Composer and conductor Justine Koontz uses music as a way of exploring a person's identity. Her work, encompassing composing, conducting, entrepreneurship and self-publishing, teaching, and international scholarship, explores how music defines people and their relationships.
As a composer, Justine writes primarily for choir and chamber ensembles in musical languages that are accessible yet diverse. Her music can be sacred or irreverent, contemplative or whimsical. She takes as her inspiration literature, modern dance, applied science, and spirituality. Her pragmatic approach to composition is apparent in the wide variety of pieces in her catalogue, ranging from unison works for small choirs to advanced compositions for large ensembles. Her compositions have been performed at national, and international venues, including performances at the 2023 Saito Conducting Workshop in Saskatchewan, the 2019 London Festival of Contemporary Music, the 2018 Intercollegiate Men's Chorus's National Seminar, and the 2012 World Choir Games. She was recently awarded first place in the Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir's inaugural composition competition. An avid entrepreneur, she self-publishes her compositions.
As a conductor, Justine's diverse interests in repertoire includes music by women, Baltic composers, new works, and "classics" of the 20th and 21st centuries. She has premiered works at Butler University, at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers' Symposium, and with the Azimuth Orchestra. As an advocate for community music-making, she has worked for a variety of churches as a choir director, and is the founder of the Program Choir of Baltimore. She has been the Music Minister at Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore since 2018.
Other musical activities have included international scholarship and teaching. Curious about the phenomenon of "singing cultures," Justine completed a year of study in Latvia on a Fulbright scholarship, where she researched the country's choral culture. Her research on this topic has been disseminated through blog postings and a presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies at Stanford University. As a teacher, she has led workshops for K-12 students in Indianapolis and Baltimore. She currently co-directs a private teaching co-op and teaches a private studio of piano and guitar students of all ages.
Justine completed an M.M. in choral conducting and composition at Butler University and a B.A. in music theory and composition at McDaniel College, where her primary instrument was classical guitar. She has completed additional studies at Juilliard, Peabody, the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Music Academy, and the Conductor's Institute. Since 2019 she has studied the Saito conducting method with Wayne Toews in Saskatoon, developing her trademark clarity of gesture and economy of motion. She is an active member of ASCAP and Chorus America. She lives outside of Baltimore, and when she is not making music, she is usually engaged in fine craft, language study, or gardening.