Zachariah Carlson

Chorusmaster

Zack is presently the 6th-12th grade Director of Choirs in the Saint Ansgar Community School District, Saint Ansgar, Iowa, and also serves as director of the Chancel Choir at St. James Lutheran Church in Mason City, Iowa. Additionally, he is the founding artistic and executive director of North Iowa Hymn Festival, which exists to raise funds for nonprofit organizations. Outside of conducting, he serves on the Board of Trustees for Una Vocis Vocal Ensemble, and is Vice Chair of the Mitchell County Fine Arts Council. He is an active soloist, having recent engagements at the Minnesota ACDA State Conference and in the Duluth area. He sang in the National Lutheran Choir during the 2013-2014 season, as well as the Duluth-Superior Symphony Chorus. In the past year he has been the recipient of several scholarships which have afforded him the opportunity to study privately with Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl, study Norwegian at the International Summer School in Oslo, Norway, and attend the Choral Conducting Institute at St. Stephen’s House- Oxford (England) just this past July, as a Full Conductor.

Zack earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Music Education from the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he founded the University’s first men’s chorus and led several regional performance tours and workshops. He has held several student teaching positions locally, in both the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts.

Zack was raised on a farm in Northwest Minnesota. His passion for singing and choral music stems from his family’s long tradition of music making. Zack is an energetic, highly motivated conductor, bringing tremendous capability and vitality to the Dakota Valley Symphony and Chorus.