Ali Sandweiss Hodges, MM

she/her
Interim Director of Choral Activities

About

BME K-12 Music Education, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (2011)

MM Choral Conducting, Temple University (2022) 

DMA Choral Music, University of Southern California (ABD) 

 

Ali Sandweiss Hodges (she/her) is a conductor, educator, and mezzo-soprano currently serving as Interim Director of Choral Activities at Western Washington University. She is currently finishing her doctoral studies in Choral Music at the University of Southern California (ABD) where she minored in Musicology, Vocology, and Instrumental Conducting, taught undergraduate conducting, led the USC Oriana Choir, and served as Assistant Conductor of the USC Chamber Singers. Prior to her work at USC, Ali earned her MM in Choral Conducting from Temple University ('22) in Philadelphia and her BME in Music Education at the University of Michigan ('11). While at Temple, she was the recipient of the Elaine Brown Tribute Award and the Presser Graduate Music Award, the latter of which awarded her $10,000 to devote to building her foundational knowledge in Yiddish - the language, music, and culture. Ali's main research area is Yiddish choral music, particularly helping other conductors and singers navigate the language, many options for performance practice, and the sea of wonderful but largely unknown repertoire. Programming and Performing Yiddish Choral Music is the subject of her doctoral dissertation (expected completion in early 2026) and her research has taken her to Yiddish Summer Weimar (Germany), Yiddish New York, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in NYC.

While pursuing her DMA in Los Angeles, Ali also spent two seasons as Assistant Conductor with the renowned new music organization Choral Arts Initiative (Artistic & Executive Director Brandon Elliott). During her work with this ensemble Ali conducted over 14 world premiere works (with additional regional premieres, including the premiere of Juhi Bansal's "Fear (Becoming the Ocean)" at the ACDA Western Regional Conference in 2022. 

Prior to her graduate work, Ali spent eight years teaching K-12 music in Metro Detroit where she taught everything from elementary general music to beginning strings, middle school choir, high school show choir, and musical theater at every level. As a mezzo-soprano she sang with the Christ Church Grosse Pointe Schola, including performances at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and residencies at Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, Durham Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral. Ali also worked for years as a summer camp counselor throughout her teens and twenties and credits these hard-working experiences with her ability to value all brands of creativity, exuberance, team building, and play in adult educational settings. 

Ali enjoys writing arrangements and adaptations for her choirs and conducted three of these pieces with the USC Oriana Choir: Lili'uokalani's "Ahe Lau Makani," Flory Jagoda's "Ocho Kandelikas," and The Roches' "Hammond Song." She lives her life according to her favorite George Orwell quote: "On the whole, people want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time."