Michael G. Martin wears many hats, including composer, arranger, and Director of Choral Activities at Hilliard Darby High School. An adept musician, Martin began his musical career at the age of eight, training by ear. Upon transferring to the piano, Martin began what was only the beginning of a lifelong career and passion for dedicating himself to music composition and performance.
 

This passion for music has driven Martin to pursue excellence in vocal performance. As former assistant conductor/accompanist of The Ohio State University Men’s Glee Club, Martin’s passion continued to grow deeper and resulted in the development of numerous choral groups within the educational and community environment. After writing his first major composition at the age of 17, Martin pursued a college career at The Ohio State University, earning both a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of the Choral Arts in Conducting, studying with James Gallagher, Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt and Maurice Casey. This pathway provided an opportunity to study with and serving as accompanist for the late Robert Shaw, as well as an invitation to study at the Robert Shaw Choral Festival Chorus in France in 1994.

He has also studied choral music with Dr. Ann Howard Jones of Boston University during the 2006 school year.  Last spring, The Hilliard Darby Symphonic Choir also worked with Eric Whitacre, a nationally known composer for the Eric Whitacre Festival that was held on the campus of Capital University.  The groups have also worked with such notable conductors as Dr. Eph Ely, Keith Hampton, Donal Neuen, and Dr. Craig Jessop. 

He has also performed and conducted major concerts throughout Germany, Austria, England, and France. Martin also conducted the Hilliard Darby Symphonic Choir on a tour of England, which included a performance at St. Paul’s Cathedral and most recently in Carnegie Hall, New York for the performance of Durufle’s Requiem. In addition, Martin performed and conducted his own arrangements for men’s voices with the OSU Men’s Glee Club of such notable works as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, and Stephen Sondheim’s Send In The Clowns, two of many arrangements included on the groups recordings. His compositions are published with Alliance Music, Houston, Texas, Lawson Gould and he is also a staff writer and arranger for Warner Brothers Publications, Miami Florida.

Martin’s career has spanned many facets, both in and out of the classroom. As a graduate teaching assistant and visiting professor at The Ohio State University, Martin served as conductor of the Symphonic Choir, Chorale and Men’s Glee, as well as instructor for undergraduate vocal pedagogy courses and conducting classes. Martin’s civic responsibility has involved his creativity in arranging and conducting choirs and dramatic presentations for citywide celebrations, televised broadcasts and weekly worship services with the community.

Michael S. Snyder is currently in his first year as the Assistant Choral Director at Hilliard Darby High School and first year in Hilliard City Schools. In addition to his responsibilities at Darby, Michael also teaches choir and general music at Hilliard Heritage Middle School. Before coming to Hilliard, Michael taught for 5 years at Whitehall Yearling High School as the Director of Choral Activities. While in Whitehall, he doubled the participation, reorganized, and built a successful program that consistently achieved Superior ratings at numerous Solo & Ensemble, District, and State OMEA events. Professionally, Michael currently serves as an OMEA District XV Choral Adjudicated Events Chair, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to Michael’s teaching career he served a variety of churches as a Director of Music and Organist throughout North Eastern and Central Ohio for nearly 10 years. These positions allowed Snyder to collaborate with notable musicians: Donald Busarow, Robert Hobby, The Paragon Brass, North Carolina Boys Choir, and the Coshocton Community Chorus. Michael continues his performance career as Church Organist and Choral Accompanist at Bexley UMC, Bexley, Ohio. Mr. Snyder attended Kent State University studying piano performance with Fredrich Schoettler, Lois Rova Ozanich, and received his BM degree in Organ Performance from the University of Akron where he studied piano with Phillip Thompson and Organ with Barbara MacGreggor. Michael received his Music Education Certification at The Ohio State University. Mr. Snyder will begin the Master of Music Education program at The Ohio State University in the summer of 2010.