Dr. Don Krudop (www.donkrudop.com) 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. He 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 Shenandoah University 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 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. Don is well-known as a conductor, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. He will be the host conductor for a week-long residency at Carnegie Hall in New York in June 2024 and offers two conducting workshops, "The Refreshed Conductor" and "The Expressive Conductor." He was a featured clinician at 2024 New Jersey Music Educators Association in-service Conference in Atlantic City where he presented a session entitled "Sing from the Heart - Taking your Choir Beyond the 'Spots'. "

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