Dr. Joseph Kemper is a conductor and composer with experience leading ensembles in collegiate, secondary, and correctional settings across the country. He directs the Cantanti Singers and Treble Singers with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs. He is also an Assistant Professor of Music at St. Olaf College, where he conducts the Chapel Choir and Viking Chorus.  He is dedicated to music-making that cultivates understanding and inspires lifelong musicians who use their gifts for societal impact.

 

From 2023–2025, Kemper served as Assistant Professor of Music at Concordia College, where he was nominated for the 2025 Flaat Distinguished Teaching Award. Earlier roles include Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Whitman College from 2021–2023, and Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Winter Park High School from 2011–2016, where his advanced treble ensemble was selected to perform at the 2014 Florida ACDA Conference.

 

Kemper has presented at conferences, led workshops, and directed honor choirs nationwide, including the 2024 Florida ACDA High School Honor Choir. At Concordia, he created “Singing, Incarceration, and Restorative Justice,” a course serving incarcerated residents at the Clay County Jail; the course was named the 2025 Dave Grant Program of the Year. As a champion of new and diverse music, Kemper has led premieres of works by Mari Esabel Valverde, Evelyn Simpson Curenton, Arianne Abela, and Ronja Mokráňová.

 

He holds degrees from the University of Michigan (D.M.A. '21), Yale University (M.M. '18), where he received the inaugural Robert Shaw Prize, and St. Olaf College (B.M., '11), where he was awarded departmental distinction.

 

​Philosophy:  

The Cantanti Singers, a group of SATB voices, through the study and performance of a wide variety of literature, will strive to perform choral music to the highest artistic standards.  This includes works of many genres: sacred, secular, classical, pop; other cultures and works of many styles: accompanied, a cappella, major choral works, shorter motets/art songs etc. Through the intense study and performance of our art, our primary goal is to share our hearts and minds with each other and our audience, ultimately making a positive impact on the world in which we live.