Marin Jacobson

Conductor, music educator, mezzo soprano, and composer Marin Jacobson is delighted to serve the Valparaiso University community as the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music, Director of the Bach Institute, and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities. She previously served as Director of Choral Activities, Department Chair and Voice Area Coordinator at Malone University and as Music Department Chair, Director of Music Education, and Associate Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Concordia University Irvine. Choirs under her direction have toured throughout the United States and abroad. Dr. Jacobson brings a wealth of experience in collegiate, church, community, school, and studio settings.

Beyond the university, she is a frequent clinician and adjudicator and has led choral festivals for students of all ages. Her professional activities include scholarship, performance, and composition. Her composition Two Benedictions was recently published by MorningStar Music and her article “Text and Musical Gesture in the Choral Music of Rebecca Clarke” was featured in the ACDA Choral Journal. In May 2023, Dr. Jacobson served as guest conductor of the Summit Choral Society’s Metropolitan Chorus (Ohio) in a performance of Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, KV 339.  Jacobson previously conducted the Ames Chamber Artists (Iowa) and was founding director of the Mankato Children’s Chorus (Minnesota). While living in California, Jacobson sang with the Pacific Chorale and premiered several of her compositions with the Concordia University choirs.

Jacobson earned the DMA in Choral Conducting and Pedagogy from The University of Iowa, a MM in Vocal Performance from the University of Minnesota, and a BA in Vocal Music Education from St. Olaf College. She is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME).