A.J. Keller (Illinois)
Stare at the Sun was founded in 2018, with an inaugural series of concerts presented in January 2019. The ensemble was originally comprised of graduates from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music who sang under Donald Nally and were highly influenced by his work with the Crossing and Northwestern’s elite chamber choir, the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble (B.C.E.). Since the organization’s founding, the ensemble has become much more varied, and now consists of professional singers who are active throughout the Chicagoland area.
Due to the limitations on choral singing from 2020-2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ensemble’s first full season was the 2021-22 season, and we are currently finishing up our fourth full concert season, which consisted of three full concert cycles, a Call for Scores, and a composer workshop with an educational outreach component.
A.J. Keller currently serves as Associate Director of Choral Organizations at Northwestern University. He recently conducted the world premiere of a commissioned work for Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival. He has served as a chorus master with Chicago Opera Theater, chorus mastering premier performances of works by Jake Heggie, Justine Chen, and Errollyn Wallen. He served as assistant chorus master for the world premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state with the New York Philharmonic in 2019. He is also internationally active, serving as guest conductor in an artistic collaboration with the Danish contemporary-music chamber choir Ensemble Edge, involving performances of Lang’s the little match girl passion at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. He has previously served on the conducting faculties of North Park University and Beloit College. A.J. also sings with The Crossing.