Joseph Gehring, M.M., Ed.D.

BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Joseph Gehring is Music Department Chair and Director of Ensembles at Immaculata University. Maestro Gehring has worked with the Immaculata Symphony since 2004 and was appointed Music Director in 2011. His dynamic leadership has brought innovative programs to Immaculata, including the recent IU Clarinet Choir featuring Ricardo Morales, principal clarinet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Dr. Gehring is also the director of the new Immaculata University Community Music School, open to musicians of all ages and ability levels interested in individual and group lessons, small and large ensembles, masterclasses, and more. In addition to conducting the Symphony Orchestra, he also conducts the Concert Band and teaches courses in Music Theory, Basic and Advanced Conducting, and Orchestration.

Maestro Gehring has been a part of the Chesco Pops Orchestra since its inception in 2005 and became Music Director in 2013. He is also the Music Director of the West Chester Band, a position he has held since 2003. Previously, he was the Band Director at the Renaissance Academy in Phoenixville, PA for sixteen years where he directed the Elementary, Middle, and High School Bands. These ensembles help to complete the full spectrum of musicians that he has the pleasure of working with, from every age and ability level. He is also a frequent guest conductor of various honor/festival bands and orchestras throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware, including the Southern Chester County Honors Band, Philadelphia Archdiocesan Honors String Orchestra, PMEA District 12 Chesco Elementary Honors Band Fest, District 12 Delco Elementary Honors Band Fest, Kent County Junior High Honors Band, the ASTA Junior High String Festival Orchestra, and the Berks County Junior High and Senior High Festival Orchestras.

As a pianist, he has been Director of Music Ministries at the Exton United Methodist Church since 2004, was the accompanist for the Brandywine Singers in West Chester from 2009–2015, and maintained a piano studio for beginning to advanced students of all ages for almost 20 years.

Gehring completed his undergraduate degree in Music Education at West Chester University, studying both piano and tuba. He continued his postgraduate work at Boston University and returned to WCU to study conducting with Dr. Ovidiu Marinescu, earning a Master of Music Performance degree in Orchestral Conducting. He completed Immaculata University’s doctoral program in higher education with dissertation research focused on music performance anxiety.