Carl Johengen

Dr. Carl Johengen has garnered a reputation as a skilled and versatile musician, achieving success as a composer, choral conductor, church musician, teacher, and singer. His compositional talents first drew national attention in 1993, when he captured first prize in a composition contest sponsored by J.S. Paluch/World Library Publications of Chicago; his winning cantata, Veni Creator Spiritus, was premiered before an audience of 3,000 at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians convention in St. Louis and was recorded by the William Ferris Chorale. Since then over two dozen of his compositions, editions and arrangements have been published by Lawson-Gould, Hope Publishing Co., World Library Publications, GIA Publications, Oregon Catholic Press, and Selah Publishing Co. In June 1994, his "I Am the Living Bread" was the winning entry in the "Young New York '94" Hymn Competition sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York. His opera for young audiences, "Never Tickle a Mule," has been performed all over New York State by the Syracuse Opera Ensemble since its premiere in 1995; this project was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His liturgical compositions appear in several hymnals and hymn supplements, and he has received commissions from a number of choruses, churches and individuals. 

Dr. Johengen currently serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, Ithaca’s elite chamber chorus, and has led them in performance throughout the southern Finger Lakes region and in concert on WSKG-TV in Binghamton. In his nearly 30-year career, he has worked with singers of all ages in colleges, churches, festivals and community choral groups; since 2005, he has been in demand as a guest conductor for All-County and Area All-State Festival choruses around New York State. He served on the faculty of the Berkshire Choral Festival from 2000-07. He is the Founding Music Director of the Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus, from its inception in 1991 to 1997, and again from 2004 to 2007. 

Dr. Johengen also serves on the voice faculty of the Ithaca College School of Music. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Ithaca College. A tenor, Dr. Johengen’s performances have been hailed as expressive, intelligent, and technically assured. He has soloed with the Milwaukee, Hartford, Green Bay, and Syracuse Symphonies, Rochester Philharmonic, regional orchestras and oratorio societies, opera companies in Syracuse and Rochester, and in such venues as Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher, Alice Tully, and Carnegie Halls and at the Boston Early Music Festival.

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