Jamie Hitel is Director of Music at Christ Church Greenwich, Connecticut – a historical Episcopal parish just outside New York City.
A widely-respected performer, composer, conductor and teacher, Jamie Hitel has held a variety of positions and performed in different settings across the globe.
Formerly Director of Music at Waltham Abbey, England, Jamie moved to the USA in 2000. Since that time, he has worked within the Episcopal church, training choirs of boys and girls, drawing on repertoire from the Anglican choral tradition.
Compositions include hymns, chants, anthems, and two stage musicals. An unaccompanied SATB anthem for Advent – Hark, the Glad Sound – is available through Encore Publications. A new anthem (2015) for Treble Voices and Organ – Bread of the World – is scheduled for publication by the RSCM later this year.
Jamie became Director of Music at Christ Church Greenwich in 2008, where his professional duties include directing the Choir of Men & Boys, the St Cecilia Choir of Girls, the Christ Church Scholars, and several other choral ensembles.
An interest in contemporary church music inspired him to establish a visiting artist program, which has resulted in several new commissions, most notably by leading British composer Philip Moore. Two of these are featured on a notable CD recording of the St Cecilia Choir of Girls, released in April 2014.
When not directing choirs, Jamie Hitel maintains a busy solo organ recital career. Concert venues have included London’s St Paul’s and Westminster Cathedrals; New York’s Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, Trinity Church, Wall Street; and Seattle’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral.
Recent organ recitals in Germany have included concerts in Paderborn Cathedral, Rheda-Wiedenbrück and Braunschweig.
In 2015, Jamie Hitel was guest conductor of the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra in a performance at St Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany.
Jamie Hitel is founder of Ex Ecclesia, a pan-Atlantic Chamber Choir, specializing in music of the Anglican Choral Tradition. Comprised of members from the USA, UK, and Holland, the choir came together for an inaugural series of choral services at Hereford Cathedral in July of 2016. Recordings are available here.
Upcoming 2016-17 performances include appearances at the Gothenburg International Organ Academy, choral workshops and recitals in the USA, and a major organ recital tour of the UK in June 2017.
Jamie, now an American citizen, lives in Riverside, Connecticut.
