Ensemble Directors
Jennifer Budziak, D.M.A.
Title/s: Director of University Singers; Program Adviser, Major in Music with a Concentration in Liturgical Music
Office #: MUND 177
Phone: 773.508.7510
Email: jbudziak@luc.edu
About
Jennifer Kerr Budziak is an active Chicago area conductor, author, poet, mezzo-soprano, and composer, and is a frequent clinician in the area of vocal technique and conducting at workshops nationwide. Dr. Budziak has served as conductor at many Chicago-area liturgical events and choral festivals, including the National Association of Pastoral Musicians’ national conference in 2009 and the Jubilee Archdiocesan Choir and Symphony Orchestra’s “Field of Faith” celebration at Soldier Field in June 2000.
She has authored or co-authored numerous books and articles on liturgy, ritual, and music, including Sight-Sing a New Song (2005), a textbook on sight-singing and music notation for beginners, and Sowing Seeds, Bearing Fruit: A Five Year Process for Growing a Singing Congregation, (July 2012), an Association of Catholic Publishers award finalist. Her compositions for adult and children’s choirs can be found in the catalogs of GIA Publications, World Library Publications, and Oregon Catholic Press. She has served as Editor of Publications for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and is a frequent presenter at the organization’s regional and national conferences.
Dr. Budziak has served on the faculties of North Central College, Concordia University, St. Xavier University, and the Catholic Theological Union. Her areas of research interests include liminal/ritual studies and the social and identity-forming implications of community music-making. She currently serves as an assistant conductor for the Chicago Symphony Chorus.
Degrees
D.M.A. in Choral Conducting, Northwestern University
M.A. in Liturgical Theology, Catholic Theological Union
M.M. in Choral Conducting, Indiana University
B.M. in Piano Performance, Catholic University
