Dr. Randi Von Ellefson

Dr. Randi Von Ellefson,
Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, Artistic Director of Canterbury Voices
School of Music
Music Conducting & Ensembles

Biography

Dr. Randi Von Ellefson was appointed Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Oklahoma City University (OCU) and as Artistic Director of Canterbury Voices (the adult chorus in OKC) in 2004. At Oklahoma City University, he directs the Chamber Choir, the Ad Astra Women’s Chorus, teaches conducting and courses in the graduate choral curriculum.

He holds degrees from Texas Lutheran University, the University of Minnesota and Arizona State University. Ellefson is a founding member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), where he has served as president (twice) and treasurer. The Board of NCCO awarded him the Honorary Lifetime Member Award in 2017. He also served as president of the Northwestern and Central Divisions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

He has taught choral music since 1977, beginning his career at Bethany Lutheran College (MN), Whitworth University (WA) and the University of Chicago (IL). Ellefson also was artistic director of the Elgin Choral Union (IL), the Spokane Symphony Chorale (WA), and was the first conductor of the Spokane Opera Company. While in Spokane, he served St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and Millwood Presbyterian Church as director of music and is currently adult choir director at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.

Ellefson has been a guest conductor and professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany, and taught at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand and has held numerous guest conducting appointments including at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India.

The collaboration between Oklahoma City University and Canterbury Voices has allowed him to conduct many significant works including Bernstein’s “Mass”, Britten’s “War Requiem and newly-commissioned works by Paulus, Argento, and in the Spring of 2020, a work by composer Edward Knight and librettist, MJ Alexander—“Of Perpetual Solace” to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the OKC Bombing and the 50^th anniversary of Canterbury Voices.