05/19/2026
Congratulations to our co-conductor Joshua Gonzalez for being accepted to the highly selective Rutgers Masters in Conducting program!
We are excited to welcome Joshua Gonzalez back to the banks of the Raritan as he begins the graduate program in choral conducting.
Joshua Gonzalez is a Jewish conductor and musician based in New York City and Northern NJ. He currently serves as Co-Conductor and Music Director of Makhelat HaMercaz, the Jewish Choir of Central New Jersey; and Conductor of HaZamir Brooklyn, a chapter of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir. He has also formerly served as Director of Choirs at Congregation Beth Sholom in Teaneck NJ, and as Senior Associate Conductor and Artistic Coordinator of the Grammy Awardโwinning National Childrenโs Chorus.
He has appeared as both conductor and vocalist on some of the worldโs most renowned stages, including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Opera House, Alice Tully Hall, Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, Henry Crown Hall in Jerusalem, Eric Ericsonhallen in Stockholm, and Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn. Career highlights include preparing the National Childrenโs Chorus for Benjamin Brittenโs War Requiem at Walt Disney Concert Hall produced by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducting the premiere of a set of new choral arrangements of the music of Noah Aronson (arr. Dave Schlossberg) at the North American Jewish Choral Festival, and performing in choruses for Verdiโs and Mozartโs Requiem at Carnegie Hall.
Gonzalez has been immersed in the art of conducting since the age of 16 under the tutelage of Maestro Matthew Lazar, the leading force of Jewish choral music. He is graduating as a conducting student and Lazar Fellow within the inaugural class of the Zamir Choral Foundationโs Jewish Choral Conducting Institute, the only such program in North America. In addition to his studies with Maestro Lazar, Joshua has also been mentored in conducting and classical voice by Dr. Patrick Gardner, Dr. Brandon Williams, Eduardo Chama, and Richard Leech. A graduate of the music program at Rutgers University, Gonzalez toured at home and abroad with the Rutgers University Glee Club and Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir with highlights performing in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Germany. He is so incredibly excited and honored to return to Mason Gross in pursuit of the Masters of Music Degree in Choral Conducting in the Fall and to have the opportunity to work with the Rutgers Choirs this time not only as a singer but as a Graduate Conductor.
