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The American choral conductor, educator and tenor, James Wolter, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Concordia College, where he also sang in the Concordia Choir under Dr. René Clausen and recorded with the King’s Singers. He earned his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Ithaca College (2018) under the tutelage of Dr. Janet Galván. There he worked with all auditioned choral ensembles and co-directed the Campus Chorus Ensemble, the non-audition choir with Dr. Susan Avery. During this time, he also served as the Director of Music at the Protestant Cooperative Ministry of Cornell University. He also served as Adjunct Professor at Syracuse teaching basic choral conducting and visiting lecturer at Cornell for choral musicianship skills. He is the 2020 FMC Graduate Study Scholarship Recipient. In December 2021, he finished his doctoral coursework at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rocheser. As a doctoral student at Eastman, he taught conducting to undergraduate and graduate students. He also participated as a conductor in Eastman School of Music: Bach Cantata Series (BWV 111, BWV 55). In a recent adjunct faculty position for the Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he led the Colleges’ Community Chorus.
As a public school music teacher for seven years at St. Francis Area Schools, Minnesota and Fargo Public Schools, North Dakota James Wolter’s colleagues presented him with the Outstanding Choral Director of the Year at the 2014 North Dakota American Choral Directors Association Conference. As a proponent of collaboration and creating new music, he worked with the American Composers Forum in commissioning René Clausen for a world premier of The Golden Queen with his 7th Grade Choir at Discovery Middle School.
James Wolter’s students routinely made the middle school and senior high All-State Choirs. Students earned multiple superior ratings at the state solo/ensemble contest including the 2015 Best Performance at the North Dakota High School Class A State Competition with members of the non-auditioned 9th Grade Davies High Treble Choir. Alongside success with his treble ensembles, he became a specialist in the district with male middle school changing voices. The number of singers in the program increased dramatically including a 30% increase at Ben Franklin Middle School in one year and a tripling of male singers enrolled at Discovery Middle School to over 100 during a four year period.
As a clinician, James Wolter was selected to conduct the 2015 North Dakota Surround the State in Song, the 2018 Tompkins County Middle School Honor Choir and the North Dakota Surround the State in Song again in 2019. He also served as a clinician for the North Dakota State University's Women's Choral Festival in 2013 and 2014 with his treble ensembles as featured choirs.
As a vocalist, James Wolter sings with Voices, the professional choral ensemble in Rochester, New York. He also sang numerous solos with the semi-professional Fargo-Moorhead Choral Artists where he consistently sang solos under the baton of Dr. Michael Culloton. As a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Concordia College, he also sang in the Concordia Choir under Dr. Rene Clausen where he recorded with the King’s Singers, toured Korea, and sang part of the 2011 National Broadcast of “Christmas at Concordia: Journey to Bethlehem.” He also performed as a soloist with Ithaca College Madrigal Singers most recently as the tenor in J.S. Bach’s Cantata BWV 4 Christ lag in Todesbanden.
An active member of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education, Wolter served as the North Dakota ACDA Middle School/Junior High Repertoire and Standards chair for three years. He now lives in Ithaca, New York with his husband as they finish their respective terminal degrees. |
