Timothy J. Campbell took the post of Chorus Director for the SDSO’s 2021-2022 Centennial Season, making him only the third director to serve during the nearly four decades of the SDSO Chorus. As a conductor, teacher, and professional ensemble singer, Dr. Campbell brings to the role a wealth of experience, most recently being named as the 2022 recipient of the SDACDA Encore Award for excellence and achievement in the field of choral music.
Dr. Campbell is Associate Professor of Music at the University of South Dakota, where he conducts the Symphonic Choir and Collegium Musicum. He is also the founder and artistic director of the vocal ensemble Transept, a 2021 winner of the American Prize in Choral Performance, praised for its “elegant, profound beauty.” As a professional ensemble singer, he has performed with Grammy®-winning ensembles and toured across the United States and Europe.
During the SDSO's 2024-2025 season, Dr. Campbell will conduct Bach's Cantata 159 and Mendelssohn's O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, and will prepare the Chorus for Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Mass in C minor, and Douglas Moore's opera Giants in the Earth, as well as the annual holiday program Christmas with the Symphony: 'Tis the Season! Since his appointment, he has also prepared Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the world premiere of Malek Jandali's A Candle, Brahms' A German Requiem, and Mahler's Symphony No. 3.
A Sioux Falls native, Dr. Campbell is a passionate advocate for the development of vocal arts in South Dakota. This led him to found Transept in 2016. This dynamic vocal ensemble brings together some of the finest professional ensemble singers in the nation with select musicians in the region. Transept’s innovative and imaginatively crafted programs interweave works for vocal consort, soloists, and chamber choir spanning ten centuries of music — from plainchant and Renaissance masterworks to contemporary choral repertoire. Transept has also developed education and outreach initiatives which have led to collaborations in concert and masterclass settings with numerous high school, church, and collegiate ensembles in the state. Live at the Cathedral, Transept’s first album, was mastered by the Grammy®-winning studio Soundmirror, Inc. and is available on all platforms.
Since the fall of 2014, Dr. Campbell has taught at the University of South Dakota. In addition to conducting the Symphonic Choir and Collegium Musicum, he teaches courses in choral literature, applied voice, and sight-singing. He also leads conducting practicums for undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Campbell previously served on the faculty of West Virginia University, where he worked alongside the 2019 Grammy®-Award Music Educator of the Year, Dr. Jeffery Redding. He has also served as Associate Director for Men's Consort Houston and the CORO Vocal Artists, and as Director of the St. Luke's Early Music Ensemble (TX).
As a tenor, Dr. Campbell has performed with numerous professional ensembles around the country, including the Grammy®-winning ensembles Conspirare and the Houston Chamber Choir; The Rose Ensemble, VocalEssence, The Singers, Tucson Chamber Artists, Cantare Houston, the South Dakota Chorale, and Kinnara. He toured Germany and Spain with the Rose Ensemble, an internationally acclaimed early music vocal ensemble of twelve who took first prize in the prestigious Tolosa International Choral Competition. He also performed in Carnegie and Avery Fisher Hall with Conspirare, and with the Houston Chamber Choir in a performance of Tallis’ monumental 40-part Spem in Alium sung 1-part under the direction of Peter Phillips of the Tallis Scholars.
Dr. Campbell holds degrees from Bemidji State University (B.S.), the University of Minnesota (M.M.), and the University of Arizona (D.M.A.).