About the Musical Director

James Rodde was named musical director and conductor of the Ames Chamber Artists in the 2006-2007 season. Dr. Rodde is the Louise Moen Endowed chair in music and director of choral activities at Iowa State University. He conducts the Iowa State Singers, the 120-voice Iowa Statesmen, and teaches choral conducting and literature. A native of Minneapolis, he received the bachelor's degree in music education from Augsburg College and completed the M.A. and D.M.A. degrees in choral conducting at the University of Iowa.

Choirs under his direction have been honored with performances at distinguished music conferences, including the 1992 MENC National and the 1993, 1997 and 2005 ACDA National Conventions. In 2004 he led the Iowa State Singers in their first North Central ACDA convention appearance in Sioux Falls.

An active clinician, Dr. Rodde has led several all-state and regional festival ensembles, including the 1996 and 2002 North Central ACDA Men's Honor Choir. Current guest conducting engagements include the 2005 Wisconsin and the 2006 Texas, Iowa, and South Dakota All-State Honor Choirs. Upon his arrival at Iowa State he instituted the successful and expanding ISU Honor Choir, a highly select ensemble of high school students, chosen annually through live auditions across the state.

Dr. Rodde's editions and arrangements of choral music have been published with Musica Russica, AMSI, Lawson-Gould, Alliance, Santa Barbara, and Mark Foster. He currently serves as the NC-ACDA Repertoire and Standards Chair for Male Choirs and is the artistic director of the Des Moines Choral Society. From 1985 to 2000 he served as director of choral studies at the University of North Dakota.

Contact Dr. Rodde at 515-294-0395 or jrodde@iastate.edu.