Follow the links to Home, Awards, Conductors,  Choir Participants & Orchestra Participants, the Chorus photo pages and Orchestra photo pages, the interviews with Susan Haig and Dr. Lynda Hasseler, or to watch the concert.

Dr. Lynda Hasseler is professor of music and director of choral activities in the Conservatory of Music at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio where she directs the Chapel Choir and Choral Union and teaches beginning and advanced choral conducting. In addition to her position at Capital she teaches graduate choral conduction at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Dr. Hasseler is a graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She taught elementary, junior high and high school choral music before pursuing a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. She holds memberships with the American Choral Directors Association, Ohio Music Education Association, Music Educators National Conference and The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Dr. Hasseler is active as a guest conductor, adjudicator and clinician for a variety of choral events and festivals throughout the United States. In addition to her work as a conductor, Dr. Hasseler has maintained an active singing career. A mezzo-soprano, she has performed, toured and recorded nationally and internationally as a member of several professional choral ensembles. As a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Chorus she toured France with the ensemble and appeared as a soloist in performances of Mozart’s Solemn Vespers and Leonard Bernstein’s Missa Brevis. In addition to the concerts presented in France she has also performed several works in Carnegie Hall with the Shaw Festival Singers. In January 2001 she returned to Carnegie Hall to sing in a professional chorus under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner, where she also served as a section leader to assist in the preparation of the chorus. As a member of the Oregon Bach Festival Choir, she toured with an international choral ensemble, which performed concerts in Krakow and Warsaw, Poland; Santiago de Compostela, Spain; and Frankfurt and Stuttgart, Germany. She shares Grammy honors with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and Orchestra, who under Helmuth Rilling’s direction were awarded the 2000 Grammy Award Best Choral Performance for their recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Credo.

Originally from Platte, South Dakota, Dr. Hasseler is delighted to have the opportunity to return to her home state to conduct the 2001 South Dakota High School All-State Chorus.

Susan Haig
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra

Susan Haig assumes the post of Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra following an acclaimed
tenure as Artistic Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. She has established a reputation as one of Canada’s
most dynamic and respected conductors.

Maestro Haig has been praised for her "original ideas and strong sense of communication" in a wide range of operatic and orchestral repertoire. The American Symphony Orchestra League selected her for the 1999 National Conductor Preview with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. She has guest conducted the Detroit, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Rochester, Vancouver and Toronto symphony orchestras, as well as opera productions in Toronto, Ottawa, London (ON), Madison, and Victoria, B.C.

Ms. Haig became the first Resident Staff Conductor of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in 1988, after moving to Canada to work as coach and assistant conductor with the Canadian Opera Company. Previously, she served as assistant conductor with the New York City, Santa Fe, and Minnesota opera companies.

A native of Summit, New Jersey, Ms. Haig received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She held a Coaching/Conducting Fellowship with Juilliard’s American Opera Center, and participated in conducting programs at the Aspen, San Diego Opera, and Tanglewood music festivals.

Ms. Haig has conducted numerous premieres of Canadian works, and is a strong advocate for public access to live arts and arts education. She was appointed Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra in 2000, and remains active as a pianist and violist. Maestro Haig was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from the University of Windsor in 1997, and serves on the board of directors of the Art Gallery of Windsor.

She was presented with a key to the City of Windsor and greetings from the Prime Minister of Canada at her recent farewell performance.

Follow the links to Home, Awards, Conductors,  Choir Participants & Orchestra Participants, and the Chorus photo pages and Orchestra photo pages.

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