Karen Kennedy, Artistic Director

Praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for her “wizardry with voices” and named by the Honolulu Star Bulletin as “ . . . a popular and charismatic leader,” Karen Kennedy is delighted to serve as Artistic Director of the Master Chorale of South Florida.  She will also join the faculty at the University of Miami as Director of Choral Studies.  Before joining the arts community in South Florida, she held the positions of Chorus Director for the Honolulu Symphony, Artistic Director for the Hawai`i  International Choral Festival, Director of Choral Activities at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa, and Director of Choral Activities at Towson University. A recipient of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral music from Arizona State University, Dr. Kennedy also earned a Master of Music in choral conducting from Butler University and a Bachelor of Music Education from DePauw University.

During her time in Hawai`i, Dr. Kennedy conducted the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in performances of Orff's Carmina Burana, Durufle’s Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, and Rutter’s Gloria, and prepared the chorus regularly for performances with JoAnn Falletta, Samuel Wong, Naoto Otomo, and Norichika Iimori.  She has conducted the New England Symphonic Ensemble and a 200-voice festival chorus in a Carnegie Hall performance of Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, as well as choirs in venues such as the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, Ely Cathedral in Ely, England, Southwark Cathedral in London, England, and Greyfriar’s Kirke in Edinburgh, Scotland.  She also enjoyed a residency at Stanford University as Conductor for the Stanford University Summer Chorus Festival. 

In addition, Dr. Kennedy is well known as a choral clinician and adjudicator, regularly working with Gateway Music Festivals, Music in the Parks, and Heritage Music Tours.  She is also a popular honor choir clinician, having served as conductor of All-State and Festival Honor Choirs in Minnesota, Colorado, North Carolina, Oregon, Hawai`i, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland.

In addition to regular podium performances Dr. Kennedy enjoys the opportunity to present workshops on choral repertoire, conducting, choral pedagogy and vocal pedagogy. Her workshops have been a part of recent ACDA and MENC regional and state conventions.

Dr. Kennedy has received numerous awards for teaching, including the University of Hawai`i  Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching, Arizona State University’s Manzanita “Top Prof” Award, Butler University’s Faculty Distinction Award, and is a two-time recipient of the Lawrence Township Schools Superintendent’s Award.

Dr. Kennedy remains active in several professional organizations, having served as the ACDA Eastern Division Collegiate Repertoire and Standards Chair, as President of the Hawai`i chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and as a founding member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.