After an extensive search, Ömer Aziz Kayhan joins Choral Arts Initiative as its fourth Assistant Conductor.
IRVINE, CA – Conductor Ömer Aziz Kayhan has been named Choral Arts Initiative’s fourth Assistant Conductor following an extensive search. The selection process included an initial application requiring candidates to submit a resume, cover letter, a 15-minute conducting video meeting specific requirements, a questionnaire, and optional letters of recommendation. Selected candidates were then invited to conduct a segment of the rehearsal with the ensemble, during which each Choral Artist completed an evaluation form. Finalists subsequently participated in a panel interview with the entire Search Committee, followed by a one-on-one interview and musicianship assessment with Artistic Director Brandon Elliott.
Ömer Aziz Kayhan, from İstanbul, Türkiye, is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Choral Studies at the University of Redlands. A conductor, researcher, and bass-baritone singer, he has led ensembles at the Eastman School of Music, Eastman Opera Theater, and Aspen Music Festival, and has conducted the Grammy-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire. Devoted to researching and promoting Turkish poetry and choral music, Ömer recently spearheaded a concert titled “An Interfaith Choral Showcase,” an independent choral project in collaboration with two other conductors that featured underrepresented music from five faiths and six countries. Passionate about orchestral and vocal music, he balances teaching, performing, and conducting while preparing to sing Schubert's Winterreise in the summer of 2025. Outside of music, he enjoys reading, cooking, and hiking.
Ömer joins Choral Arts Initiative in its 13th season, Metamorphosis, which features numerous world and regional premieres and culminates with our renowned PREMIERE|Project Festival. “The Assistant Conductor role is essential for our artistic success as an organization, especially with our summer PREMIERE|Project Festival. I am thrilled to welcome Ömer as an artistic partner and collaborator,” says Brandon Elliott, Artistic & Executive Director. “I’m thrilled to join Choral Arts Initiative as Assistant Conductor,” says Ömer. “It is a privilege to work with an ensemble dedicated to the finest performances of new choral music. New music invites us to listen with fresh ears, challenge our artistry, and connect with the voices of today. I look forward to collaborating with this committed community of musicians and our executive team to bring dynamic and innovative works to life.” Ömer will begin his duties in March as Choral Arts Initiative prepares for its first-ever intimate concert setting of solo and chamber repertoire, Intimate Voices.
About Choral Arts Initiative
We believe that we have the opportunity to be a living metaphor that celebrates unity. We believe that fostering and embracing the music of emerging composers is critical to our art form. We believe that our community deserves to hear the greatest performances of new choral music. We believe that passion and sincerity should be at the forefront of all musical endeavors. We are Choral Arts Initiative.
Founded by Artistic Director Brandon Elliott, Choral Arts Initiative is a non-profit 501(c)(3) choral organization comprised of some of the most talented and passionate new music vocal artists in the Southern California region. Widely recognized as a champion of new music, Choral Arts Initiative has been praised as "gracefully lyrical" (Tim Mangan, Voice of OC), hailed as one of Orange County’s "Best Choirs" (CBS News, Los Angeles), and noted for its "sublime" and "triumphant" performances (Ron Schepper, Textura). Winner of the American Prize in Choral Performance, recipient of the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming, and Winner of the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for Best New Music Performance, Choral Arts Initiative continues its commitment to musical innovation. Their inaugural album, "How to Go On: The Choral Works of Dale Trumbore," ranked #6 on the Billboard Charts (Traditional Classical Albums), and #4 Best Seller on iTunes Classical Charts. Their second album, "From Wilderness: A Meditation on the Pacific Crest Trail" charted for three weeks on Billboard and was the #1 Best Seller on Amazon and iTunes. Their passion for new music has led to the commission of twenty-five compositions and the premiere of over one hundred works.
About Brandon Elliott, Artistic Director
Brandon Elliott enjoys an expansive career as a conductor-educator, musician, arts leader, and consultant. He is the Founder & Artistic Director of Choral Arts Initiative, an award-winning new music choral ensemble based in Orange County, CA. Under his leadership, Choral Arts Initiative has received critical acclaim and recognition for its artistic excellence, musical innovation, and dedication to performing music from a vibrant roster of living composers. With a passion for new music, he has conducted the premiere of over 100 works.
Equally passionate about teaching, training, and mentoring musicians, Elliott is the Choral & Vocal Studies Director at Saddleback College. He regularly serves as an adjudicator, clinician, preparatory conductor, guest conductor, and guest speaker for festivals, competitions, and local K-12 programs, and is a semifinalist for the 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. As a vocal musician, Elliott has sung with various professional and contracted choruses. Previous engagements include singing under Craig Hella-Johnson in the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Pacific Chorale with John Alexander, and various ad hoc ensembles for artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Beck, Star Wars Live, and Zelda Live.
Elliott maintains professional memberships with ACDA, NAfME, MACCC, and Chorus America. His writings have been featured in both Tactus and The Music Educators Journal. Additionally, he has presented on choral entrepreneurship at the 2016, 2017, and 2023 Chorus America national conferences and was a panelist for the CCDA Choral Leadership Academy. He serves on the American Choral Directors Association national board as Repertoire & Resources Co-Chair for 2-Year Colleges. He previously served on the California Choral Directors Association board as the Repertoire & Resources Chair for Community and Professional Choruses. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education and a teaching credential from California State University, Fullerton, a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a specialist certificate in Music Business Leadership from the Berklee College of Music, and a Doctor of Education degree in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. Learn more at brandon-elliott.com.
About Ömer Aziz Kayhan
Ömer Aziz Kayhan hails from İstanbul, Türkiye, currently living in Los Angeles where he is a
Visiting Lecturer in Choral Studies at the University of Redlands. His musical journey began as a singer with Rezonans Choir under Dr. Burak Onur Erdem in 2015. He pursued undergraduate studies in music and economics at Cornell University where he later worked as an assistant conductor. He received his master’s degree in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, under the Robert P. Fountain scholarship, graduating in 2024. At Eastman, Ömer conducted several vocal ensembles, student orchestras and was the assistant conductor for Eastman Opera Theater under Tim Long for where he prepared choruses, coached singers and conducted stagings for several productions including F. Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” and Nkeiru Okoye’s “We’ve Got Our Eye On You”. With Eastman Repertory Singers, he has programmed music from his home country and created space for lesser performed works such as Rebecca Clarke’s “Music, When Soft Voices Die”. Ömer’s ongoing passion for orchestral music has led him to conduct several choral-orchestral projects, including Fanny Hensel’s Hiob, and independently organize performances of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in its centennial year and Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks”. He has been selected for prestigious festivals such as Mostly Modern, Norfolk, and the Aspen Music Festival, he has premiered many new-music compositions and conducted leading ensembles such as Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire. More recently, Ömer was contracted by Grammy-winning conductor Gil Rose to prepare a selection of
Puccini opera choruses for Lewiston’s Artpark Festival.
Ömer is devoted to the research and proliferation of Turkish poetry and choral music. To that
end, he has presented “Tools in Exploring Turkish Choral Music Through Poetry” and
spearheaded a concert entitled “An Interfaith Choral Showcase”, an independent choral project in collaboration with two other conductors, featuring underrepresented music from five faiths and six countries. This project presented Hasan Uçarsu’s Kar Şarkısı “Snow Song” in its USA premiere.
Ömer is an active soloist and a professional ensemble singer as a bass-baritone.
He has significant experience in a wide variety of styles. Past notable performances include
several modern-day premieres such as Marazzoli’s Aita Amanti and La Speranza vuol così with Paul O’Dette’s early music ensemble Collegium; Baritone Soloist in Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem; soloist in Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb”; soloist as Historicus in Charpentier’s Le Reniement de St. Pierre; and singer in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Mozart’s Idomeneo with Seraphic Fire and Aspen Festival Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano. He is currently preparing to sing the complete Winterreise by F. Schubert in the summer of 2025. In addition to his teaching load of seven courses, Ömer co-directs the Community Youth Choir, teaches private voice lessons through the Community School of Music and the Arts and supervises the Vocal Chamber Music master’s program, where he will accompany the students in their final chamber recital as a bass.
Outside of his work as a musician, Ömer is an avid reader, cook and hiker.
For More Information: Adena Bentley, Operations Manager a.bentley@choralartsinitiative.org
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