Leadership

Director - Richard W. Robbins

RICHARD W. ROBBINS is Director of Choral Activities, Choral Artist-in-Residence, and Associate Professor at Shenandoah Conservatory. Robbins has garnered high praise for his work, with the press describing his choruses as “moving” (Houston Chronicle) and “powerful” (Duluth News Tribune). He is a sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and director for choral festivals and honor choirs across the United States, having conducted by invitation in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Orlando, San Francisco,
Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Miami. His choral performances have been featured numerous times on television and on nationally-syndicated radio programs, including American Public Media’s “Pipedreams.”

Robbins has a wealth of experience in preparing choral-orchestral repertoire. He has served as Chorus Master of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and Houston Ballet, as Assistant Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus,
and he has prepared choruses for major conductors such as Ermanno Florio, Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, Joan Glover, Stephen Cleobury, Robert Franz, and Dirk Meyer. His choral collaborations also include work with ARENA DANCES, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Lyric Opera of the North, Moores Opera Center, Houston Boychoir, American Festival for the Arts, Lake Superior Youth Chorus, and the Houston Symphony Family Series. Some performances of note include principal choral preparation for Bohuslav Martinu’s Field Mass with the Houston Ballet, for the first U.S. performance of the full orchestration of Gustav Holst’s forgotten oratorio The Cloud Messenger with the UMD choirs and orchestra, and for the regional televised premiere of Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time for Minnesota PBS
North, featuring the Duluth Superior Symphony Chorus and the UMD University Singers. He has also served as
conductor for the first performances of several choral works by the contemporary American composer Daniel
Knaggs and is featured on the 2013 recording of his compositions, A New Springtime.

A published scholar, Robbins’ editions of Italian sacred music of the early Baroque are available internationally. In
addition, his research on Marc Blitzstein’s lost choral opera, The Condemned, has been published in the Choral
Journal, and he has been invited to present on a range of topics for conduc0ng organizations, including the
American Choral Directors Association, the International Federation of Choral Musicians, the College Music
Society, and the National Catholic Educational Association. He has conducted and lectured internationally at
Warsaw’s Chopin Conservatory of Music, the John Paul II Liturgical Institute, Krakow’s Academy of Music, and
with the Fayha National Choir of Lebanon. He continues to inspire through mentoring and teaching emerging
conductors and choral directors.

Ensembles under Robbins’ direction have performed at choral conferences and earned awards at numerous
festivals. He has also collaborated with a wide range of classical and pop artists, such as the Varshavski-Shapiro
Piano Duo and the Grammy award-winning group, Paramore. He was an award-winning teacher of choral music
in the Texas public schools for several years, including Houston’s famed High School for the Performing and
Visual Arts, where he was named Teacher of the Year. Robbins con0nues his work with youth choirs as a festival
conductor for the American Federation Pueri Cantores, a chapter of the Vatican’s student choral organization.
Robbins is a member of several choral organizations, including ACDA (previously serving on the executive boards
of Minnesota ACDA and the Southwestern Division), Chorus America, and the National Collegiate Choral
Organization. Prior academic positions include the University of Minnesota Duluth (Director of Choral Activities,
granted tenure), the University of Wisconsin-Superior (Director of Choral Activities) and the University of
Houston (Director of Concert Women’s Chorus and University Men’s Chorus).

Assistant Director - Kevin Barger

Kevin Barger has served as the Director of Music Ministry at Epiphany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Richmond, Virginia since 1997. At Epiphany, he has responsibility for serving as the church’s organist as well as leading adult and children’s vocal choirs, adult handbells, brass and wind/string ensembles as well as youth music activities. Kevin has been a member of the Richmond Symphony chorus for more than 25 years and, in addition to singing, has served as the assistant rehearsal pianist for several years.

Kevin has served on the worship committee for the Virginia Synod (ELCA), and he has served as an instructor for the Synod’s Power in the Spirit on several occasions. He was a faculty member of the Leadership Program for Musicians for several years.

Kevin recently completed his term as President of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and is currently serving as Past President of the organization. Kevin received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Thiel College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Rehearsal Pianist - Daniel Stipe

Daniel Stipe is equally at home as a solo recitalist, collaborator and arranger on both the piano and the organ.

He earned a BM in organ and piano performance from the University of North Texas in 2006, studying with Adam Wodnicki and Jesse Eschbach. He served as assistant university organist at the University of the South from 2007-2010, and he earned a MM in organ performance from Westminster Choir College in 2012 studying with Ken Cowan.

He is a prizewinner in the William Hall Pipe Organ Competition in San Antonio, the Tulsa Crescendo Music Awards, the Fort Wayne National Organ Playing Competition, and the AGO/Quimby Region VII Competition for Young Organists. In 2022 he was a featured recitalist at the convention of the Association of Anglican Musicians in Richmond.

As a collaborator, Daniel has worked with dozens of vocal and choral ensembles, and has an extensive knowledge of the string and wind repertory. He is a founding member of the Piedmont Singers of Central Virginia, a professional octet focusing on works by living composers. He was chosen to be one of the staff accompanists for the 2020 Menuhin International violin competition. He plays regularly with the Richmond Symphony both in the pit and on their summer recital series.

Since 2007 he has served as accompanist for the North Texas Children’s Choir festivals in Dallas, working with acclaimed clinicians like Ruth Dwyer, Herbert Washington, and Julie Yu.

Daniel lives in Richmond, where he serves as accompanist for the Central Virginia Masterworks Chorale, as accompanist for the Richmond Symphony Chorus, and as principal organist at All Saints Episcopal Church. He also manages the Concerts at Trinity series at Trinity Lutheran Church. Since 2017 he has tuned and serviced pianos in the Richmond area. In his spare time he enjoys road cycling, hiking, role-playing games, and good literature.

Chorus Manager - Matthew Triplett

A native of Richmond Virginia, Matthew Triplett currently serves as the Artistic Assistant for the Richmond Symphony. In addition to his role as chorus manager for the Richmond Symphony Chorus, he is responsible for providing administrative support to the Richmond Symphony's guest artists and Music Director.

He earned a BM in Composition from Shenandoah Conservatory, where he studied composition with William Averitt and David T. Little, piano with Elizabeth Caluda, and voice with Medea Ruhadze. Additionally, he earned an MM in Composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied composition with Oscar Bettison. At Peabody, he served as a graduate assistant in music theory for Joel Puckett and Vern Falby. His awards include the William Averitt prize for composition, the Ada Arens Morawetz memorial award for achievement in composition and academic study, and a Theodore Presser undergraduate scholar award. He has participated in numerous masterclasses, including with Louis Andriessen.

Matthew joined the Richmond Symphony Chorus in January of 2022, and served briefly as a section leader during the 2023-24 season before taking on his current role. He remains an active singing member of the ensemble.

Additional leadership