THE MUSICAL LEADERSHIP OF THE VIRGINIA BEACH CHORALE
Dr. Don Krudop (www.donkrudop.com) has been at the Chorale podium since 2009. He is a life-long music educator, having taught for 48 years with the Virginia Beach City Public Schools system and at Virginia Wesleyan & Regent Universities. In addition to his work with the Chorale, he is Director of Music Ministries at Heritage United Methodist Church, also in Virginia Beach. Don was Director of the Commodore Chorus (Barbershop Harmony Society) and led them to both the Southern Division and Mid-Atlantic District Intermediate Chorus Championships, and sang tenor in the Southern Division champion and International quarter-finalist barbershop quartet, Old Dominion Line. His choirs at Salem High School and the Visual & Performing Arts Academy were recognized as being among the finest in the southeastern United States. He was the guest conductor for a week-long residency at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2024 and has been invited to return in 2026. Don has been honored to serve as guest conductor for All-Region, All-District, All-County, and All-City choirs throughout Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Don holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education, Master of Music in Conducting, and Bachelor of Music Education degrees from the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia as well as the Master of Education in Administration degree from Regent. While at Shenandoah, he studied conducting with Grammy-award-winning conductor Robert Shafer. He completed additional post-graduate studies at Westminster Choir College, George Washington University, and Old Dominion University, has sung under the direction of Aaron Copland, Weston Noble, and Eric Whitacre (Virtual Choir 6), and was a participant in the late Robert Shaw’s Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop.
Don was named Virginia's "Music Educator of the Year" by the Virginia Music Educators Association, was Salem High School’s "Teacher of the Year,” and was a national finalist for the Grammy Foundation's "Music Educator" award. He was a recipient of both the Shenandoah University "Distinguished Alumni Award" for Outstanding Career Achievement (2000) and for Lifetime Achievement (2023), and was recognized by Coastal Virginia magazine as one of Hampton Roads “Ten Top Educators." He is currently the Virginia ACDA Regional Coordinator for Southeastern Virginia, is a Past President of the Virginia Choral Directors Association, served as the Virginia ACDA Repertoire and Standards chair for community choirs, and was a national chorus mentor for the National Association for Music Education. He is a VMEA-certified choral adjudicator and serves as a choral clinician for "Music in the Parks," "Festivals of Music", and CCIS Travel. Don is well-known as a conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. He offers two conducting workshops, "The Refreshed Conductor" and "The Expressive Conductor," and will be a featured clinician at 2025 Eastern Division Conference of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) in Hartford, CT, where he will present his session "Sing from the Heart - Building the Emotionally Expressive Choir."
Dr. Don Krudop
Artistic Director & Conductor
Jeanette Winsor
Collaborative Keyboardist
Jeanette Winsor has been at the keyboard with the Chorale since 1984. She studied piano with Clifford Herzer, Lois Rova Ozanich, and Shirley Harrison. She received a Bachelor of Music degree cum laude from Heidelberg College and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Kent State University. She has occasionally coached with Thomas Schumacher. She teaches piano in her studio in Virginia Beach, music appreciation, theory and piano at Tidewater Community College, accompanies the Virginia Beach Chorale, and serves as an adjudicator for the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
She frequently appears as a soloist and lecturer. Lecture topics include Why Piano Teachers Should Practice, Music by Clementi for You and Your Students, How to Deal with the ADHD and LD Student in the Private Studio, and Music by Women Composers for You and Your Students. She is also the pianist for the Hardwick Chamber Ensemble.
Jeanette holds National and State Professional Teaching Certificates from MTNA and VMTA as well as certification through the American College of Musicians. Jeanette is listed in the 21st edition of Who's Who of American Women. She is the immediate past MTNA Southern Division Competitions Chair and past president of the Tidewater Music Teachers Forum and the Virginia Music Teachers Association. Her articles on piano pedagogy have been published by Piano Guild Notes. Recent performances include the College Music Society/NACUSA National Conference in Kansas City, MO, Salon Concert Series in Princeton, NJ, NACUSA concerts in Philadelphia, New York City and throughout Virginia, and soloist with the Virginia Beach Symphony.
http://www.jeanettewinsor.com/
Ensemble Director and Section Leaders
Crystal Villanova - Ensemble Director
Joseph Bray - Intern Director
Cassandra Howard - Soprano Section Leader
Vicky Sazon - Alto Section Leader
Brian Gilbert - Tenor Section Leader
Don Krudop - Interim Bass Section Leader