Joseph "Joe" Fitzmartin was born in 1943 in Philadelphia and studied piano, organ and music theory privately for twelve years before studying composition and conducting at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Joe’s first major post was at Girard College in Philadelphia where he served for ten years as Organist and Choir Director. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each Music theory is the field of study that deals with the Mechanics of music and how Music works Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Girard College is a private philanthropic Boarding school on a 43 acre (170000 m² campus in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the United States. He was also the Associate Director and Accompanist for the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale, a post he held for twenty-one years before founding the Commonwealth Youthchoirs. The CY presently consists of the Keystone State Boychoir, and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir. He was also the Choir Director and Organist for 24 years at Collenbrook United Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Springfield Township is the name of some places in the US state of Pennsylvania: Springfield Township Bradford County Pennsylvania He continues to teach full time, and directs five choirs (Quaker's Dozen, Charter Singers, Sharped Flats, Penn Singers, and TestosterTones) at the prestigious William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. The William Penn Charter School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was established in 1689 by William Penn as a Day school and is the At Penn Charter he is the director of the Quaker's Dozen, and the Boy's A Capella.
Fitzmartin holds writer/publisher memberships in the American Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers. A recipient of private, corporate and government commissions, he has composed and arranged extensively for both choir and orchestra (published by Hinshaw and Columbia Pictures Publications) one of which was performed at the Academy of Music by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Philadelphia Orchestra is an Orchestra based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, in the United States. His Concert Mass, a major work for symphony orchestra and choir, received its world premier at Carnegie Hall and has since been performed in Australia at the Sydney Opera House, in Berlin, and in Russia by the Novgorod Symphony. A symphony is a Musical composition, often extended and usually for Orchestra. An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney New South Wales, Australia Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending
He recently won an international composition competition and, in recognition of his long career composing music for children, was awarded a grant from the Basel Boys Choir of Switzerland to compose a major work for an international celebration of youth choirs. The KKB's logo Formed in 1927 the Basel Boys Choir ( Knabenkantorei Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The work featured the German text of the internationally renowned poet Hans Dieter Hüsch and continues to be performed throughout that country. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Hanns Dieter Hüsch ( 6 May 1925 in Moers &ndash 6 December 2005 in Windeck-Werfen) was a German author cabaret
Fitzmartin has successfully combined a rewarding career as a free-lance composer/arranger with a long and fruitful vocation as a conductor and teacher. A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance In Music, an arrangement refers either to a rewriting of a piece of existing Music with additional new material or to a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch such