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Al Hawkins, Artistic Director & Principal Conductor

Al Hawkins has been involved in music as a performer, conductor, and educator for over 40 years.

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He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in instrumental and vocal music education from Gustavus Adolphus College and a Master of Science degree in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Currently he teaches voice privately and is the Artistic Director for Deo Cantamus of Minnesota.

Choirs under his direction have performed for conventions of the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA), and the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP). They have also toured throughout the United States and Central Europe. In addition, he has been active as conductor and singer with several adult semi-professional choral ensembles including the Sibley County Choral Society, the Al Zinter Chorale, the Minnesota Valley Chorale, Nova Cantabile, the Minnesota Chorale, and most recently Deo Cantamus of Minnesota.

 

Al and his wife, Kay, are active members of Fourth Baptist Church in Plymouth, MN.  They have three children and fourteen grandchildren.

His teaching experience includes vocal and instrumental music for grades K-12, college, as well as community and church work with adults. He has served on the faculty for North Central University, Crown College, St. Cloud State University, the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, and he has held high school positions at Armstrong High School (Robbinsdale, MN), fourteen years in New Ulm, MN, and similar positions in Ceylon & Gaylord MN and Lafayette, Indiana.

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“...God has blessed us in so many ways. It is my greatest joy to use the gifts and circumstances

He has provided to further glorify Him. To use music as a tool for teaching and encouraging holiness

is what I enjoy doing most. This takes a commitment to high standards that is often absent in the music

that contemporary society promotes. It is my goal to teach and conduct in a way that encourages

individuals to pursue the standards needed to perform at a level that inspires others and glorifies God...”

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