Meet the Board of Directors!

For the first installment of Meet the Board, I would like to introduce you to our new director, Dr. Gerald Kreitzer! We are so happy to have Dr. Kreitzer as a part of our program, and we are so excited to see where our chorale can go under his direction!

Dr. Kreitzer is Director of Music Activities at Mount Mercy University, and Artistic Director of the Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale in Cedar Rapids, IA.  He earned his D.M.A. in Choral Conducting at the University of Iowa where he studied conducting with Don V Moses and James Dixon.  He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters in Music degrees from the University of South Dakota.

At Mount Mercy he directs the University Choir, Jazz Connection, Madrigal Singers, initiated and directs the University Band and String Programs, and organizes the Summer Academy which features the Five Seasons Chamber Festival, the Cedar Brass Festival, an All-State Choral Workshop and offerings for music educators.   He also teaches an Introduction to Music class and has taught Elementary Music Methods for the Classroom Teacher.  Mount Mercy now offers a Chamber Choir Festival and a String Quartet Festival as it reaches out to high school musicians and educators.

Dr. Kreitzer spent 22 years as Director of Choral Music at George Washington High School, where he directed the Concert Choir, Madrigal Singers, Washington Men’s and Women’s Choruses, the show ensemble Momentum, and was the musical director of Musical Theater productions, and was Director of Orchestra at Washington High School in 2012-13.  Before his tenure at George Washington High School, Dr. Kreitzer served on the faculties of the University of South Dakota (Vermillion) and the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls). In addition, he was a professor at Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, IA), and taught at Clear Creek and LaSalle High Schools.

Dr. Kreitzer is a Past President of the Iowa Music Educators Association, a member of ACDA, MENC, ISTA, IBA, and a former board member of the IMEA. Among many musical involvements, Dr. Kreitzer was the Musical Director of the Metropolitan Chorale in Cedar Falls/Waterloo, IA, which performed two major choral works with orchestra each season, was Musical Director of the Black Hills Playhouse, has served as Chorus Master for Cedar Rapids Opera productions, directed the Iowa Ambassadors of Music bi-annual tour.  Dr. Kreitzer directs the Chancel Choir of First Congregational Church in Cedar Rapids, and is a frequent guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator.

Dr. Kreitzer and wife Kelley are parents of four wonderful daughters.

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