Ep. 131 - Building Community Through Music in Worship - Jennaya Robison Artwork

Choir Fam Podcast

The Choir Fam Podcast is a venue for conversations about the current state of choral music. Hosts Dean Luethi and Matthew Myers seek to bring the worldwide choral community closer together through their discussions with a variety of guests who work with choir in its various forms. The goal of the podcast is to provide listeners with interesting tidbits of knowledge they could use in day-to-day choral rehearsals and to bring light to the ways that issues in the choral field are being observed and addressed.

All Episodes

Choir Fam Podcast

Ep. 131 - Building Community Through Music in Worship - Jennaya Robison

September 08, 2025 • Dean Luethi & Matthew Myers

"In my third year of teaching, I started to have vocal problems. I was taking voice lessons. I was singing professionally. It was feeling great. Suddenly my voice was gone, and I couldn't get it back. I took a leave of absence to get some speech language therapy. That's why I'm so passionate about using our voices in the choral ensemble in an effective way and having us as conductors find how to use that voice so that they don't need to manipulate things.

Dr. Jennaya Robison is the Artistic Director of the National Lutheran Choir (Minneapolis, MN) and an in-demand conductor, educator, and soprano. Known for her dynamic leadership and commitment to intergenerational and globally engaged choral artistry, she has conducted choirs, workshops, and festivals across the United States, Europe, and southern Africa. She is a frequent guest conductor for All-State and honor choirs and is highly sought after for her work in worship, education, and community-based choral initiatives.

From 2020 to 2023, Robison served as the Raymond R. Neevel/Missouri Associate Professor and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor of Choral Music at Luther College. She holds a Master of Music in conducting and voice from the University of New Mexico and a Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting from the University of Arizona.

Robison is deeply committed to voice pedagogy within the choral ensemble, cultivating expressive singing and honoring the unique vocal potential of each singer. She is also an active composer and arranger, editing the National Lutheran Choir Series with MorningStar Music and the Jennaya Robison Series with Pavane Publishing. She serves as national chair for Music in Worship for the American Choral Directors Association.

To get in touch with Jennaya, you can visit the National Lutheran Choir website, nlca.com, or visit their YouTube channel (@NLChoir). You can also find Jennaya on Facebook (@jennaya.robison) or Instagram (@jennayarobison).

Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.

Podcast music from Podcast.co
Photo in episode artwork by Trace Hudson

People on this episode

Dean Luethi

Co-host

Matthew Myers

Co-host