Background
MM, VanderCook College of Music
Stevi Marks currently teaches Choral Methods 1 and practicum, Voice Class and the student teacher Colloquium at Northwestern University, where she is also the Coordinator of Student Teachers and Assessment for the Bienen School of Music. She also teaches choral methods, choral literature and conducting for the DePaul University School of Music.
A GRAMMY Music Educator Award semi-finalist, Stevi is head of choral programs at Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, where she directs the professional children’s chorus, Voices Rising, and the select high school ensemble, VocalPoint. During the 2019-20 season, in addition to their full concert schedule, they will sing for the opening of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Merry Merry Chicago and travel to Indianapolis to perform in concert with the Indianapolis Children’s Chorus. In July 2018, the groups participated in the Songs of Life Festival in Bulgaria to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the saving of 49,000 Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust. Other recent performance credits include the Illinois Holocaust Museum, Ravinia, Pick-Staiger, Merry Merry Chicago and Welcome Yule with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at Symphony Center, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Stevi has most recently taught at Glenbrook South High School, which was named the GRAMMY Signature School under her tenure as choral director. She also directed the Glenbrook Musical and the annual Variety Show from 1993-2017. Stevi received her bachelor’s degree in vocal-choral music education from the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, and master’s degree from VanderCook College of Music (2009). Stevi served five years as the District 7 ILMEA Vocal Jazz Chair and twice hosted the ILMEA District 7 Music Festival. Frequently sought as a clinician and guest festival conductor, Stevi will conduct the Vocal Jazz ensemble at the District 7 ILMEA Jazz Festival in fall 2019.
Other professional credits include the Chicago Symphony Chorus; performing in and directing hundreds of shows at a plethora of venues including Marriot Theatre, Lincolnshire and Apple Tree Theatre, where she also directed Theatre for Young Audiences, the Traveling Troupe, the Summer on Stage theater program, and served as teacher and educational director of the Eileen Boevers Performing Arts Workshop.
A devoted and active volunteer, Stevi sings weekly in nursing homes and has helped lead four trips for Habitat for Humanity.