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Neves named VPA chair at Tech
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HOUGHTON -- Joel Neves has been named chair of Michigan Technological University’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts. He assumed his new position as of July 1. Neves has served as a professor of music and director of orchestral activities in the department, and serves as Conductor of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.
According to a press release from the MTU College of Sciences and Arts, Neves is approaching his new position with the same care and enthusiasm he brings to all of his work. "Joel is a superb conductor," said LaReesa Wolfenbarger, dean of the College of Sciences and Arts. "What better preparation could there be for being chair of a multidisciplinary department? He brings a strong collaborative approach to leadership and values the talents and accomplishments of the department as well as its aspirations."
Neves was teaching middle and high school orchestra in Utah 17 years ago when he heard about a job opening for conductor of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (KSO) at Tech. The position was open due to the retirement of long-time KSO conductor, the late Milton Olsson.
"I'd never heard of Houghton or the Keweenaw or the U.P. before, but I thought I'd take a chance," said Neves. "It was the best choice of my career."
Under his leadership, KSO was awarded second place in the 2021 American Prize in Orchestral Performance for its recordings of "Jupiter" and "Sinfonia antartica." The orchestra premiered Joel's first composition, the tone poem "Kalaupapa" about his great-grandparents' imprisonment in Molokai's leper colony, in 2025. Neves is currently artistic director and conductor of the Pine Mountain Music Festival, a professional opera and classical music festival held in several locations in the Upper Peninsula. He is also a regular guest conductor of multiple professional, college, and all-state orchestras. He has served as a guest conductor for several international orchestras including in Barcelona, Spain, and Paraná, Argentina. In an article in the 2019 Michigan Tech Magazine, Neves said one of his most memorable journeys took him to Wuhan, China, in May 2015, where he conducted the Hubei Symphony Orchestra. "They hired me partly because I was a Westerner and could show them how to best interpret Western music."
Equally adept at theater, Joel has directed numerous opera, ballet, and musical theater productions. He conducted “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” at Southern Utah University, Bizet's “Carmen” with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, and “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” “Swan Lake,” “South Pacific,” “West Side Story” and “Sweeney Todd” with Michigan Tech Theatre. He has also conducted multiple productions of Tchaikovsky's “Nutcracker” with the Minnesota Ballet (2015, 2018, 2021) and Talmi Entertainment (2025).
Neves studied conducting with Larry Rachleff, Gustav Meier, Kory Katseanes, Timothy Russell, and William Reber. He earned a doctor of musical arts in orchestral, choral, and opera conducting from Arizona State University and bachelor of arts in trumpet and master of music in orchestral conducting from Brigham Young University. A strong advocate for college conductors, Joel served as national president of the College Orchestra Directors Association (CODA), the only professional service organization for conductors of university orchestra programs in North America. In an interview for the 2019 Michigan Tech Magazine, Neves said.
He steps into his new leadership role excited to help showcase a department he calls a "shining diamond" at Michigan Tech.
"The students and faculty here at Tech are just the best," said Neves. "There is a hunger for excellence, an insatiable curiosity, a humility in learning, and a joy in collaboration that is second to none in my field." In the 2019 interview, Neves said, "I'm just a guy from a small Utah town who never thought I'd be able to do some of the things I've done in the music world.”