Kathy Saltzman Romey – Visiting Conductor

Professor Kathy Saltzman Romey is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Minnesota, where she oversees the graduate program in choral conducting and conducts choirs. She is also Artistic Director of the 200-voice symphonic chorus, The Minnesota Chorale, which serves as principal chorus for the Minnesota Orchestra. Romey has conducted the Chorale in regional, national and international forums and annually coordinates BRIDGES, the nationally acclaimed education-outreach program of the Minnesota Chorale. Romey has served as a staff member to the Oregon Bach Festival since 1984 and is chorus master of the Berwick Chorus, which she prepares for annual Festival concerts, commissions, and recording projects. She has assisted with ten recordings, including the Oregon Bach Festival’s 2001 Grammy Award–winning CD of Penderecki’s Credo under the direction of Helmuth Rilling and the 2008 Grammy-Nominated CD of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Osmo Vänskä with the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorale. Active also as a guest conductor, chorus master, and clinician throughout the United States and Europe, Romey serves on the faculty of the Junges Stuttgarter Bach Ensemble underwritten by the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and also oversees the choir of the Weimar Bach Cantata Academy. Additionally, Romey has prepared programs with the Berkshire Choral Festival, Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus, Grant Park Music Festival, Netherlands Radio Choir, Teatro del Lago Festival, and Westminster Symphonic Choir. Romey has received various teaching awards and grants, co-authored two book chapters, and most recently assisted conductor Helmuth Rilling with the writing of his 2015 book – MESSIAH: Understanding and Performing Handel’s Masterpiece.