James Rodde is the Louise Moen Hamilton Endowed Chair in Music and Director of Choral Activities at Iowa State University. He conducts the Iowa State Singers, the 140-voice Iowa Statesmen, and teaches choral conducting and literature. Since his appointment at ISU in 2000, the choral program has grown to now include roughly 400 undergraduate choristers.

Choirs under his direction have toured internationally and have been honored with performances at several distinguished music conferences, including the 1993, 1997, 2005, 2009, 2015, and 2019 ACDA National Conferences and the 2008 and 2011 NCCO National Conferences. As a teacher of conducting, his student Shelby Sievers won the ACDA National Undergraduate Conducting Competition in 2005.

An active clinician, Dr. Rodde has led several All-State and regional festival ensembles, including two North Central ACDA Men's Honor Choirs. Other guest conducting engagements include All-State Choirs in Texas, Kentucky, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Colorado, Mississippi, and Nebraska. Upon his arrival at Iowa State Dr. Rodde instituted the ISU Honor Choir, a highly select ensemble of high school students, chosen annually through live auditions across the state.

Alliance, AMSI, Hal Leonard, Lawson-Gould, Mark Foster, Musica Russica, and Santa Barbara have published Dr. Rodde's editions and arrangements of choral music. He served as the North Central ACDA Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs for over a decade, and since 2003 has been the Artistic Director of the Des Moines Choral Society.

A native of Minneapolis, Dr. Rodde received the Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Augsburg College and completed the M.A. and D.M.A. degrees in Choral Conducting at the University of Iowa. From 1985 to 2000 he served as Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Dakota, where he was honored with the Fine Arts Faculty Award for Teaching.

Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (ACDA Choral Journal). Her award-winning compositions are performed worldwide and frequently featured at American Choral Directors Association conferences, All-State festivals, Carnegie Hall, and other distinguished international concert halls from Australia to South America and throughout Europe.

​In addition to composing full-time, Elaine actively engages in bringing her music to life as the guest artist and featured clinician for professional conferences and festivals both in the U.S. and abroad as a composer, conductor, and accompanist of her work.

With over fifty commissioned works, she has composed new music for the American Choral Directors Association, professional choirs, colleges and universities, community choirs, high schools, and churches. “I Am the Wind” was named the winner of the 2020 ACDA Brock Competition for Professional Composers.

Elaine has music in print with various publishers including Oxford University Press, G. Schirmer, Hinshaw Music, and Beckenhorst Press. Currently, she publishes her concert music independently through Elaine Hagenberg Music which is distributed through GIA.

Festival of choirs PAckage

• Festival Chorus performance with a nationally-recognized guest conductor, professional soloists, and orchestra

• Spotlight performance for your choir on the concert

• Sound check and performance at Minnesota Orchestra Hall

• Q & A session with composer-in-residence, Elaine Hagenberg

• mp3 part learning tracks to assist with preparation

• Audio and video archival recording of the performance

• Commemorative framed mini marquee poster for the ensemble

• Certificates of participation for each performer

• One year of membership for the ensemble director to the online learning platform, Forward Motion

Contact us for further details and pricing