Joseph Powell

Mr. Joseph Powell, composer

Joseph Powell is a conductor and tenor whose artistry bridges the sacred and secular, classroom and concert hall. A Mobile, Alabama native now based in Memphis, he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with a Vocal Pedagogy Cognate at the University of Memphis and serves as Interim Director of the Memphis Symphony Chorus and Artistic Director of Memphis ChoralArts.

Powell holds degrees in Music Education (BM) and Choral Conducting (MM) from the University of Southern Mississippi. From 2014 to 2024, he led White Station High School's choral program, where his ensembles appeared at the TMEA Professional Development Conference (2015, 2018) and the National A Cappella Convention, with DoReHe earning High School Championship Finalist recognition in 2018.

His leadership has earned national and local honors, including the CMA Foundation's Music Teachers of Excellence Award (2022), the Orpheum High School Musical Theatre Awards' Inspiring Teacher (2024), and St. Paul's Episcopal School's 2025 Distinguished Alumni in the Arts. His students' musical theater productions won Best Student Orchestra in 2019, and he has been nominated twice for Shelby County Schools Teacher of the Year.

An active performer, Powell appears regularly with Memphis Chamber Choir, Opera Memphis, and previously, with the Memphis Symphony Chorus. He serves as Handbell Choir Director and staff singer at Calvary Episcopal Church.