about mr. McInnis

Romel K. McInnis serves as Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and oversees the Vocal Academy within the Academy of Performing Arts at the Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT). He teaches students in grades 9-12 who are pursuing careers in music and conducts the Academy Choir, Chamber Choir, Concert Choir, and A Cappella ensembles.

The Vocal Academy is a unique, audition-based program in its eleventh year, offering students comprehensive daily instruction in music theory, piano, vocal technique, music history, and solo study for eighty-four minutes each day. The Academy Choir, consisting of 40 auditioned singers, has performed extensively at community events and festivals, including Music in the Parks, where the ensemble has earned superior ratings. The Academy Choir is honored to perform at the 2025 NJMEA Conference where they premiered The Dreamer by Michael Trotta

Prior to his appointment at ACIT, Mr. McInnis served for ten years as Director of Choral Activities at Clearview Regional High School. Under his leadership, the choral program included six ensembles—three curricular and three extracurricular—such as View Singers, Concert Choir, Tenor Bass Choir, Select Treble Choir, A Cappella, and the auditioned Vocale Ensemble. His choirs performed throughout the East Coast at events including Music in the Parks, Fiestaval Myrtle Beach Choir Competition, the Boston Choir Competition, NJACDA events, NJMEA conferences, and Joyful Christmas with national recording artist Jim Brickman. The Vocale Ensemble was invited on multiple occasions to perform at Carnegie Hall and the NJMEA State Conference and was selected to perform at the 2023 NAfME National Convention in Rochester, New York.

During his tenure at Clearview, Mr. McInnis conducted major choral works including Mozart’s Missa Brevis in B-flat Major, Ola Gjeilo’s Dark Night of the Soul, Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Stars, and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. He also collaborated with renowned composer Michael Trotta, who composed The Dreamer for the Vocale Ensemble, premiered in spring 2023.

Mr. McInnis is also highly active in musical theater. In 2025 Bergen PAC Awards nominated him for best music direction for the production of Cinderella. At Clearview, he  served as acting music director for both high school and middle school productions, earning the 2022 Rising Star Award for Best Music Direction for The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 2023, he directed Mamma Mia, which received three Rising Star Award nominations.