Chorale Artistic Director & Conductor

Stan Engebretson has served as the Artistic Director of the National Philharmonic Chorale since its inception. In addition to the Chorale at Strathmore, Engebretson has appeared on concert stages throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has studied with great masters of choral music including Robert Shaw, Gregg Smith, Roger Wagner and Eric Ericson, Conductor Emeritus of the world-renowned Swedish Radio Choir in Stockholm, Sweden.

A Midwest native, Engebretson began his early training singing in the Scandinavian choral tradition. He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano and Voice from the University of North Dakota, and then went on for his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from Stanford University. He held faculty positions within the University of Texas system and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, he served as the Artistic Director of the Midland-Odessa Symphony Chorale and was the Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Chorale.

In Washington, DC since 1990, Dr. Engebretson is a professor of music at George Mason University and is the Director of Music at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Beginning in 1992, Engebretson lectured for the Smithsonian Institution including the Bach Festival in Carmel, CA; the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, CO; and the Spoleto-USA Festival in Charleston, SC. In 2009, he served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Iceland. Abroad in recent seasons he performed in Europa Cantat and AMJ (Arbeitskreis Musik in der Jugend) events plus others in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, China, South Korea, and Australia. In 2018, he co-edited a new book for Carus publishers, “Hallelujah! Spirituals and Gospels for EuropeanChoirs.” And this year he received the J. Reilly Lewis Ovation award for Outstanding Contributions to Choral Music. Presented by Choralis, this prestigious honor marks his almost three decades of choral leadership in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area.