MUSIC DIRECTOR:
HEIDI ACKERMAN
Baltimore-based Heidi Ackerman is a sought-after conductor, clinician, and vocalist. With extensive experience conducting professional ensembles, she has added a focus on community choruses; diversifying ensembles through dynamic programming while invigorating membership by harnessing the joy of singing together.
In her third season as Musical Director of The Frederick Chorale, she looks forward to their April collaboration with the Deer Creek Chorale and celebrating Armed Forces Day with members of the United States Army Field Band’s Soldiers’ Chorus May 18th at the Baker Park Bandshell.
In 2022, Ms. Ackerman was approached to establish and lead a community chorus for the Patterson Park Academy of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks in large part to Heidi’s passion for choral music as well as her magnetic personality and fast paced rehearsal style, membership in the fledgling chorus has grown exponentially: from an initial enrollment of 29, the chorus now boasts over 100 members. She has also joined the conducting staff of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society this season, assisting maestro Anthony Blake Clark. A prior educator, Ms. Ackerman is in demand as a choral clinician–this year, she will be conducting festivals in Maryland and New York.
Equally accomplished as a vocalist, Ms. Ackerman joined The United States Army Field Band, which brought her to Washington, D.C., from the West Coast in 2013. As an enlisted conductor of the Soldiers' Chorus, she conducted concerts across the USA and Puerto Rico. As a soloist, she graced the stages of Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Severance Hall with the Cleveland Pops, The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, and The Henry Ford with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Ackerman performs around the DC/Baltimore area, and tours performing her one-woman show, Cat Calls: A Feminist Cabaret. Her drive to impact lives through shared music led to a concert series at the Maryland Correctional Women's Facility.
Prior to joining the Army, Ms. Ackerman was a teacher and freelance musician in Arizona. She sang three seasons with Arizona Opera and soloed with the Phoenix Symphony on Mendelssohn's Elijah. She earned a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Choral Conducting and Education from Northwestern College, Iowa. To learn more, visit heidiackerman.com.
In her third season as Musical Director of The Frederick Chorale, she looks forward to their April collaboration with the Deer Creek Chorale and celebrating Armed Forces Day with members of the United States Army Field Band’s Soldiers’ Chorus May 18th at the Baker Park Bandshell.
In 2022, Ms. Ackerman was approached to establish and lead a community chorus for the Patterson Park Academy of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks in large part to Heidi’s passion for choral music as well as her magnetic personality and fast paced rehearsal style, membership in the fledgling chorus has grown exponentially: from an initial enrollment of 29, the chorus now boasts over 100 members. She has also joined the conducting staff of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society this season, assisting maestro Anthony Blake Clark. A prior educator, Ms. Ackerman is in demand as a choral clinician–this year, she will be conducting festivals in Maryland and New York.
Equally accomplished as a vocalist, Ms. Ackerman joined The United States Army Field Band, which brought her to Washington, D.C., from the West Coast in 2013. As an enlisted conductor of the Soldiers' Chorus, she conducted concerts across the USA and Puerto Rico. As a soloist, she graced the stages of Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Severance Hall with the Cleveland Pops, The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, and The Henry Ford with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Ackerman performs around the DC/Baltimore area, and tours performing her one-woman show, Cat Calls: A Feminist Cabaret. Her drive to impact lives through shared music led to a concert series at the Maryland Correctional Women's Facility.
Prior to joining the Army, Ms. Ackerman was a teacher and freelance musician in Arizona. She sang three seasons with Arizona Opera and soloed with the Phoenix Symphony on Mendelssohn's Elijah. She earned a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Choral Conducting and Education from Northwestern College, Iowa. To learn more, visit heidiackerman.com.
