Carmina and Illuminare are pleased to welcome Dr. Mark Helms as our new artistic director beginning in July 2026.
Dr. Helms joins Carmina and Illuminare with an extensive and varied background as a choral conductor. Dr. Helms is the newly appointed director of choral activities and visiting choral artist-in-residence at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia, where he conducts the Conservatory Choir, advises graduate students in choral conducting, and teaches other courses in music. Mark previously served as Interim Director of Choirs at William & Mary, where he conducted the William & Mary Choir, led the Ebony Expressions Gospel Choir, and taught academic courses in music.
Mark is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland, where he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting. At Maryland, he served as primary conductor of the University Chorale, assistant conductor of the UMD Chamber Singers, chorus master for the Maryland Opera Studio, instructor of undergraduate conducting courses, and assisted in the preparation of choruses for the Baltimore and National Symphony Orchestras. His dissertation research at Maryland focused on shifting choral repertoire programming trends following the COVID-19 pandemic. While at Maryland, Mark also served as associate conductor of Bach in Baltimore.
Mark previously conducted church, community, and collegiate ensembles in Pennsylvania for six years, where he served as director of choral activities and liturgical music at DeSales University and as director of music and the arts at Doylestown Presbyterian Church. In 2021, he received the Outstanding Young Conductor Award from the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association in recognition of his work in the state. Mark is also a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music degree in choral conducting, and of Furman University, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in church music. He has studied conducting with Jason Max Ferdinand, Edward Maclary, David Neely, William Weinert, Brad Lubman, and Hugh Ferguson Floyd.