Elena Bird Zolnick
Elena is a vibrant choral conductor with an ear for excellence and easy-going demeanor. With over a decade of formal conducting experience, she is as comfortable in front of a choir as she is in solo performance. She uses her vocal knowledge and skills, acquired from years of solo performance, teaching, and her own voice study, to draw the best out of any ensemble. While completing her doctorate at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Zolnick was a graduate assistant for the university's Women's Choir. Additionally, she served as the Assistant Director for the Oratorio Society of Minnesota. She was simultaneously the graduate assistant for the voice department, teaching studio and group voice.
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Elena is currently the Director of Sacred Music at the St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she leads three choral ensembles and teaches voice and various elements of musical leadership. She also directs the Liturgical Choir at the University of St. Thomas. Additionally, Dr. Zolnick is on the faculty of the Extraordinary Music Workshop in Krakow, Poland, where she presents on vocal pedagogy and conducts one of the international choirs.
Elena holds a Doctorate in Voice Performance and Choral Conducting from the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Jane Giering-DeHaan, Kathy Salzman Romey and Matthew Mehaffey.
