; and Director of Music and Arts at the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, NJ.

Ember Choral Arts is the parent organization of PROJECT : ENCORE™, an international advocacy initiative founded by Dr. King that promotes post-premiere performances of new music. Through PROJECT : ENCORE, and through the Ember Ablaze Composer Lab, she is at the leading edge of the new music industry, working with composers in finding post-premiere performances, and performing many premieres and post-premieres, herself.

Dr. King’s commitment to nurturing the next generation in the arts can be seen through the arts education initiatives at Ember Choral Arts, her long standing leadership of the NJ-ACDA High School Choral Festival, and the expansion of the New York Choral Consortium’s (which she Chairs) work to embrace and highlight young singers through the Big Sing Jr.

Dr. King is a conductor within Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and a frequent guest conductor of choral festivals and workshops. As a monthly columnist with ACDA’s The Choral Journal, and host of public radio’s Sounds Choral, (syndicated through WWFM), Dr. King serves the music community internationally. King also serves as Chair of the New York Choral Consortium (NYCC), served as coordinator of the NJ-ACDA HS Choral Festival between 1994 and 2019, and is a frequent presenter at professional conferences on choral consortia and new music.

Learn more and connect with Dr. King at DeborahSKing.com.