Michael Todd Krueger has recently relocated to the Denver area after twenty years of service as a music educator and conductor at the secondary school and college/university levels throughout the United States.  In addition to his duties as music director of the Littleton Chorale, he is conductor and artistic director of the 120-voice Larimer Chorale in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Minister of Music at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Arvada, Colorado.  He works creatively as a free-lance teacher, vocalist and composer/arranger along the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

Dr. Krueger earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Luther College and the Master of Music degree in trumpet performance and jazz studies from the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley (UNC).  Following his studies at Greeley, he taught high school and junior high vocal music and subsequently earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and vocal studies from the University of Illinois.  He has served on the music faculties of Ithaca College, Morningside College, Millikin University and most recently, the University of Wyoming.

He is a former resident member of the Grammy Award-winning Robert Shaw Festival Singers, having performed in concert and recording sessions with the late Maestro Shaw as part of a three-week residency in southern France, at Carnegie Hall, and at the ACDA National Convention in San Antonio, Texas.  He has also performed with the Grammy-nominated UNC Axidentals Vocal Jazz Sextet directed by the legendary jazz educator, Gene Aitken.

Krueger has conducted all-state, honor choir, and choral festival performances for singers of all ages throughout the United States and he has served as a guest clinician in Canada and South America, having recently returned from a guest lecturer residency at the University of Brasilia in Brazil.

To our valued Audience and Patrons:

For more than thirty years, talented and dedicated singers from Littleton and the south metro Denver area have gathered together with the common purpose of perpetuating the richness and diversity of choral music for the enjoyment and edification of audiences and singers, alike.  As music director and conductor of the Chorale, it gives me great pleasure to welcome all interested individuals – friends, patrons, supporters and new acquaintances – through the “magic” of our wonderfully informative home page on the world wide web.

As with many community-based singing organizations, the members of the Littleton Chorale come together on a weekly basis for a variety of reasons:

• to revel in the joy of preparing and performing outstanding choral music.
• to improve and achieve at levels that were previously unimaginable.
• to celebrate and learn from the rich diversity of repertoire and from fellow singers.
• to enjoy, appreciate and validate the inner spirit of all human beings.
• to contribute to the cultural enrichment of the community and surrounding area.
• to escape “real life” through melody, harmony, and rhythm.
• to express deeply felt emotions … because sometimes words alone fall short.

Certainly, there are as many reasons for wanting to sing in a quality choral ensemble as there are individual members of that ensemble.  As the artistic leader of the Chorale I believe that organizations such as ours are more vital now than at any point in our country’s history.  I discovered this quote by a true American musical icon – Leonard Bernstein – and have kept it close for occasions such as this:

I think it is time we learned the lesson of our century: that the progress of the human spirit must keep pace with technological and scientific progress, or that spirit will die.  It is incumbent on our educators to remember this; and music is at the top of the spiritual “must list.”  When the study of the arts leads to the adoration of the formula (heaven forbid), we shall be lost.  But as long as we insist on maintaining artistic vitality, we are able to hope in [our] future.  –  Leonard Bernstein

Please know that Maestro Bernstein’s vision for the future of our world is nurtured, strengthened and celebrated through the individuals who freely give of their time to sing in the Littleton Chorale.  The Chorale needs your enthusiastic support to continue for another thirty years … and beyond.  Please consider auditioning for the Littleton Chorale, or, if your talents exist outside the concert and rehearsal halls, consider volunteering for one of the existing Chorale committees or offering a financial contribution to offset our growing annual operating costs.  Thank you for taking the time to read this message and for your support.