Michael Teolis, Conductor
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Chicago native Michael Teolis has been part of Chicago’s music scene for nearly fifty years as an educator, composer, arranger, instrumentalist, vocalist, and conductor. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from DePaul University and his Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music.
He began his teaching career in the Chicago Archdiocesan Schools, where for fifteen years, he was choral, orchestra, and band director, as well as general music instructor. In 1989, he joined the faculty of Latin School of Chicago, where he served as the school’s Instrumental Music Director and Performing Arts Chair, until his retirement in June, 2018.
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With Latin School’s Wind Ensemble, he conducted performances in England, Ireland, Finland, Estonia, France, and Germany. Many concerts combined forces with local choral and instrumental ensembles, often
numbering in the hundreds.
numbering in the hundreds.
In 1972, he met composer/conductor William Ferris, who quickly became his friend, teacher, and mentor. With Ferris, he studied composition and orchestration. In 1973, he began his long association with the William Ferris Chorale (1973-2005), serving as both singer and associate conductor. Upon Ferris’ untimely death in 2000, Teolis served as choirmaster and guest conductor, as well as interim Music Director at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Chicago, a post that Ferris had held since 1983.
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Over the years, Teolis has worked with many notable musical figures, such as Gian Carlo Menotti, Diane Bish, William Mathias, Peter Schickele, and Sir David Willcocks. In the field of popular music, he has worked with Mike Post and David Foster and has been music director/accompanist of local talents Jimmy Damon, legendary jazz artists Joe Vito and Johnny Frigo, and Broadway star and Miss America Kate Shindle. Of his students who have found their way into music careers are Joseph Burgstaller, Yamaha artist and lead trumpet for the internationally renowned ensemble The Canadian Brass; Christian Knapp, conductor of the famed Mariinsky Opera, St. Petersburg, Russia; and conductor Benjamin Manis, who served as Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony.
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In 2007, he founded Michael Teolis Singers, a 25-30-voice mixed chorus that specializes in rarely heard and undiscovered gems in vocal literature by both earlier and contemporary composers, as well as choral works that look at the lighter side of the art. Since its inception, the ensemble has performed many world and local premieres.
Teolis has composed and arranged numerous vocal and instrumental works, as well as two musicals and a revue. His published music has been featured in concerts, festivals, and broadcasts in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Singapore, and is available
through Hinshaw Music and Agape Press. His “Mass for All: A Unison Mass” was broadcast each week during the Liturgical Year beginning Sunday, December 2, 2018, on WGN’s “Mass at Mercy Home.”
Teolis has composed and arranged numerous vocal and instrumental works, as well as two musicals and a revue. His published music has been featured in concerts, festivals, and broadcasts in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Singapore, and is available
through Hinshaw Music and Agape Press. His “Mass for All: A Unison Mass” was broadcast each week during the Liturgical Year beginning Sunday, December 2, 2018, on WGN’s “Mass at Mercy Home.”
