A nationally renowned conductor and educator with a vision for equity and justice through song is the guest for the next edition of Maestro Moments, the free online series of live musical conversations sponsored by the Corvallis Repertory Singers.
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, the conductor of the Viking Chorus and the Chapel Choir at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, will join Dr. Steven Zielke, artistic director of the Corvallis Repertory Singers and the Patricia Valian Reser professor of music at Oregon State University, for this live conversation on Sunday, January 10 at 3 p.m. The Zoom session is free, but registration is required. Click on this link to register: http://bit.ly/3b4un4H
In addition to his work at St. Olaf, Wondemagegnehu (Won-deh-mah-gehg-NEH-hu) has served as the guest artistic director of one of North America’s largest LGBTQ+ choirs, Minnesota’s One Voice Mixed Chorus. He teaches music and social justice with the goal of helping to address social injustice through music, dialogue, and inspiration.
A Memphis native, Wondemagegnehu previously served as the director of choral ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, where he co-founded Justice Choir, a grass-roots movement dedicated to collaborative power through singing. In 2018, he served as guest conductor of the children’s choir at the Aspen Music Festival, where he led the singers through the Justice Choir Songbook. In 2019, he was named artist-in-residence for the Harvard University Glee Club and worked on the W.E.B. Du Bois Musical Project, meant to honor Du Bois, the first African-American to study for his doctorate at Harvard – but who was excluded from the Glee Club.
He has collaborated with American Public Media’s Julie Amacher on nationally distributed radio programs on Black music. And he has conducted and given master classes, workshops and clinics throughout the United States and worldwide, in addition to crafting new arrangements of classic African-American spirituals.
Wondemagegnehu holds a master’s degree in choral conducting and vocal performance from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree in vocal performing from the University of Memphis. While teaching high school, he was named Orange County (Florida) Public School Teacher of the Year and received the Macy’s National Magic of Teaching Award.
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