Margaret Clark

Breakout Session Speaker - Online Event

A San Francisco native, Margaret Nomura Clark joined the Children’s Chorus of Washington as Artistic Director in August 2016. Under her leadership, CCW has partnered with many arts organizations in DC and beyond including: Dance Institute of Washington, Washington Performing Arts, Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival, GenOUT, Washington Master Chorale, Strathmore Children’s Chorus, The Washington Chorus, US Army Band Pershing’s Own, Duke Ellington High School, Sticks+Bars, Roanoke Valley Children’s Chorus, Shenandoah Valley Children’s Chorus, Boston Children’s Chorus, and Princeton Girlchoir. She has been fortunate to work under the baton of NSO’s conductor Gianandrea Noseda, and additional conductors JoAnn Falleta, Christopher Bell, and Julian Wachner. Under her direction, CCW has performed at The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, The White House, the Supreme Court, the Washington Nationals, the opening of the District Wharf, and in South Africa in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s centenary. 

Since joining CCW, Mrs. Clark has made it her mission to provide outstanding choral education and performance experiences for youth through collaborative partnerships across the DMV. Two of Mrs. Clark’s primary accomplishments in the areas of collaboration and accessibility have been solidifying CCW’s partnership with DC Public Schools (DCPS) and helping to establish the Joan Gregoryk Scholarship Fund. CCW now works closely with the DCPS music teachers in co-producing the DCPS Honor Chorus Treble Division, providing a choral experience to over 200 students. The newly established scholarship fund has significantly increased CCW’s ability to offer financial assistance to support full participation in CCW programming. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, including the celebration of CCW’s 25th anniversary, her leadership was instrumental in pivoting CCW’s programming to an online format, continuing to support singers’ musical development, and creating inspirational recording projects in lieu of live concerts. A virtual world premiere of Dominick DiOrio’s “Daydreamers” and a performance of “Peace, Peace” aired on WETA’s Songs of the Season program are among the projects created during this time. Mrs. Clark also served as the Creative and Artistic Producer for the WETA program, which featured choral organizations from around the DMV, and has been renewed for the 2021 holiday season. 

Her latest project includes a newly created Harriet Tubman Tour tracing the route of the Underground Railroad. In partnership with Choir School of Delaware, the tour will stop at significant landmarks and include performances featuring songs of the enslaved with youth choirs from DC to NY. In addition to her work at CCW, Mrs. Clark is an adjudicator for MD and DC choral festivals and is currently serving as the Diversity Initiatives Co-Chair for the ACDA MD/DC chapter. 

From 1997-2015 Mrs. Clark was the Associate Artistic Director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus from 1997-2015, directing the Intermediate chorus and supervising all tiers of the SFBC Training Chorus School. Together with Artistic Director Ian Robertson, Mrs. Clark worked closely with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera,  the San Francisco Ballet, and conducted the chorus at the Grand Teton Music Festival. A highlight of her career was an invitation with the San Francisco Boys Chorus to sing at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009. In addition to her work at SFBC, Mrs. Clark was on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-college Program, and she established an award-winning chorus during her tenure at the Hamlin School for Girls. Mrs. Clark earned her B.M. and M.M.E in Music Education from the Oberlin Conservatory and has studied choral conducting with Robert Shaw, Rodney Eichenberger, Henry Leck, and Doreen Rao.