Alyssa Cossey
Interim Choral Director
Dr. Alyssa J. Cossey is delighted to be serving as the Interim Director of Choral Activities at Wellesley College for the 2025-2026 academic year. Before relocating to Boston, she served as the Associate Director of Choral Activities at Coastal Carolina University and as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music at the University of Arizona. As a professional conductor, Dr. Cossey has conducted choruses at the secondary and collegiate levels and has prepared choirs to perform choral-orchestral masterworks, including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Handel’s Messiah, Britten’s War Requiem, and several works by Bach, including the St. John Passion. However, her true passion has been to expand the choral canon to include music from around the world with a focus on historically excluded composers.
As a Los Angeles native, she sang in the premiere women’s chorus, Vox Femina Los Angeles, under the direction of Dr. Iris Levine, and has sung at venues including the Hollywood Bowl, the Pantages Theatre, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall with renowned conductors and composers, including John Williams, Grant Gershon, and James Conlon. She is also an inaugural member of the professional women's choir mirabai, which sings and tours under the direction of Dr. Sandra Snow and can be heard on their debut CD Ecstatic Songs (2018) and their sophomore album Home in Me (2023).
In addition to conducting and teaching, Dr. Cossey has a passion for research. She has been published in several state and regional music education journals, including the Choral Journal (the US’s premiere peer-reviewed choral research publication), and is a contributing author for a new choral textbook on women composers edited by Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. Dr. Cossey holds a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, an M.M. in Conducting from California State University, Fullerton, and a BA from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Previously, she taught middle and high school choir in the L.A. area for nearly a decade. For additional information and resources, please visit www.alyssacossey.com.
Education
- B.A., California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
- M.M., California State University-Fullerton
- D.M.A., Michigan State University