Jeff Knutson (Iowa)
A Cappella is the premiere ensemble at Waukee High School and is part of a comprehensive choral program with a tradition of excellence. A Cappella has appeared twice at national ACDA conventions and multiple regional conventions, including 2022. Over the past ten years, A Cappella has been selected for the Luther College’s Dorian Choral Invitational, the featured choir at Wartburg’s Meistersinger Honor Choir Festival, the Morningside University Choral Invitational, and the feature 4A ensemble for ICDA’s Iowa Choral Showcase three times. In recent years, students from this ensemble have performed with the Urbandale Singers, the King’s Singers, Voces8, the Iowa State Singers, and the Wartburg Choir. Over the past ten years, singers from Waukee HS have toured to Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, the United Kingdom, and Italy, and the program will tour to Austria and Germany this summer.
Jeff Knutson is in his ninth year at Waukee High School, where he directs A Cappella, two bass clef choirs, a show choir, and a jazz choir. Each year, Mr. Knutson coordinates Festival of Peace, directs a masterwork, and plans a choir tour, with international tours occurring every three years. Mr. Knutson received his bachelor’s degree from Luther College in 2012 and his MM in choral conducting from Michigan State University in 2016. Mr. Knutson is an active member of ACDA, serving as the Repertoire and Resources Chair for ICDA. He lives in West Des Moines with his wife Shannon, their children Ruth, Felix, and Lars, and their dog, Decorah.