Daniel Parsley

Daniel Parsley enjoys an active career as a conductor, educator, scholar, and professional chorister. D Daniel serves as Director of Choral Activities at the historic School of Music at Boston University, the oldest degree-granting music institution in the United States. At BU, Daniel serves as Chair of Graduate Conducting programs where he oversees the comprehensive MM, MSM, and DMA conducting programs, teaches graduate conducting and choral literature, and leads the BU Singers, Symphonic Chorus, and Soprano Alto Chorus. Upcoming highlights for the 2024-2025 academic season includes performances of David Lang Little Match Girl Passion, Bernstein Chichester Psalms, and Bach St. John Passion BWV 245.  In addition to collegiate teaching, he serves as Principal Conductor for the GRAMMY® Award-winning National Children’s Chorus where he leads the Boston/New England NCC chapters. Daniel was most recently the Director of Choral Activities at Thomas More University in the Cincinnati region and associate conductor at the Cincinnati Youth Choir, Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. 

Since 2019, Daniel has served as associate conductor of the SummerMusik-Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (CCO). At CCO, he leads the We Are One series, special events such as the Walk with Amal project, and assists with an annual mainstage SummerMusik festival. In addition to professional orchestral conducting engagements, Daniel previously served as assistant conductor and choral conducting fellow for the Cincinnati May Festival, where he prepared choruses for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops. 

Daniel has enjoyed a wide breadth of diverse professional experiences ranging from roles as a research fellow in Ghana with the Edward Brueggeman Center for Dialogue to conducting engagements with the National Chorus of Korea in Seoul. He has recently guest conducted professional symphonic and choral ensembles including the Portland Symphony Orchestra (ME), Coro Volante (Cincinnati), and the Seraphim Singers (Boston) in concert. Upcoming concert events and conducting residencies include the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München (DE), Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (AT), and the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse | Conservatoire de Strasbourg (FR). In September 2025, Daniel began as music director and conductor for ISSEA and led the annual Pan-African choral festival held in Nairobi, Kenya (2025.) He served as faculty for the Kentucky Institute of International Studies (KIIS) Salzburg Program and Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA) London summer study abroad program from 2013-2023. 

Daniel’s passion for choral arts extends beyond conducting: He has performed with many choruses as a professional singer, including the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, Cincinnati May Festival Chorus and Youth Chorus, Toledo Opera, Tuscia Opera Festival (Viterbo, Italy), and Berkshire Choral Festival. As a conductor of symphonic choral literature, Parsley has most recently prepared choruses for John Morris Russell, Gerhardt Zimmermann, James Meena, and Giordano Bellincampi. He currently serves as Director of Music at First Parish Universalist Unitarian in Arlington, MA and was most recently the Music in Worship Chair for the Ohio Choral Directors Association (OCDA/ACDA). 

A Cincinnati native, Parsley completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Choral Conducting with a cognate in orchestral conducting at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music (CCM). Daniel also holds a M.M. in Choral Conducting from Bowling Green State University and a B.M. Voice Performance and B.A. International Studies with concentrations in economics and history from Xavier University. In 2019, Daniel was selected as one of four finalists for the 2019 American Choral Directors’ Association National Graduate Conducting Competition held in Kansas City. Parsley has studied conducting under Robert Porco, Earl Rivers, Brett Scott, AikKhai Pung, Mark Gibson, and Mark Munson.

Parsley’s current research interest focuses on the integration of Body Mapping, a method of instruction typically reserved for the private studio, in conducting pedagogy and the overall choral rehearsal. Recent scholarly publications include a curriculum guide for collegiate educators to apply Body Mapping techniques in ensemble rehearsals. Daniel is currently a Body Mapping Educator Affiliate with Andover Educators.

Daniel was most recently the Music in Worship Chair for the Ohio Choral Director’s Association. He has most recently served as Director of Music at St. Timothy Episcopal Church in Cincinnati and as associate conductor for Cincinnati’s Music Sacra from 2017-19. He currently serves as Director of Music at First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington, MA.  Daniel is an active member of ACDA, ChorusAmerica, AGO and NAfME.